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The Verdict: The TOP 3 wishes for pickleball 2024

The Verdict: The TOP 3 wishes for pickleball 2024

PLUS: The FULL 2023 pickleball recap + Watch pickleball for free 24/7

Welcome back, picklers.

Read time: ~5 min

It’s great to see you back with us in 2024. I hope it’s been nothing but great so far.

As for The Pickle Talk newsletter, we’ve set a goal of hitting 1,000 subscribers by the end of February, and we need your help in sharing so we can keep this newsletter up and running for 2024.

We appreciate your support!

As for today’s newsletter, I asked the Reddit pickleball community what their (honest) wishes were for pickleball in 2024.

I received a bunch of replies, and today I’d like to share them with you.

Just keep reading. 👇🏾👇🏾

TODAY’S MENU

Daily Scoop: Top 3 wishes for pickleball 2024 (An honest discussion)
News Stash: The FULL 2023 pickleball recap. Pickleball engagement ring? Watch pickleball for free, 24/7.
Kitchen Talk: What brand of pickleball does your dog prefer?

DAILY SCOOP

Top 3 wishes for pickleball 2024 (An honest discussion)

If you didn’t know, the Reddit pickleball community can be ruthless with their honest, no-filter opinions. So, as a fateful goodbye to the 2023 year, I headed over to Reddit to see if I could get some insight into what they hope the 2024 year brings to the pickleball world.

6 days later, with close to 4k views, I got my top 3 answers along with some commentary. Let’s get into it.

“More courts. That’s it.”

100%. It is getting harder and harder to find free courts that aren’t crowded with players and paid courts recognize this and are now capitalizing off of the high demand and limited court supply by charging high fees.

My prediction: 2024 will be the year of people building private courts and/or renting them out through programs like Swimply.com. It also looks like pickleball courts will be the solution to filling up empty spaces like malls, so it’ll be interesting to see these pop up around us. Pickleball malls? I here for it.

—

“Cheaper tournament entry fees.”

More people want to compete, but time & space are limited. Therefore, entry fees have to be high to limit entry quantity.

My prediction: If pickleball continues to grow at the rate it has, entry fees will only get more expensive. Other than price, how else can tournaments control traffic?

—

“To play as much as physically possibly. ~10ish hours a week without getting tennis elbow, and without any of my partners getting injured.”

If you have 1 goal this year, it’s to play pickleball SAFELY. As I’ve discussed in earlier newsletters, insurance companies are cashing in on pickleball injuries as the sport has evolved into a pro-level sport.

Healthy pickleball players EAT right, STRETCH responsibly, & know their LIMITS.

Play smart in 2024 or you might be out till 2025 (and trust me, it won’t be same after that).

—

Some honorable mentions:

There you have it, folks. Cheers to another year! Now, go play some pickleball.

NEWS STASH

ICYMI: The COMPLETE 2023 pickleball recap

Happenings: There is so much pickleball news from 2023 that it is *almost* impossible to keep up with everything.

I say almost because Todd Boss, a contributing writer for Forbes magazine, is the exception.

Here’s his comprehensive list of every news-worthy pickleball event in 2023:

Part 1 (Jan. 1st-Mid August 2023)

Part 2 (Mid August - EOY)

A Peak inside: Did you know that on May 5, 2023, Sarah Ansboury became the first player to be forfeited out of a match for using an illegal paddle?

Hunter Fieri designs custom engagement ring with pickleball in mind

Happenings: In case you missed it, Guy Fieri’s son, Hunter Fieri, recently got engaged to the pro pickleball player, Tara Bernstein.

But did you know that Hunter custom designed the ring specifically to match Tara’s love for pickleball? Let me explain.

During the design process, Hunter ensured that the ring was sturdy enough to keep on while playing pickleball. It resulted in an engagement ring made with a thicker band & a thicker crown to hold the diamond in place forever.

Hunter hopes that she never has to take it off, even while playing pickleball, so people know that she is taken.

Now, THAT is true love.

Pickleball’s official channel: Watch live 24/7 & FREE

Happenings: I’ve recently received a few questions asking where to watch pickleball tournaments online. After all, observing the pros is also part of improving your own game.

Look no further because pickleball has its own official channel now: PickleTV.

If you want to stream pro-pickleball 24/7 and for FREE, check out PickleTV, available now on AmazonFireTV, Sling, Fubo, and many more.