We’ve all been there: Something in your match goes awry (a bad call by your opponents, a bad call by the ref, a distraction from the court next to you, etc.), and you let it impact the next point … and the point after that … and several points after that.

We’re going to help you stop that from happening. Today’s lesson is about staying in the moment and focusing on the only thing that matters, because you never know when someone might chirp the entire match.

Also in this issue:

• We’re selling 100 RPM paddles at 15% off … ACT FAST 💸

• Lucy Kovalova on her rivalry with Leigh and Anna Leigh Waters 🎧

• This was Julian Arnold at the peak of his powers 💪

• Tesla drops paddle that nobody saw coming ⚡️

• CourtsApp partners with DUPR to power verified matches 📈

Let’s get cookin’. 🧑‍🍳

RPM KITCHEN EXCLUSIVE FLASH SALE

48 hours. 100 paddles only. 15% off.

RPM — the paddle company started by pro player James Ignatowich earlier this year — has had a hard time keeping their extremely popular RPM Friction Pro paddles in stock lately. So it was no surprise that they sold out AGAIN this week.

Luckily for you, we teamed up with RPM to snag the last 100 of their supply, and are offering them at 15% off for the next 48 hours (or until they’re gone).

This is the last chance to order and receive them before Christmas, and we don’t expect them to last long. So ACT FAST if you want to get one of the best paddles on the market for yourself or for the pickleballer in your life before the holidays.

🔗 Shop the RPM x The Kitchen flash sale — use code “KITCHEN” to apply the discount at checkout

HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK

These were the good ol’ days

We’re only four weeks away from one of the biggest and best pickleball tournaments of the year: The PPA Tour Masters.

The thought of pro pickleball in sunny Palm Springs, California, reminded us of this electric point at the event a few years ago. It features Julian Arnold at the peak of his powers and is a throwback to the days when creativity and shot placement trumped raw power.

And of course we got a full-throated “Andiamo” from Arnold after his point-ending speed-up through the middle.

🔗 Check out this highlight on Instagram, Facebook or TikTok

PICKLEBALLERS

Lucy Kovalova discusses rivalry with Leigh and Anna Leigh Waters

In case you missed it last week, Lucy Kovalova — one of the OG queens of pickleball — joined the Pickleballers Podcast for a wide-ranging conversation about her storied career in the sport.

She opens up about the first U.S. Open, forming superteams with Irina Tereschenko and Simone Jardim, the golden era of grindy pickleball, dominating women’s doubles with Simone and the rivalry years as new talent flooded in. She also tells us what really separates the top women’s teams today, how the PPA Tour turned pickleball into a real career and why her relationship with the sport has evolved from pure love of the game to business, purpose and legacy.

🔗 Check out the latest episode of Pickleballers on YouTube or Spotify

PADDLE CORNER

Tesla and Selkirk drop controversial paddle

The paddle nobody was asking for just landed — a USAP-approved, limited-edition Selkirk x Tesla collab built with completely new engineering under the hood.

The Tesla Plaid Pickleball Paddle by Selkirk isn’t a gimmick. It’s the result of wind-tunnel testing, aerodynamic modeling and a design approach that treats a pickleball paddle like a performance machine.

HOW THIS COLLAB HAPPENED

The origin story traces back to the 2023 USAP National Championships, where Selkirk’s Director of R&D, Tom Barnes, first connected with Tesla’s engineering team. That meeting stuck. Barnes later built a batch of custom black-and-white Tesla paddles and sent them to Tesla employees just for fun.

By March 2024, things escalated. Barnes and several Tesla designers — including Tesla’s Director of Product Design, Javier Verdura — started kicking around a bigger idea: Could Tesla’s aerodynamic principles translate into a faster, more efficient pickleball paddle?

That led to co-design sessions, early prototypes built inside Selkirk’s Idaho lab, and multiple rounds of joint performance testing until both teams were convinced they had something real.

PACKED WITH FEATURES (AND A BIG PRICE TAG)

The Tesla Plaid Paddle pulls inspiration from Selkirk’s past models but layers on entirely new engineering. Tesla’s contribution centered on airflow behavior — studying drag coefficients, turbulent wake patterns and how slight geometry shifts affected acceleration during different swing paths. In the end, they created a paddle with several key features:

• Elongated shape

• Edgeless perimeter

• Aerodynamic throat cutout (a feature Selkirk first introduced in earlier models)

• PureFoam full-foam core

• All-new TPU Power Ring, created specifically for this paddle to stabilize the face and dampen vibration

• MOI Tuning System from the Boomstik for a cleaner, more forgiving sweet spot

• Two-ply carbon fiber face for control and feedback

• InfiniGrit Surface for enhanced, longer-lasting spin

This paddle is built entirely in the United States, is USA Pickleball Approved and retails for $350. There’s a catch, however: It was released in extremely limited quantities and sold out in just a few hours.

But if you really want one, they’re selling on eBay for over $1,000 … 🤯

🔗 Learn more about the controversial Selkirk x Tesla collab

TRENDING

CourtsApp, the first AI-powered marketing and booking platform built to modernize court marketing and reservations for pickleball and other racket sports, recently announced a partnership with DUPR to integrate the two platforms.

In a news release, the companies said they are building a "more more connected ecosystem for racket sports, one where every match can count toward verified player progress and help clubs attract more engaged, repeat players."

The companies share a common mission to reduce friction for players and facilities by connecting access, performance and community all in one place.

Through the partnership, CourtsApp will integrate DUPR’s universal rating system directly into its platform, enabling players to:

- Connect DUPR accounts through CourtsApp.

- Book courts on DUPR, powered by CourtsApp’s real-time availability engine.

- Record match results automatically, creating verified rating histories.

- Receive enhanced matchmaking and performance insights over time.

🔗 Learn more about the partnership between CourtsApp and DUPR

INSTRUCTION

Keep your mental focus 'inside the lines'

There are lots of lessons to be learned from watching pickleball at the highest level. The recent PPA Tour Lakeland Open in Florida was no exception.

This lesson is about the mental side of our sport – an aspect that influences much more than you may think at first (there’s a pun in there somewhere).

Names do not matter for this lesson, as the situation we’re about to describe happens all … the … time.

WHAT HAPPENED

There’s an out call. The other team thinks the ball was in, so they appeal to the referee. Referee saw the ball in. Team calling it out does not like the overrule.

So far, no big deal. But … the team that called it out cannot let the overrule go. The match is over from this point forward.

The team that called the ball out does not score another point (and the other team’s score was only at 4 after the disputed call).

STAY IN THE MOMENT TO MAXIMIZE SUCCESS

The players are entitled to disagree with the reversal. And, after the match, they can take it up with the referee powers that be. But in that moment? There is nothing to be done – except focus on what’s happening on the court … inside the lines.

Let’s set aside the fact that arguing about the call is of no use. Instead, let’s look at it from a wholly selfish standpoint: What is the best course of action for the team that called the ball out?

1. Maintain a clear division between inside and outside the lines. If it’s not going to impact a future rally, then it is not “inside the lines” and can be disregarded.

2. You are looking to the future. There is nothing to be done about the past and the past cannot impact future rallies – unless you allow it to.

3. Bring your mind back to what’s happening inside the lines. The contest you chose to engage in happens there. And keeping your focus on what matters gives you the greatest chance for success.

🔗 More tips on how to keep outside factors from impacting your play

QUICK HITS

• LOL: We all have our frenemies

• Chirp chirp: Is this trash talk fair game or unsportsmanlike?

• Crazy: Ben Johns really does have an endless bag of tricks

• WOW: Not pickleball but still incredible

• Throwback: Matt Wright and Riley Newman were trouble

• What level is this? Let us know in the comments