Dekel Bar: A Pickleball Odyssey from Novice to Icon
How a Tennis Pro Turned a Pandemic Pastime into a Thriving Career and Business Empire
Dekel Bar’s story in pickleball is one of grit, reinvention, and entrepreneurial flair. Once a professional tennis player sidelined by injuries, Bar stumbled into pickleball through a friend and quickly transformed it from a casual hobby into a powerhouse career. Today, he’s ranked eighth in the world on the PPA tour, a co-founder of Pickleball Getaways with Ben Johns, and the mastermind behind Pickleball 360, an instructional platform revolutionizing how players learn the game. In this engaging interview with Jack Munro, Bar reflects on his journey, the sport’s rapid evolution, and the delicate balance of pro play and business ventures—all while offering a glimpse into the mind of a true pickleball pioneer.
Interview Time Code List
- 0:00 - Intro
The interview opens with host Jack Munro welcoming Dekel Bar, reminiscing about Bar’s early days as a novice at the Triple Crown tournament. Munro highlights Bar’s rise to eighth in the world and his ventures like Pickleball Getaways and Pickleball 360.
- 3:00 - Dekel’s Tennis Background & Transition to Pickleball
Bar recounts his pro tennis career from ages 17 to 24, cut short by injuries. Introduced to pickleball by Colin Johns, he played his first tournaments in Atlanta and at Munro’s Triple Crown, sparking his love for the sport.
- 4:45 - When Pickleball Became More Than a Hobby
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Bar was stuck in the U.S. and began playing more pickleball. The sport’s growth, coupled with emerging tours like the PPA, convinced him it could be a viable career.
- 6:45 - Dekel's First Endorsement
Bar secured an initial small sponsorship with Paddletek (formerly Prince) to cover travel costs, followed by a significant deal with Engage in 2020, marking his full commitment to pickleball.
- 7:36 - The Evolution of the Game & Changing Strategies
Bar discusses how pickleball has evolved, with paddle technology driving a shift from slice-heavy play to faster, topspin-dominated strategies, transforming the game’s pace and tactics.
- 7:57 - Jack Took a 5-Year Break from Pickleball
Munro shares his own five-year hiatus from pickleball, lamenting missed opportunities as the sport advanced, contrasting his path with Bar’s continuous rise.
- 8:41 - Biggest Change: Gameplay and Tactics
Bar elaborates on gameplay shifts, noting how modern paddles enable aggressive attacks from lower positions, a stark contrast to earlier limitations, making the sport faster and more dynamic.
- 13:15 - Dekel Has Been a Top-Tier Player for a Long Period of Time
Bar credits his longevity to adaptability, evolving with the game’s changes, and consistent partnerships, maintaining his elite status despite fluctuating rankings.
- 14:47 - Pro Pickleball vs. Pickleball Business
Bar weighs his passion for pro play against his business ventures, choosing to pursue both as long as his body and motivation allow, leveraging his pro status to boost his companies.
- 17:55 - Longevity in the Sport & Avoiding Burnout
Bar admits burnout is a challenge after long tournament stretches, but he combats it with breaks, fun practice sessions, and a focus on giving 100% on the court.
- 24:28 - Pickleball Getaways: Coming Up with the Idea, Co-Founded by Ben Johns
Inspired by his travel background and Ben Johns’ clinics, Bar co-founded Pickleball Getaways in 2019, starting with a successful trip to Mexico that blended pickleball and leisure.
- 30:14 - The Growth of Pickleball Getaways
Bar details the company’s expansion to destinations like Portugal and Costa Rica, emphasizing premium coaching ratios and flexibility, balancing instruction with vacation fun.
- 32:26 - Pickleball Getaways Admin Work
Bar outlines the logistical efforts—coordinating transportation, hotels, and customer service—to ensure seamless trips, relying on a team including his mom and Ben’s sister.
- 36:53 - Balancing Pro Play with Business Ventures
Bar acknowledges the difficulty of managing his pro career and businesses, but sees synergy between them, with his pro status enhancing his ventures’ credibility.
- 38:01 - How Do You Plan to Scale Pickleball Getaways?
Bar plans to scale by adding more trips and exploring new formats, while maintaining quality through careful hiring and trip planning, avoiding over-expansion.
- 42:38 - Pickleball 360 & Expanding Instructional Content
Launched during COVID with Ben and Colin Johns, Pickleball 360 offers over 250 instructional videos. Bar aims to expand its reach through partnerships, like with Lifetime, despite time constraints.
- 47:16 - Advice for Players Looking to Build Their Brand
Bar advises pros to nurture relationships and choose business partners wisely, emphasizing that genuine connections in pickleball’s small world drive success.
Dekel Bar’s Pickleball Revolution Takes Flight
AUSTIN, Tex. — The courts at Urban Pickleball hum with energy, but today, the buzz centers on Dekel Bar, the eighth-ranked pickleball pro whose story reads like a sports fairy tale. In an electrifying sit-down with Jack Munro, Bar dishes on his ascent from tennis washout to pickleball titan—and trust me, folks, this is no ordinary comeback tale. With a paddle in one hand and a business plan in the other, Bar’s rewriting the playbook for what it means to dominate a sport on and off the court.
Picture this: a 24-year-old tennis pro, battered by injuries, hanging up his racket in Israel, unsure what’s next. Enter Colin Johns, a buddy from the tennis circuit, who drags Bar to a pickleball court in Atlanta. “I was terrible,” Bar chuckles, recalling his debut at Munro’s Triple Crown tournament. “Probably the worst player there.” Fast forward a decade, and he’s a top-tier talent, wielding a signature paddle and a game that’s as innovative as it is relentless.
Bar’s secret sauce? Adaptability. Pickleball’s morphed from a slice-and-dink affair to a topspin-charged slugfest, thanks to paddle tech that’s turned the game into a high-octane thriller. “You can attack from your shoelaces now,” Bar marvels, crediting his finger-on-the-paddle trick—a quirky grip tweak—for keeping him ahead of the curve. It’s a move that’s got rivals scrambling and fans buzzing.
But Bar’s not just a player—he’s a visionary. When COVID stranded him stateside, he didn’t just play more; he built an empire. With Ben Johns, the sport’s golden boy, he launched Pickleball Getaways in 2019, turning clinics into globe-trotting adventures. Mexico kicked it off, and now they’re packing courts in Portugal and Costa Rica with pros like Michelle Esquivel and Rob Cassidy. “It’s pickleball with a piña colada,” Bar grins. Then there’s Pickleball 360, a digital coaching goldmine born in the pandemic, boasting over 250 videos. “We’re just getting started,” he promises.
Balancing pro play and entrepreneurship isn’t for the faint-hearted, but Bar thrives on the chaos. “There’s nothing like playing a game for a living,” he says, eyes gleaming. Burnout? Sure, it creeps in after 10-week road stints, but a break and some heckle-filled practice with Munro and pals at the lab keep him fired up. His advice to rising stars? “Build real relationships. This sport’s small—good people pay off.”
Dekel Bar’s not just riding pickleball’s wave—he’s steering it. With every swing and every venture, he’s proving this isn’t just a sport; it’s a movement. And he’s leading the charge, one paddle at a time.
From Tennis Sidelines to Pickleball Stardom: Dekel Bar’s Winning Playbook
A Pro’s Journey Through a Booming Sport and the Businesses Redefining It
In the shaded oasis of Urban Pickleball in Austin, Dekel Bar sits across from Jack Munro, his journey unfolding like a highlight reel of resilience and ambition. Once a tennis pro felled by injuries, Bar found redemption in pickleball, rising to the world’s eighth-ranked player on the PPA tour. But his story doesn’t stop at the baseline. Co-founding Pickleball Getaways with Ben Johns and launching Pickleball 360, Bar has turned a pastime into a thriving career and a pair of game-changing businesses. This in-depth interview dives into his transition, the sport’s explosive growth, and how he’s juggling pro play with entrepreneurial hustle—all while staying atop a sport that’s rewriting its own rules.
Dekel Bar’s Pickleball Empire Rises
Dekel Bar’s voice crackles with nostalgia as he leans into the mic, the Austin skyline framing the scene at Urban Pickleball. “I quit tennis at 24,” he tells Jack Munro, “and I was lost.” Injuries had derailed a promising career that began at age nine, leaving him searching for a spark. That spark came via Colin Johns, a tennis pal who lured him to a pickleball court in Atlanta. “My first tournament was a mess,” Bar admits, laughing. “Then I hit the Triple Crown at your family’s place—barely a 3.0, maybe the worst there.” Yet, beneath the novice flubs, something clicked.
That click turned into a roar during the COVID-19 lockdown. Stranded in the U.S. after a getaway trip, Bar dove into pickleball, playing relentlessly as the sport ballooned. “The tours started—PPA, APP—and I saw it,” he says. “This could be legit.” A small endorsement from Paddletek covered flights; then Engage came calling in 2020, sealing his shift from hobbyist to pro. Today, he’s eighth in the world, a testament to his knack for evolving with a sport in overdrive.
Pickleball’s transformation fascinates Bar. “It’s night and day,” he says, tracing the shift from slice-heavy dinking to a game of blistering topspin and low attacks. Paddle tech’s the culprit, he explains, enabling shots once unthinkable. His own innovation—a finger resting high on the paddle—boosts control and flexibility, a trick he stumbled into and perfected. “It’s stability and wrist action,” he notes, a detail that’s kept him elite as peers like Kyle Yates pivoted elsewhere.
But Bar’s legacy isn’t just on-court. In 2019, he and Ben Johns hatched Pickleball Getaways, blending his travel roots—his mom’s a consultant—with Johns’ star power. “We started in Mexico,” he recalls. “People loved it.” Now, they’re shuttling 32 to 80 players to spots like Spain and Costa Rica, with pros like Preston Bui coaching at a luxe 1:5 ratio. “It’s instruction, then beach time—or eight hours of play if you want,” Bar says. The admin grind—hotels, shuttles, client quirks—falls to a team including his mom and Johns’ sister Georgia, ensuring every trip dazzles.
Then there’s Pickleball 360, born in COVID’s quiet days with Ben and Colin Johns. “People were stuck home, needing coaching,” Bar explains. From 50 videos, it’s grown to over 250, a library he plans to expand via partnerships like Lifetime. “We’ve got ideas—just need the right promoter,” he admits, juggling it with pro commitments.
That juggling act defines Bar. “Playing’s the best job,” he insists, despite burnout after grueling stretches like 10 weeks on the road. Breaks, solo downtime, and rowdy lab sessions with Munro keep him sane. His pro status fuels his businesses, drawing fans to trips and tutorials. Scaling Getaways means more trips, not bigger ones, he says—quality over quantity. For 360, it’s about eyeballs, a challenge he’s tackling next.
Bar’s wisdom for pros? “Relationships matter. Pick good people—you’ll get burned, but you’ll learn.” In pickleball’s tight-knit world, that’s gold. As the sport surges—facilities popping up, AI looming—Bar’s poised to lead, paddle in hand, ideas ablaze.
Summary
Dekel Bar’s interview with Jack Munro unveils a journey from tennis pro to pickleball luminary. After injuries ended his tennis career at 24, Bar discovered pickleball through Colin Johns, evolving from a shaky novice to the PPA’s eighth-ranked player. His adaptability shines—mastering a finger-on-the-paddle technique amid a sport revolutionized by paddle tech, shifting from slices to aggressive topspin play. Beyond the court, Bar co-founded Pickleball Getaways with Ben Johns in 2019, turning travel and coaching into a premium experience across global destinations. He also launched Pickleball 360 during COVID, growing it into a 250-video instructional hub with expansion plans. Balancing pro play and business, Bar fights burnout with breaks and passion, leveraging his status to boost both ventures. His advice—build authentic relationships—reflects a philosophy driving his success in a booming sport ripe with opportunity.
