Head shots = Officially Banned (RIP)

Good evening, picklers.

Here’s what’s on the docket today:

• Pickle Talk: A pickleball to the head = banned (a new official rule)

• Bite-sized: Johns & Waters defeated + are bronze medals a joke?

• Golden Pickle: Chorus paddles banned, too

PICKLE TALK

🚨 HEADHUNTERS, BEWARE 🚨

So guys and gals. The UPA-A just dropped a new rule, and if you’ve been using your opponent’s smug face as a target for revenge, bad news—it’s officially a no-no game strategy.

Started at the Carvana PPA Mesa Cup, any intentional or reckless shots above the shoulders is now banned, meaning your anger will need to find another outlet.

🎯 The Problem? Too Many Headshots.

So we all are aware that pickleball continues to evolve—you know…faster rallies, stronger paddles, crazier hits. But this isn’t the NFL, baby.

We want our players, concussion-less.

Lately, in case you haven’t been keeping up with pro-level pickleball, some shots have been looking more like dodgeball than pickleball.

Here are some examples:

• Jay Devilliers nearly took out James Ignatowich during the MLP mid-season tournament

• Hayden Patriquin fired one straight at Andre Daescu’s neck 

⚖️ The Consequences

So what happens if you go full-on sniper on your opponent face? Simple. MONEY speaks.

• First offense → Technical foul, opponent gets a point, & $2,500 fine

• Second offense → $5,000 fine & automatic match loss

• Retaliation? That’s another $5,000 fine

• Keep pushing it? Expect suspensions & even bigger fines

Officials will judge intent, ball trajectory, and game context. So if it’s an accident? You’re probably fine. But if you’re aiming for DEATH SHOTS? That’s a problem.

UPA-A President Jason Aspes says the goal is simple: keep the sport fun, competitive, and safe.

So, keep this in mind—just keep your targets below the neck.

Here’s the full email sent to players:

Targeting

In the spirit of fair play and sportsmanship, the UPA-A is committed to maintaining the integrity of the game while prioritizing player safety. As such, intentional or reckless targeting of an opponent above the shoulders is considered extreme unsportsmanlike conduct and is subject to the following enforcement:

Penalty: In matches with officials, if a player deliberately or recklessly directs a powerful shot at an opponent's head or neck area, the offending team will receive a technical foul, resulting in a point added to the opponent. There will also be a minimum fine of $2,500 to the offending player.

At this point, both teams will be warned about retaliation.

If the same team commits a targeting violation, the offending player will be fined a minimum $5,000 and the match will be forfeited, resulting in a loss for the offending team.

If the opposing team retaliates and commits a targeting violation, a technical foul and point penalty will be enforced and the offending player will be subject to a mandatory minimum fine of $5,000 or more.

At this point, another warning will be made by the officials. If there is another targeting violation, the team that commits the violation will forfeit the match and the offending player will be subject to disciplinary action including fines and suspension.

Escalating Penalties: Repeat offenders or particularly egregious instances may result in additional penalties, fines, or suspensions at the discretion of tournament officials and the UPA-A disciplinary committee.

BITE-SIZED PICKLES of the day 👀

1/ A Quick PPA Messa Recap

🥇 Pickleball’s undefeated duo DEFEATED

Ben Johns & Anna Leigh Waters finally lost. After a long, 340 days of dominance, the unbeatable duo got handed an L by Anna Bright & Dekel Bar.

🤔 Surprise, surprise?? nah, not really.

Bright is the only player to beat them twice in the past 1.5 years. So it was bound to happen at some point. And the match was pure eye candy.

• Game 1: Bright & Bar clutch up 12-10 after being down 9-10-2.

• Game 2: Johns & Waters hit back 11-7.

• Game 3: Bright & Bar storm back from 1-5 to win 11-9.

In the end, while they didn’t win gold (shoutout JW & Jorja Johnson), the count down starts now…

See you on the court next time, Ms. Bright.

🎭 Drama Alert: Federico Staksrud vs. The Refs (and Hunter Johnson)

Feds showed up with a paddle plot twist. After signing with Adidas, he swapped back to his old JOOLA. Reason? “Still working out the kinks.”

That was just the beginning. His singles match vs. Hunter Johnson turned into a soap opera:

• 98 minutes long (!!!)

• Replay issues, medical timeouts, ref calls

• A tech warning for “ball abuse”

• Alleged Spanish-language trash talk ➡️ another tech foul ➡️ 2 free points for Johnson

After the L, Staksrud did not hold back: 🗣️ “The refs are literally against me… I pay the price of being the non-American on the court.”

The crowd? Booing. The headlines? Locked in.

Victim card or Valid? You choose.

🥉 The Bronze Medal “JOKE”

Mixed doubles bronze = a whole new kind of pickleball.

Instead of an intense battle, Johns/Waters vs. Parenteau/Staksrud turned into… an exhibition match?

Players were goofing off, missing shots on purpose, and clearly not taking it seriously. Why?

👀 Theory: If one team withdrew, they’d get fined. So instead, they just… played a joke match.

Is a low-effort match better than a forfeit? Debatable. Either way, the PPA has some thinking to do.

2/ It’s possible. High school just got a little bit more cool 🚨

If there’s one reason to time travel back to our miserable high school days, this might be the reason.

DUPR is making history with the launch of the first-ever High School Pickleball National Pathway.

The program is giving high school athletes across the country a shot at state and national glory.

Here are the deets:

🎉 FIRST STOP: MINNESOTA The inaugural event goes down April 25-27 at Life Time Lakeville, MN. Expect fierce competition, next-level talent, and the start of something HUGE for high school pickleball.

🏆 A PATH FOR EVERY PLAYER The 2025 DUPR High School National Pathway is open to both Varsity and JV1 teams, meaning whether you're a rising star or just getting started, there's a spot for you. Coed, Men’s, and Women’s divisions will battle it out for a chance at Nationals.

🔥 WHAT THEY’RE SAYING 🔥 “DUPR’s High School Pickleball National Pathway is a key step in our mission to make pickleball the most inclusive and accessible sport in the world.” – Tito Machado, CEO, DUPR

🌎 STATE & NATIONAL COMPETITIONS

• State Championships: 15 states. The best of the best. Your shot at national recognition starts here.

• National Championships: The top Varsity and JV1 teams face off for ultimate bragging rights. With Coed, Men’s, and Women’s divisions – plus a wild 3-person gender format for all-girl/all-boy teams – expect pure pickleball chaos in the best way possible. Oh, and individual singles? That’s happening too.

MLPlay format? Yep. Fast. Electric. Unpredictable. Just how we like it.

🚀 THE FUTURE OF PICKLEBALL STARTS HERE “This initiative gives the next generation of collegiate, post-collegiate, and Major League pickleball players a starting point for growth, fostering community, and developing a lifelong passion for the sport.” – Ryan Maher, VP, DUPR

Pickleball in high schools? It’s happening. And it’s gonna be BIG.

GOLDEN PICKLE: Your must-clicks of the week

Just a few crumbs before you go…😉

1️⃣. The Carvana PPA Mesa Cup just wrapped up, and it wasn’t just another tournament—it was a historic moment for pro pickleball. Over 18,965 fans packed the Arizona Athletic Grounds, making it the biggest pickleball event in the venue’s history. The PPA Tour even flexed that attendance beat the average NBA and NHL regular-season game. Safe to say, pickleball’s moment is here.

Ticket sales topped $300,000, proving the sport’s growing hype is more than just talk. CEO Connor Pardoe called it a “pinch-me moment,” reflecting on how far the Mesa event has come in just five years. The stands were packed, the energy was electric, and top matches had standing-room-only crowds. Sure, comparing multi-day pickleball attendance to a single NBA game is a stretch—but a record’s a record, and this one is well-earned.

2️⃣ Hospitals, but make it pickleball-friendly: Duke Health and WakeMed just opened Peak Rehabilitation Hospital in Apex, and it’s not your average rehab center. Sure, it’s got 52 beds, therapy gyms, and gardens—but the real head-turner? Pickleball courts for patients. (Recover your knee and perfect your dink shot? Sign us up.) Patients can even stay in a transitional apartment to practice daily activities before heading home.

This isn’t just a feel-good project—it’s a rare team-up between two Triangle healthcare giants and Lifepoint Health, a national player with 40+ rehab centers. By pooling existing beds from Raleigh and Durham locations, Duke and WakeMed upgraded to all-private rooms without adding new beds to the county. Peak opens its doors Tuesday, Feb. 25, just across from WakeMed’s Healthplex.

3️⃣ Another paddle bites the dust 🔥 Chorus just joined the “delisted by USA Pickleball” club, alongside brands like JOOLA, Ronbus, and Gearbox. The issue? A whoopsie in communication between USA Pickleball and its testing partner led to Chorus’ Fire HX paddles (EX and SX models) flunking PBCoR standards.

Both paddles are now off the approved list and set to retire by July 1, 2025.

Chorus founder Matt Cox isn’t throwing a fit—he’s offering refunds to owners and plans to donate returned paddles to local schools and charities. Turning lemons into… community support? Not a bad play.