Earlier this week we released our first-ever ranking of the top 20 men’s pickleball players, with the help of an anonymous pro.

Today, it’s time to rank the women (also with the help of an anonymous women’s pro). We bet you can guess who we have at No. 1. Hint: her initials are ALW.

After the top spot it gets very tricky, as there are several women’s players who are having great seasons. We make our selections below.

Also in this issue:

• You won’t see better fundamentals than this 🧱

• Parris Todd shares raw, real stories on Pickleballers 🎧

• MLP heads to the Big Apple this weekend 🍎

• What paddles are the pros using? 🧐

Let’s cook. 🧑‍🍳

HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK

The art of the reset on full display

This point should be shown to everybody who has aspirations of being a 5.0 player someday.

Tyra Black and Allyce Jones are underdogs in this throwback match against Anna Leigh Waters and Catherine Parenteau, but they don’t look like it during this rally.

Black and Jones are under control, patient and rock solid when it comes to the fundamentals, then Black picks the right ball to be aggressive with.

🔗 Just look at those perfect resets

PICKLEBALLERS PODCAST

Our rawest interview yet, featuring Parris Todd

Parris Todd joined the Pickleballers Podcast this week for one of our most raw, real conversations yet. She sat down with hosts Jared Paul and Roscoe Bellamy to discuss her early days as a tennis prodigy, turning pro at 14 and traveling the world alone as a teenager chasing a dream.

They talk about the pressure, the sacrifices and what eventually led her to walk away from tennis and pursue a pro pickleball career.

🔗 Watch the full episode on YouTube or Spotify

PICKLEBALLERS GIVEAWAY

Every week The Kitchen & Pickleballers will be doing a 24 hour paddle giveaway to celebrate the latest episode. This week, we are giving away any JOOLA Pro IV paddle of someone’s choice! Enter here.

FOURTH OF JULY SWAG

Rep The Kitchen and the USA — ONLY 100 HATS AVAILABLE

We recently released this limited-edition Fourth of July hat featuring The Kitchen’s classic 3D-puffed logo and an American flag patch on the side. Patriotic, clean and ready for any event on or off the pickleball court.

We only made 100 of these hats, so you’ll want to act fast.

🔗 Order yours today

THE PROS

The definitive top 20 women’s pickleball players

We recently consulted with an anonymous women’s pro to put together our inaugural Top 20 player ranking, which we intend to update every 6 months.

There are no surprises at the No. 1 spot: Anna Leigh Waters has continued to be the most dominant player in every division. Some would say she’s the most dominant athlete in all of sports.

As such, Waters earns our Mid-Season Player of the Year honors. She has 8 gold medals in women’s doubles (next closest is Catherine Parenteau with 5, all of which were with ALW) and 6 gold medals in mixed doubles (next closest is Jorja Johnson with 3).

Our Mid-Season Most Improved Player: Kate Fahey. Last year she was mostly known as a great singles player. This year she has been making consistent deep runs in women’s doubles and also has a bronze medal in mixed doubles this season.

THE KITCHEN'S TOP 5 AS OF JULY 3, 2025 ⬇️

1. Anna Leigh Waters — It’s hard to find new things to say about the GOAT. Just when it looked like the field might be catching up, she switched partners in women’s doubles and stepped on the gas. She’s won a triple crown in her last two PPA Tour events.

2. Anna Bright — You could make an argument for a couple different players here, but Bright has made it to 6 women’s doubles finals this season (4 silvers with Rachel Rohrabacher and 2 golds playing with Waters).

3. Jorja Johnson — Her and brother JW Johnson are the next-best mixed doubles team outside of Ben Johns and Waters, but Jorja’s women’s doubles results can be a little up and down, which is the only reason she isn’t No. 2 on this list.

4. Catherine Parenteau — The ultimate pro. She took the breakup of her and Waters in stride and has continued to post good results in the tournaments since. Her and Rohrabacher have made the final in both of the tournaments they’ve played since the partnership shakeup.

5. Tyra Black — She has hit the podium in 8 tournaments in women’s doubles this season (2 golds, 2 silvers, 5 bronze). Could make a case for her being higher on this list based on those numbers. It’s a really tough group to separate after ALW.

We also consulted with an anonymous men’s pro for our top 20 men’s list, which was released earlier this week.

🔗 Find the full Top 20 women’s player list here

TRENDING

Major League Pickleball is heading to the Big Apple this weekend for the 7th event of the season.

MLP New York is being held at Sportime Randall’s Island, home of the John McEnroe Tennis Academy -- and just minutes from the heart of Manhattan. It's the first time this venue has hosted a PPA Tour or MLP event.

PREMIER TEAMS AT MLP NEW YORK
Brooklyn Pickleball Team, Carolina Hogs, Columbus Sliders, Miami Pickleball Club, New York Hustlers, Orlando Squeeze

CHALLENGER TEAMS AT MLP NEW YORK
Bay Area Breakers, California Black Bears, D.C. Pickleball Team, Florida Smash, Las Vegas Night Owls, Nashville Chefs

🔗 Everything you need to know about MLP New York

FIGHTING WORDS

Florida man calls pickleball community the 'pickle mafia' at public meeting

We've been called a lot of things as pickleball players over the years. Crazy, obsessed, LOUD, annoying ... the list goes on.

And honestly in a lot of cases pickleball players would probably admit to being those things from time to time.

But a Florida man recently took the pickleball insults to new heights when he referred to a group of pickleballers as the "pickle mafia" during a St. Johns County, Florida, planning and zoning meeting.

The comment came during a discussion over a proposed indoor pickleball facility at an industrial park. Neighboring business owners have raised concerns about safety and parking.

During public comments, one opponent said, “With the Pickle Mafia ... where it’s at it becomes their ground and they start taking it up and taking it over. It does and it will.”

While pickleball players certainly are a tight community, comparing us to the mob seems a bit dramatic.

In the end, the Planning and Zoning Agency unanimously approved the plan with conditions to add signage to prevent parking issues.

🔗 More details on the controversy that sparked the comment

PADDLE CORNER

These are the most popular paddles among the pros

Pro pickleball player Erik Lange sparked an interesting discussion this week on X when he shared some data on which paddles are currently the most popular among the pros.

Lange credited Kale Klein for his numbers, so we're going to do the same (thanks, Kale) and also note that our own research validates the numbers Lange shared.

Of the 64 players who start for a Premier Level team in Major League Pickleball, here's the breakdown of which paddle brands they are using:

JOOLA: 21 players
Proton: 8
Paddletek: 6
ProXR: 6
Franklin: 6
Selkirk: 4

There are 11 companies with 2 players or less.

The two most popular specific models: JOOLA Perseus Pro IV (10 players) and Proton Series Three - Project Flamingo (8 players).

There also are several players in MLP and on the PPA Tour without a paddle sponsorship who are using these models, which is how you know they're legitimately the best out there right now. We have the Perseus Pro IV at No. 1 and the Proton Series Three - Project Flamingo at No. 3 on our list of the top 10 paddles on the market right now.

🔗 Check out our full breakdown of which paddles the pros are using right now

QUICK HITS

• Impressive: Check out Jeff Bezos’ $75M yacht with a pickleball court

• Committed: It’s never too dark for pickleball

• Airport pickleball: Awesome or obnoxious?

• Throwback: An OG battle featuring Lea Jansen and Tyson McGuffin