What’s the Score?
In a rare and powerful show of unity, the biggest organisations in pickleball have joined forces to declare war on the counterfeit paddle market. Major players including the APP Tour, PPA Tour, MLP, and USA Pickleball, issued a joint statement condemning the sale and use of fraudulent equipment. To bring the message home to consumers, the United Pickleball Association of America (UPA-A) simultaneously launched the “Don’t Trust a Fake” campaign, a humorous yet serious initiative featuring top pros like Hayden Patriquin and Tyra Black in professions they are humorously unqualified for.
Hit it deeper!
The coalition, which also includes DUPR and the World Pickleball Federation, is addressing what they call a “billion-dollar problem” in other sports like golf, which is now encroaching on pickleball. “There is no room for counterfeit paddles in the sport,” the group stated unequivocally. They emphasized that while authentic manufacturers invest heavily in safety testing and R&D, counterfeiters bypass these standards entirely, using unregulated materials that can compromise game integrity and player safety.
Jason Aspes, president of the UPA-A, highlighted the physical danger posed by these knockoffs. “We stand 14 feet away from each other,” Aspes noted, warning that untested paddles that are “wildly out of spec” can turn a pickleball into a dangerous projectile.
To combat this, the “Don’t Trust a Fake” campaign uses AI-generated imagery to make a point about expertise and trust. The campaign features absurd visuals of pickleball stars in high-stakes jobs: Kate Fahey as a tattoo artist, JW Johnson as a gemologist, and Hayden Patriquin as a psychic. The tagline drives the point home: just as you wouldn’t trust Tyra Black to pilot your aeroplane, you shouldn’t trust a knockoff paddle to perform like the real thing. The campaign aims to educate consumers that saving money on a fake paddle is a gamble with safety and performance.
The World Pickleball Verdict
This unified front is a historic moment for the pickleball industry, which is often fractured by rival tours and organizations. The fact that the APP, PPA, and MLP are signing the same statement proves that the counterfeit issue has reached a critical tipping point. This is no longer just about lost revenue for brands like JOOLA or Selkirk; it is about the liability and legitimacy of the sport.
By combining a serious institutional warning with a viral, meme-friendly marketing campaign, the industry is attacking the problem from both the top-down and the bottom-up. If they can successfully stigmatise the use of fakes among recreational players, they might be able to curb the black market before it undermines the sport’s economy.
Chris Beaumont
Founder and Editor-in-ChiefChris Beaumont is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of World Pickleball Magazine. Chris follows the global game closely, reporting on the latest news, developments, stories and tournaments from all five continents. He also hosts the World Pickleball Podcast, interviewing people at…
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