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Who is the most powerful person in pickleball?
Reviewing the new Paddletek that launched TODAY
For those who have been following the unveiling of our first-ever Pickleball Power 50 list, today is the final day — below we reveal Nos. 1-5 on the list.
These five people don’t just influence the sport. They are the sport. They are owners of the largest pro tour, the most recognizable stars in the game and the CEO of the biggest equipment manufacturer. Without these five, there is no modern pro pickleball. This is the top of the pyramid.
Also in this issue:
We’re giving away a new Six Zero Coral paddle 🙌
This Anna Bright ATP is A++ 😮
PPA Tour Masters was most-watched pickleball broadcast ever 🤯
Reviewing the new Paddletek that launched TODAY 🤓
Let’s get cookin’. 🧑🍳
NEW YEAR, NEW GEAR
We’re giving away a new Six Zero Coral paddle
To celebrate the New Year we are partnering with Six Zero to give away a brand new Six Zero Coral pickleball paddle.
HOW TO ENTER
LIKE this post
TAG a few friends (every tag is a new entry!)
FOLLOW @thekitchenpickleball and @sixzeropickleball
SHARE this post to your stories
***YOU MUST COMPLETE ALL STEPS TO BE ELIGIBLE***
Giveaway ends on Wednesday, 1/28!
🔗 Shop the Six Zero Coral here — use code “KITCHEN” at checkout for 10% off
HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK
This Anna Bright ATP was top-tier
Christian Alshon and Tyra Black claimed their first PPA Tour gold medal together at this weekend’s Indoor National Championships in Minnesota.
Their Championship Sunday match against Anna Bright and Hayden Patriquin had plenty of highlights, but this ATP by Bright was arguably the shot of the weekend.
It was initially called out by Alshon/Black, but after video review the call was overturned. Bright knew right away that she made it. 😅
🔗 Check out this highlight on Instagram, Facebook or TikTok
PICKLEBALL POWER 50
Who is the most powerful person in pickleball?
We recently launched our Pickleball Power 50 series, a ranking of the most influential people in pickleball. The list includes investors, CEOs, players, league executives, team owners, creators, podcasters, operators and more.
Today we dropped Nos. 1-5. At the top are the owners and architects — the people who control the capital and the assets that matter most. Behind them are the two forces everything else orbits around — the biggest stars in the sport. Tying it together is the equipment and commercial engine.
1. Tom Dundon – The largest investor in pickleball, Tom holds majority ownership of the PPA, Major League Pickleball, Pickleball Central, PickleballTournaments.com, and other core assets. Through capital deployment, strategic relationships, and direct mentorship of PPA founder Connor Pardoe, he has played a central role in professionalizing and scaling the sport.
2. Connor Pardoe – The CEO of Pickleball Inc. and original founder of the PPA Tour, he built the first scalable professional pickleball tour. Connor’s vision and leadership helped transform the sport from a recreational pastime into a credible professional product, elevating media production, commercial scale, and institutional investor interest.
3. Anna Leigh Waters – The No. 1 women’s pickleball player in the world, she is the most dominant force of the modern era, holding the top ranking across singles, doubles, and mixed. A record-setting champion and teenage prodigy, Anna Leigh has become the face of professional pickleball and a primary voice for national media coverage.
4. Ben Johns – The No. 1 men’s pickleball player in the world, Ben has been a foundational supporter of the PPA Tour and a decisive factor in its success during the Tour Wars. Widely regarded as the most dominant player in the sport’s history, he has redefined the modern pro game while elevating equipment standards through his JOOLA partnership.
5. Richard Lee – The CEO of JOOLA, Richard leveraged the brand’s dominance in table tennis to enter pickleball and build the sport’s most influential equipment company. By signing Ben Johns, alongside aggressive player recruitment, product innovation, and global scale, he reshaped how pickleball is played, marketed, and commercialized.
THE PROS
PPA Tour Masters was the most-watched pickleball broadcast ever
This month’s PPA Tour Masters made history as the most-watched pickleball broadcast in the sport's history, according to the tour.
The Championship Sunday 2-hour broadcast window on CBS, which featured the men's doubles final (Ben Johns/Gabe Tardio vs. Hayden Patriquin/Christian Alshon) and part of the women's doubles final (Anna Leigh Waters/Anna Bright vs. Jackie Kawamoto/Jade Kawamoto) had 1.05 million peak viewers 791,000 average viewers.
The broadcast outperformed several other major sporting events in the same time window, including an NBA game, Premier League soccer and men's and women's NCAA basketball.
"The future is extremely bright, and this momentum is only the beginning," said PPA Tour Founder and CEO Connor Pardoe. "We are still in the early stages, and I’m more motivated than ever to keep pushing forward together. Fully committed to growing pickleball and taking it to the next level."
GEAR
Paddletek launches new 'Reserve' program, releases first full-foam paddle
Following last month's announcement of the creation of Paddletek Group, which unites Paddletek, ProXR and Yobow under one brand, the company is launching a new program meant to give players an early look at the latest paddle technology in the game.
The Paddletek Reserve campaign will offer "limited-release paddles" showcasing the "latest breakthroughs coming straight from Paddletek's product experts and engineers, catching attention in our labs and on the court."
The first paddle that is part of the program was released Tuesday -- it's called the Reserve Honeyfoam and features a "multi-foam floating core that is designed to expand the sweet spot and lengthen dwell time."
Full-foam paddles have flooded the market since last summer, but the Reserve Honeyfoam has a unique design that gives it a much more plush feel on contact than many existing foam paddles, which can feel stiff and harsh compared to prior paddles that used a polypropylene core.
Here’s what’s under the hood:
PU Foam: This dampening foam is placed around the entire perimeter of the paddle to boost stability and forgiveness.
EVA Foam: Forming a U shape around the top half of the paddle, this energy boosting foam increases power and dwell time.
EPP Foam: The floating foam core delivers an exponential power response, meaning the more you put into a swing, the more you will get out of the paddle.
🔗 Shop the Paddletek Reserve Honeyfoam — Use code "KITCHEN" at checkout for 10% off
QUICK HITS
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