Pickleball Predictions: Stars Align for Sport's Breakout Year
Ready for a smash year ahead, hosts of popular podcast ‘This Pickleball Life’ serve up spicy forecasts
As we head into 2024 filled with possibility, passion for pickleball continues to soar exponentially by all metrics. But what’s in store for the booming sport this year? Will long-simmering issues get resolved? What new challengers will disrupt the game?
Podcast hosts Jill Braverman and Kristin Walla have their paddles locked and loaded to return serves on what’s ahead. The Southern California duo bring infectious energy analyzing hot topics in their hit show “This Pickleball Life,” covering everything from gear reviews to gripping personal stories.
In their latest episode, the hosts rally through a series of bold predictions for 2024 with plenty of spin on the ball. Below are some highlights from their lively exchange:
No Merger in Sight
Despite hopes a unified tour emerges from negotiations between the PPA and MLP leagues, Jill argues their deal making DNA won’t change. She recounts team owners who support the concept but not the current terms. “We’d like a merger to happen but under fair terms,” they told her privately. Though many involved likely aim for unity, Jill invokes the fable “The Scorpion and the Frog” to explain why an accord remains elusive.
Leadership Upheaval Coming
Regardless of any merger, both leagues face imminent turnover at the top in Jill’s view. Major media revelations loom that could spur additional resignations beyond recent exits. This poses the question: where will qualified leaders come from? Kristin notes top team investors from other sports offer deep expertise to tap into. They agree without paying salaries on par with those leagues though, filling roles competitively stays challenging.
College Play Cultivates Junior Talent
Kristin forecasts junior play rising significantly as college-level pickleball grows. Scholarship potential will prompt more youth enrollment and coaching. Various groups now run competing student tournaments, though unified structure is still missing. As Kristin learned operating a universal tennis rating system, securing junior ecosystem converts families and shapes serious players’ pathways.
APA Eyes Freedom With Upstarts
Despite past ridicule, the amateur-driven APP Tour could thrive as a catch-all for emerging talent according to Jill. Their positioning caters to anyone not feeling welcome within the evolving restrictions of prominent leagues. As long as newcomers keep appearing, APA provides a vibrant alternative outlet for competition—key for player development.
Vulcan Deal Diagnosis
In case you missed it, ball manufacturer Vulcan Pickleball landed "official" status with PPA via a landmark $10M three-year sponsorship pact. How feasible is their ROI? Jill crunches the numbers, determining nearly 170,000 players would need to buy just over $20 worth of balls annually to justify the deal. Kristin notes the typical 200K active tournament players, admitting some factors remain unclear on whether the relationship will be profitable for Vulcan.
Passing Shots & Mental Toughness
In a recurring advice segment, Jill consults Kristin on battling nerves during singles matches when her passing accuracy wavers. Kristin thoughtfully urges focusing on process over results, confidence following decisive execution of one’s strategy. “Aim at nothing and you’ll hit it every time,” she reminds. Importantly, self-compassion allows more room for error as perfectionism often backfires by breeding inconsistency caused by tension.
Summary
Those represent just a few highlights within the far-ranging 50+ minute discussion. Jill and Kristin tackle numerous other matters like debut of drug testing policies, their 2024 teaching schedules, payment concerns given league uncertainties, the resilience of the Association of Pickleball Players, gear deals and so much more.
True to the motto they plan to uphold in 2024, the hosts continue “doubling down on what works” while covering pickleball’s daily drama and wins with humor and wisdom drawn from personal experience.
As Kristin notes about the sport’s future: “Maybe that’s just the new norm—the cycle of pickleball!” Indeed, while everyone featured surely shares the goal of propelling broader growth, some conflict seems inevitable amid clashing incentives. Still, listening to Jill and Kristin banter about their passion makes one believe that pickleball will only skyrocket upward as conversations continue.
However the action unfolds on the courts, the hosts' enduring ethos of "Pickleball is Joy" continues to shape their positive outlook and connect with their inspirational multi-generational audience.
- 0:00 Coming up in the pod
- 1:50 New Year, Old You
- 3:37 Red Car Theory
- 5:10 ICYM - Carvana, tennis & pathways
- 7:35 Is there a new ball on tour?
- 9:56 Pro Tennis Players Association
- 15:00 Personal Catching Up: Illness, 2024 Calendar
- 18:55 Will MLP pay its players?
- 20:06 Book Review
- 21:19 Theme of the Day: Scorpion & the Frog
- 23:06 2024 Predictions for the Win #1 No Merger
- 24:34 Prediction #2: New Leadership at MLP/PPA
- 28:04 Prediction #3: Drug Testing
- 31:37 Prediction #4: APP
- 34:27 Prediction #5: Junior Pickleball
- 38:29 Biggest Pod Giveaway Ever
- 40:41 Next Up Tournaments: Masters
- 44:43 Will there be prize money?
- 45:57 MLP Extra Players
- 46:23 Do you have a ball?
- 47:10 Aim at nothing and you’ll hit it: Dear KW
15 Question Multiple Choice Quiz
What is the title of the podcast?
a) This Pickleball Podcast
b) The Pickleball Show
c) This Pickleball Life
d) Jill and Kristin's Pickleball Podcast
What is Jill and Kristin's motto for 2023?
a) Try new things
b) Set ambitious goals
c) Double down on what worked
d) Pickleball is life
What does the "red car theory" refer to?
a) Once you buy a red car, you get pulled over more
b) Once you notice something, you see it everywhere
c) Red cars drive faster
d) Red cars are unlucky
What company saw its stock price increase the most in 2022?
a) Margaritaville
b) Carvana
c) Franklin
d) Selkirk
What influential tennis player started the Professional Tennis Players Association?
a) Serena Williams
b) Roger Federer
c) Rafael Nadal
d) Novak Djokovic
What does Jill predict will NOT happen in 2024?
a) Drug testing in pickleball
b) A merger between PPA and MLP
c) More focus on junior pickleball
d) New leadership at PPA and MLP
What book did Jill read and finish in 12 hours?
a) The Midnight Library
b) Pickleball Dreams
c) Greenlights
d) Range
What is the theme of the day related to the notion you cannot change innate character?
a) The turtle and the scorpion
b) The frog and the scorpion
c) The frog and the turtle
d) The scorpion and the frog
What does Jill predict about Vulcan becoming the official ball of the PPA tour?
a) The $10 million deal will easily pay for itself
b) Not enough recreational players will buy the balls
c) The pros do not like the ball enough
d) There are durability issues with the balls
What is Kristin's "nootropic" supplement meant to help with?
a) Inflammation
b) Energy
c) Mental clarity and focus
d) Pickleball performance
Where is Jill teaching pickleball clinics in 2024?
a) Mexico and Indian Wells
b) Spain and Indian Wells
c) Mexico and Northern California
d) Northern California and Dallas
What is Kristin's advice to Jill about staying confident in singles play when missing shots?
a) Aim smaller
b) Get tense
c) Aim at nothing
d) Hit safer shots
How many players will be on MLP Premier vs Challenger teams?
a) 6 players on both
b) 5 players on Premier, 6 players on Challenger
c) 4 players on Premier, 6 players on Challenger
d) 4 players on both
What ball does Kristin recommend having on hand for practice so you do not need to ask others?
a) Onix Fuse
b) Gamma Pickleball
c) Wilson
d) Neo Slick Vega 40
What is the giveaway prize for commenting 2024 predictions on YouTube?
a) 5 products to 5 people
b) 10 products to 10 people
c) 20 products to 20 people
d) 1 lifetime supply of balls to 1 person
Answer Key:
- c
- c
- b
- b
- d
- b
- a
- d
- a
- c
- c
- c
- c
- d
- b
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