Telling Pickleball’s greatest stories through the lens of data.
In a heartfelt Instagram post, Anna Leigh Waters recently honored her mother's remarkable legacy in pickleball.
"Growing up I always looked up to her, not only as a person but also as an amazing athlete who was once was ranked #1 in the world in pickleball in 2019! She doesn’t get enough credit for her pickleball skills! She changed the way pickleball was played. Truly a pioneer of the sport!"
This Mother’s Day, DUPR joins Anna Leigh in honoring the mother of modern pickleball, Leigh Waters.
Traditionally characterized by a gentle finesse, pickleball experienced a transformative shift with Leigh Waters’ entry into professional play. Along with her then twelve-year-old daughter, Anna Leigh, the Waters burst onto the professional pickleball scene and changed it forever.
Leigh and Anna Leigh’s pickleball journey began amidst the upheaval of Hurricane Irma in 2017. While seeking refuge with Leigh's father in Pennsylvania, he introduced them to pickleball, igniting a passion that led them to enter their first tournament shortly after returning to Florida.
As a former tennis player on a full scholarship at the University of South Carolina, Leigh’s background brought out a fierce, unapologetic style to the pickleball court.
Recalling their early days, Leigh reminisces, "Everyone was still just playing the soft game, and here I am with Anna Leigh, ripping balls, driving, crashing the next ball—we took a lot of people off guard."
Anna Leigh adds, "People would tell my mom to ease up, but she stood her ground, saying, ‘No, this is working; I'm beating you. Why would I change?’ If asked to slow down, she just hit the ball even harder."
By 2022, Team Waters had become the #1 team in women's doubles in the Professional Pickleball Association (PPA). However, in November Leigh suffered an ACL injury at Nationals, temporarily halting her competitive pursuits.
Initially disheartened, Leigh found solace in coaching during her recovery, nurturing Anna Leigh's talent and watching her thrive.
“I started realizing that this is the best thing for her. This felt like it was her journey. Being there for her and being able to take it all in as a parent rather than a teammate. And I actually found that I loved coaching and didn't really miss the competition. I missed the rec play and all that, like playing with your friends and training, but I didn't really miss the grind of the tournament schedule.”
Reflecting on her mother's pivotal influence, Anna Leigh shares, “I definitely don't think I would be the player I am today without my mom's coaching and strategy. I mean, she's really good at coaching, but she's amazing at strategy. She can look at a player and give you their weaknesses and strengths by watching them for five minutes. It's crazy.”
Their reunion at the US Open this year marked a triumphant return for Team Waters. However, they have no plans to resume a full tournament schedule together.
Anna Leigh expresses, "She's not just an athlete; she's a mother, coach, wife, and daughter. She does so many things for our family, and she still somehow has time for herself and everybody else. I'm just so proud of her."
This Mother's Day, let's celebrate Leigh Waters—a trailblazing athlete, devoted coach, and loving mother—whose resilience, passion, and unwavering support continue to inspire us all.
By Alana Jackler
How is DUPR planning to integrate with other platforms? Will matches be entered retroactively or only for matches going forward?
Answer: Many platforms, events, and leagues integrate with DUPR to make it simple for all your results to count toward your rating. In most cases, matches recorded on third-party platforms, events, or leagues on or after integrating with DUPR will count towards players’ ratings. Some systems will also submit match results that occurred before the integration with DUPR to count towards players’ ratings. For more details, we recommend speaking directly with your event/league organizer or contacting our support team.
Note - DUPR’s rating system places more weight on your most recent results, and as time passes, your past results have less of an impact on your rating. To read more about this, please visit our Rating FAQ page here.
Are DUPR ratings affected by playing different game types like doubles and mixed doubles, or self-reported matches vs. tournament matches?
Answer: The weight of any match is determined by the method of score submission: self-reported scores will have a lower weight on your DUPR-rating than a score submitted by a tournament organizer/club. The game type (same-gender doubles, mixed doubles, singles, etc.) does not affect the weight of the match. DUPR provides both your singles and doubles rating, and matches played in those formats against players of all genders and ages are factored into the rating. What makes DUPR unique is that it provides a unifying language and standard for pickleball players across age and gender to evaluate their skill level on the same scale. Every match affects your rating, regardless of who you are playing with and against.
How does DUPR compare to other rating systems, and what changes are being made to improve its effectiveness?
Answer: DUPR is the most accurate and reliable global pickleball rating system, trusted by leagues, clubs, tournaments and players around the world. As the pickleball community grows larger and more results are entered into our system, our dedicated team of data scientists are hard at work making improvements and updates to the system to ensure that DUPR is providing the most accurate and reliable assessment of level. Here are the key things to know about the rating:
Here’s what the rating evaluates:
For more on the rating, please visit our rating FAQs or read this deepdive from Scott Mendelssohn, DUPR’s Head of Analytics.
How is DUPR preventing players from manipulating their ratings?
Answer: DUPR enforces our (Community Guidelines) for all players, which states that players may not manipulate ratings, results, or data in any manner. Players who violate these guidelines are restricted or suspended from the platform accordingly.
Based on our analysis, the vast majority of the DUPR community operates with integrity, and this personal integrity is what connects all players, keeping our rating accurate and valuable to everyone. Of course, as in life, there are instances where players have tried to game the system, and our team works hard behind the scenes to identify and prevent these bad actors from impacting our system. We are constantly improving our methodologies and performing checks on our data to identify behavior that violates our Community Guidelines.
You can report any violations by emailing support@mydupr.com.
What measures are being taken to address the concerns about sandbagging?
Answer: Sandbagging, or deliberately playing below one’s actual ability, is unfortunately a problem that exists across many sports, including pickleball. Sandbagging in pickleball will occur when a player purposefully plays below their true level so they have a chance to play in a future event against players they believe they can beat. Sandbagging has no place in DUPR’s community, and our rating system actively works to identify and flag sandbagging to event organizers and tournament directors.
Sandbagging occurs more frequently in events where organizers are not checking players’ DUPR ratings and are instead relying on self-ratings. We encourage players to join DUPR clubs and play in level-based tournaments that are organized using DUPR which makes it much more difficult for sandbagging to occur.
Why do recreational matches count towards my DUPR? Aren’t they less accurate and easily rigged?
Answer: In order to provide a full view of your skill level, DUPR looks at results across all types of play, including self-posted scores. There are many players who do not compete in competitive leagues or tournaments, and by accepting self-posted scores, we are able to make the community more inclusive and accessible for pickleball players everywhere to have a DUPR rating. Whether it’s a recreational match or a tournament match, all scores provide valuable data points to accurately assess a player’s skill level.
For players who also participate in club or tournament events, scores from self-posted matches carry less weight than those from the club or tournament events. We are constantly monitoring our data to make sure that it maintains the quality dictated by our Community Guidelines.
Still curious on more FAQS and how the algo plays with your rating? Visit our latest Algo FAQS Here.
Here is all the information you need regarding our integration with Pickleball Tournaments and Pickleball Brackets.
Will DUPR be integrated into Pickleball Tournaments/Pickleball Brackets with results automatically uploaded and integrated into DUPR?
Will players need a DUPR to register for events on Pickleball Tournaments/Pickleball Brackets?
What steps should players take to ensure their profiles and results are integrated?
When will the integration process begin, and when can we expect it to be completed?
Will past results be considered along with new results after the integration is finished?
Will players be prevented from registering for brackets below their DUPR rating to prevent sandbagging?
Will Pickleball Brackets switch from CTPR ratings to DUPR for Pickleball Canada sanctioned tournaments?
Will mixed doubles and same-gender doubles be rated separately by DUPR?
Leave your question at Pickleball Play Solutions or reach out to us HERE.
Leagues Nationwide Are Adopting Standard Pickleball Rating System To Enhance Competition With Level-Based Play, More Opportunities to Compete and Grow Participation
As amateur pickleball competition continues to gain momentum – both in opportunities to compete and in the number of players participating – leagues across the country are partnering with DUPR (Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating) to enhance opportunities for amateur players to compete, showcase their skills and even win prize money.
La Cocina, Honcho Pickleball League, National Team Pickleball League (NTPL) and World Pickleball Tour (WPT) are just a few of the amateur leagues that have recently partnered with DUPR. The technology platform has solidified its status as the go-to-solution for the largest amateur leagues and tours in the sport, collaborating with local pickleball leaders to support level-based competition for hundreds of thousands of players and the overall growth of the game here in the United States and worldwide.
“The adoption of DUPR by these leading pickleball leagues marks a major milestone in unifying the leading amateur tours and eliminating barriers to gameplay. League organizers and players are the heart of the game, and offering our technology and rating system can help to further enhance their efforts, support local play and make the sport even more fun,” said Tito Machado, DUPR CEO.
DUPR offers organizers the ability to use its accurate, reliable rating to organize competitive, level-based matches, and use its community platform to reach hundreds of thousands of pickleball players to highlight their leagues and upcoming events. Most importantly, players benefit from competing against others at their level for an even better experience.
With 3,184 players across 12 states and 20 active venue partners, Honcho Pickleball League is also relying on DUPR to grow the sport and foster connections. “We are excited to dive into this relationship with DUPR,” said Chris Mott, Chief Revenue Officer of Honcho Pickleball League. “Their support not only provides us with one of the largest, most detailed player databases in the sport but also aligns with our mission to provide exceptional pickleball experiences and development opportunities for our players. We look forward to a fruitful relationship that brings added excitement and competition to our communities across the nation.”
The adoption of DUPR by these amateur leagues marks a move towards unifying the game under one common language and standard. When players have DUPR, they not only can experience more competitive play within their leagues, but are now part of a global pickleball community, enabling them to find level-based play wherever they are. Amateur leagues that use DUPR include:
To join the global pickleball community and support your league with level-based play, please visit www.dupr.com.
DUPR (Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating); The Registry of Pickleball Professionals (RRPk), the pickleball arm of the International Coaches Institute; and Tyson McGuffin, a world top ten singles and doubles pickleball professional, today announced a co-venture to support the career development of professional pickleball coaches and organizers with a new series of educational programs and certification courses. While pickleball continues its rapid growth in the United States and around the world, professional coaches and organizers have yet to be supported with formalized training and tools to introduce and teach the sport to their communities.
Now, pulling from DUPR’s technology and ratings, RPPk’s expertise in education and training, and McGuffin’s experience as a professional player and instructor, the new courses, accessible via RPPk, will provide coaching professionals with certified pickleball training, instruction and resources to further their professional development. “As pickleball grows, the sport needs foundational training and resources for coaches to grow the sport effectively in the US and worldwide,” said Luis Mediero, President of the Registry of Pickleball Professionals (RPPk). “Working with Tyson and DUPR enables us to provide coaches with valuable training and technology that will positively impact their pickleball programs. These courses will empower professionals to successfully implement pickleball events and play, offer opportunities to grow in their careers and even train others to become certified coaches.”
Tyson McGuffin, world-number 4 and triple crown champion, added, “As a player and professional I’ve been looking for opportunities to spread my knowledge and technical insights as a coach and professional in the game. I’m thrilled to partner with DUPR and RPPk to support my fellow professionals with the latest foundational tools, training and resources to support their career development and growth of the game we all love. While these courses are not yet a finished product we are collectively aiming, over time, to have the most robust and authentic certification offerings available.”
The program offers certification for those looking to advance their general pickleball professional acumen, featuring certification courses in coaching beginner, advanced and competitive players, as well as elite certification programs to equip leaders in the space with the tools to train others to help grow the game.
“Professionals are the lifeblood of the game, and we are committed to providing the training, tools and technology to grow pickleball and make the experience fun and exciting so players keep coming back to the court,” said Tito Machado, DUPR CEO. “Our focus at DUPR is to bring accessible, easy-to-understand technology and analytics to pickleball to unify the sport across age, gender and location with a simple rating system. We are honored to work with RPPk and Tyson to support professionals and the growth of the game worldwide.”
This partnership aims to formalize global standards for professional pickleball certification and education. Together, the organizations are developing the following programs to be released later this year:
About International Coaches Institute & RPPkThe International Coaches Institute (ICI) is the first and largest international organization dedicated to offering educational programs, international certification and comprehensive professional services to tennis, golf, padel, fitness and pickleball teaching professionals through their respective Professional Registries.
The ICI currently has +50,000 qualified coaches in 130 countries, and since its foundation in 1989, it has trained +100,000 sports coaches. For more information visit: www.icisports.org / www.RPPickleball.org
About DUPR DUPR (Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating) is the premier global pickleball rating system and technology platform, trusted by the world’s leading clubs, tournaments, leagues and players. DUPR’s dynamic rating system unifies pickleball across age, gender and location by analyzing match results to accurately evaluate all players across a 2.000 - 8.000 scale. Players and operators can visit www.mydupr.com to sign up and learn more.
About Tyson McGuffinTyson McGuffin has captured the attention of fans and peers alike, establishing himself as a true icon in the world of pickleball. Tyson is a two-time US Open Champion, a five time National Champion, a 12 time PPA Champion and a two time Triple Crown winner. Tyson holds steadfast to his three pillars of Athlete, Dad and Coach. When Tyson is not competing he enjoys spending time with his family, going on hikes, working out, vacationing with his wife Megan, and soaking up special moments with their four children. For more information visit: www.tysonmcguffin.com
Find out more about the courses and how to get certified here.
Prepare for an epic showdown as The Dink Minor League Pickleball announces seven thrilling tournaments! With 12 to 16 teams per division, each Regional Showdown promises fierce competition. The stakes are high, and the first-place team of each division takes home a Dream Ticket, automatically qualifying them for the 2024 National Championship!
Discover the 7 Regional Showdown Locations
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The Regional Showdowns span the nation, offering aspiring players from all corners of the country an equal opportunity to showcase their skills and play for a chance to secure the coveted Dream Ticket to the National Championship. Learn how you can earn points at Regional Showdowns to climb the National Leaderboard.
Take a look and sign up for a Regional Showdown near you!
Explore Regional Showdown Divisions and Pricing
Offered Divisions: 12*, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22* (*DUPR 12 and 22 are only available in specific locations)
Price: $100-$150
Unleash the Rewards: What Players Can Expect
Northeast Regional Showdown Hosted by All State Pickleball League
Date: July 20th
Venue: Bounce
City, State: Malvern, Pennsylvania
Divisions: 12, 14, 16, 18
Midsouth Regional Showdown Hosted by OPC & Pickleball Kingdom
Date: July 27th & 28th
Venue: Pickleball Kingdom Plano
City, State: Plano, Texas
Divisions: 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22
Midwest Regional Showdown Hosted by iPickle Nation and Sponsored by JustPaddles
Date: August 10th
Venue: PickleCon (Kansas City Convention Center)
City, State: Kansas City, Missouri
Divisions: 12, 14, 16, 18, 20
West Coast Regional Showdown Hosted by Carmen Sanz Pickleball Club
Date: August 31st
Venue: Willow Pass Community Park in Concord
City, State: Concord, California
Divisions: 12, 14, 16, 18, 20
Northwest Regional Hosted BY ZZ2 Pickleball
Date: September 7th & 8th
Venue: Caverlero MidHigh School
City, State: Lake Stevens, Washington
Divisions: 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22
Southwest Regional Showdown Hosted by iPickle Nation and Sponsored by JustPaddles
Date: October 5th & 6th, 2024
Venue: Picklemall ~ Tempe
City, State: Tempe, Arizona
Divisions: 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22
Southeast Regional Showdown Hosted by All Florida Pickleball
Date: November 9th & 10th
Venue: Lone Palm Country Club
City, State: Lakeland, Florida
Divisions: 14, 16, 18, 20
To learn more about The Dink Minor League Pickleball, visit the website. Visit our blog for more information on the 2024 National Championship. Sign up for a The Dink Minor League Pickleball event now to get on the National Leaderboard and start your journey toward Nationals!
Orlando Advanced Pickleball (OAP) started as a small community of pickleballers, to now having cultivated a huge group of pickleball enthusiasts in Florida, boasting over 3,900 members. OAP, founded in April 2023, joined DUPR in October, is not only encouraging level base play, but also about making a positive impact on the environment.
Beyond the court, OAP is committed to sustainability through their pioneering pickleball recycling program in Florida. By converting worn-out pickleballs into functional zip ties, OAP has diverted over 225 lbs of pickleballs from landfills, equating to over 1,500 pickleballs recycled and counting. "We're not just about playing; we're about fostering a thriving pickleball culture", says Dave John, founder of OAP. Strategic bins have been placed across key locations in Central Florida, with plans for expansion pending local government approval. In the meantime, individuals are encouraged to transport their worn-out balls to courts equipped with recycling bins to help preserve the environment and support OAP's mission to ensure pickleballs don't end up in landfills, both for the sake of environmental responsibility and for the legacy future generations of pickleball enthusiasts.
“We're committed to ensuring pickleball don't end up in landfills, both for the sake of environmental responsibility and for the legacy we leave for future generations of pickleball enthusiasts,” Dave adds. The organization is also hosting a Fundraising Tournament in June, to raise money for the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida, that already has over 220 registrants!
Founded just a year ago, OAP wasted no time in partnering with DUPR shortly after its inception. “Recognizing that DUPR is the pinnacle of accuracy and consistency in pickleball rating systems, OAP swiftly joined forces. Now, OAP is preparing for upcoming events, ensuring that scores are entered into DUPR”, Dave confirms.
The OAP Team recognized the importance of recycling pickleballs after noticing many damaged balls being thrown away in trash cans at courts. Standard recycling facilities cannot process thermoplastic molded resin, the material pickleballs are made from, so OAP took the initiative to ensure these balls do not end up in landfills.
“Every contribution helps our collective efforts” David adds. “We can help save the world, one pickleball at a time." Whether it is through league participation, tournament play, merchandise purchases, lessons, or donations, all of it helps towards the goal of a more environmentally efficient pickleball community.
OAP operates their recycling initiative without any financial gain, emphasizing their dedication to making a difference in the environment and the pickleball community. As a relatively new organization, OAP has quickly established itself in the pickleball world through partnerships with organizations like DUPR for accurate rating systems and innovative initiatives like pickleball recycling.
Learn more about Orlando Advanced Pickleball here.
The 2nd annual College Individual Championship is coming up fast! Get ready for the CINC tournament, where students from schools all over the country compete for the title.
Dates: June 1st-2nd, 2024
Location: The Pickle Lodge, 7373 Kingsgate Way, West Chester Township, OH 45069
If you want to stay in the area, here is the tournament hotel link. You will need to create an account with Pivot to use it.
Pricing
Who Can Participate?
Scholarship Money
*Breakdown per event
1st place $1000 per player
2nd place $500 per player
3rd & 4th place $250 per player
5th - 8th place $125 per player
In total, there will be $20,000 awarded!
Tournament Format
All events will start with group play, and then the top 8 teams from group play will advance to the single elimination playoffs to determine the 2024 National Collegiate Champion for that particular event. All players in all events are guaranteed at least 4 group play games. The groups will be seeded to have an even amount of DUPR in each group.
Players can play in 1, 2, or all 3 events, they are not limited to just singles or just doubles.Group play games will be 1 to 21, win by 2, rally scoring. Playoff games will be 2/3 to 21, win by 2, rally scoring.Times are subject to change based on registration numbers. Bids will not be awarded at this event.
How to Sign Up?
Click the link here to be taken to the registration page on DUPR. All players will sign up for the tournament with their DUPR account.
2023 CINC Champions
About Collegiate Pickleball
DUPR brings the excitement of professional level leagues to colleges all across the US with eight Super Regional events and both a team and individual National Championship. Learn more about the recently concluded Virginia and Georgia Super Regionals!
The only way to improve your pickleball skills and reach your full potential is through structured practice and consistent competitive play. However, injuries and chronic pain are preventing some pickleball players from reaching their full potential on the court, leading to frustration and missed opportunities to enjoy the game they love.
UBS reports that in 2023 alone, there were almost $400 million in injury claims. But you don’t have to be a statistic.
Many pickleball players are solely focused on playing, neglecting the importance of off-court training — leading to muscle imbalances, poor movement patterns, and increased risk of injury. Without addressing these underlying issues through targeted strength and mobility training, pickleball players may find themselves sidelined by injuries or unable to improve their skills and perform at their best.
In this article, we'll explore the science-backed benefits of incorporating strength and mobility training into your pickleball routine and provide you with simple and effective steps you can take today to help you reduce injuries, move more efficiently on the court, and unlock your full potential as a player.
Resistance training is essential for global health and wellness, but especially for pickleball players. A well-structured plan builds strength, endurance, and resilience to injury.
Research demonstrates that resistance training:
By incorporating resistance training at least twice a week, you'll build a strong foundation for your pickleball game and extend your life expectancy. A recent study with over 90,000 participants found a 41% reduction in all-cause mortality when resistance training was combined with at least 150 - 300 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA).
And yes, pickleball qualifies as MVPA!
A well-designed resistance plan should target the major movement patterns: push, pull, hinge, squat, twist, and carry. These movements are functional for daily living and are the foundation of many sporting actions.
When designing your resistance training plan, there are a few critical variables to account for:
Intensity
Intensity refers to the weight or resistance you use when performing an exercise. It can come from various sources, such as dumbbells, barbells, resistance bands, or even your body weight. The heavier the load, the more challenging the exercise becomes for your muscles.
Intensity Guidelines
Beginner: If you’ve been doing resistance training for less than 6 months, choose a moderate intensity and focus on performing each exercise with good technical proficiency.
Intermediate: If you’ve been resistance training for less than two years, choose an intensity that challenges but doesn’t change your form.
Advanced: If you’ve been resistance training for 2+ years, you’ll need to use higher-intensity loads to continue to see improvement. After several warm-up sets, your primary sets should push you within a few reps of failure while maintaining excellent form.
Volume
Volume refers to the overall workload your muscles handle during a training session or week. It takes into account the number of exercises you perform and the sets and repetitions you complete for each exercise.
A dose of approximately 10 sets per muscle group per week is a general minimum prescription to optimize your workouts. Research indicates there are potential benefits to higher volumes for underdeveloped muscle groups, but you should always progress your volume slowly.
Avoid increasing your total workout volume by more than 15% per week, or you will dramatically increase your risk for injury.
Frequency
The US Department of Health & Human Services and the World Health Organization recommend that adults perform at least two total body strengthening sessions per week.
Rest Interval
As a general rule, rest periods should last at least 2 minutes when performing multi-joint exercises. Shorter rest periods (60-90 secs) can be employed for single-joint exercises.
Research indicates that improving mobility through targeted exercise programs can reduce the risk of injury in various sports. Mobility refers to the ability to move your joints through their full range of motion and to be strong and stable in those positions.
For instance, a mobile pickleball player should be able to flex their hips, knees, and ankles at the kitchen line to return shots. An immobile player may place undue stress on their lower back from bowing at the waist instead of bending the hips, knees, and ankles to return shots.
There are several areas of the body where poor mobility can lead to pain and injury:
Because mobility training is a low-stress activity on the body, it can be done daily. Incorporating mobility exercises into your warm-up and cool-down routines is an efficient way to incorporate them into your exercise plan, and it can significantly impact your performance and injury resilience.
Focus on exercises that move your joints through a full range of motion, such as shoulder, elbow, knee, and hip circles. Squatting and lunging patterns, as well as yoga pushups, are exceptional exercises for enhancing mobility.
Here are a few mobility training exercises you can start today that target various muscle groups of the lower body and upper body to improve overall movement quality:
Cossack Squat
Cat-Cow
90/90 Hip Rotations
BONUS:
Here’s a video sequence for improving knee mobility with Dr. Kyle Richmond, a rehab and mobility expert.
Consistency is key to reap the full benefits of strength and mobility training.
Aim to incorporate resistance training at least twice weekly, focusing on exercises targeting major movement patterns. Also, consider making mobility training a regular part of your pre-and post-match routine or a regular at-home training program.
Using a personalized training app like AIM7 can help streamline your off-court training. With customized resistance training plans based on your fitness level and available equipment, as well as guided warm-ups, cool-downs, and daily mobility sessions, AIM7 makes it easy to integrate strength and mobility training into your routine.
Get your free 60-day trial by using the code (A760FREE).
Pickleball is a challenging sport that demands a combination of skill, strength, and mobility. By prioritizing off-court training and incorporating resistance and mobility exercises into your routine, you'll reduce your risk of injury and unlock your full potential on the court.
Remember, the key to success is consistency and a well-designed plan. So grab your weights, resistance bands, and pickleball paddle, and get ready to take your game to the next level!
By Erik Korem, PhD & Susie Reiner, PhD
Minor League Pickleball (MiLP) and The Dink, pickleball’s leading media platform, today announced The Dink Minor League Pickleball, a new joint venture designed to grow local competitive opportunities for amateur players.
The Dink Minor League Pickleball will extend the reach of MiLP to create more events and opportunities for amateur players in the United States and worldwide. Since its inception in the fall of 2022, MiLP has hosted over 120 events involving over 8000 participants, gaining considerable traction and acceptance among competitive amateur players due to its exciting format, frequency of events, and electrifying atmosphere. With The Dink coming on board as a partner, The Dink Minor League Pickleball is aiming to host more than 200 events in the US this year alone, with plans to expand its footprint and format worldwide.
“Amateurs drive the sport; they're the reason we're all here. We've published thousands of pieces of content to help recreational players, from beginner to 5.0, improve their game. Through The Dink Minor League Pickleball, we're offering an environment to put those skills into practice, compete, and have an unforgettable experience. And oh yeah, they can also win some money,” said Thomas Shields, The Dink’s Founder & CEO.
Minor League Pickleball, a subsidiary of DUPR (Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating), is an innovative team competition where teams of four players (two women and two men) compete against each other in a novel and engaging format, with twists on traditional match-ups and scoring for games, matches, and tiebreakers. Under the joint venture, The Dink Minor League Pickleball will host over 200 events across the country, including seven new regional events and a national championship, to bring the country’s most competitive amateurs together in an unforgettable tournament weekend.
“We are excited to partner with The Dink, the premier media and news source in pickleball, to grow Minor League Pickleball into the largest amateur pickleball league worldwide by providing more and better playing opportunities and a unique ‘play like the pros’ experience,” said Tito Machado, DUPR CEO. “Combining the power of The Dink’s media platform with MiLP’s exciting format and engaged community offers new ways to spotlight the game, the players and the venues, and further develop the most exciting amateur league the world has seen.”
The Dink Minor League Pickleball Key Events
Northeast Regional – July 20th
Bounce Pickleball – Malvern, PA
Hosted by All State Pickleball League, Stephen Conger
Midsouth Regional – July 27th - 28th
Pickleball Kingdom Plano, TX
Hosted by OPC, Caroline Luelf
Midwest Regional – August 10th
PickleCon (Kansas City Convention Center) – Kansas City, MO
Hosted by iPickle Nation, Rick Fortuna
West Coast Regional – August 31st
Willow Pass Community Park – Concord, CA
Hosted by Carmen Sanz Pickleball Club, Carmen Sanz
Northwest Regional – September 7th - 8th
Cavelero Courts – Lake Stevens, WA
Hosted by ZZ2 Pickleball, Pablo Granados
Southwest Regional – October 5th - 6th
Picklemall – Tempe, AZ
Hosted by iPickle Nation, Rick Fortuna
Southeast Regional – November 9th -10th
Lone Palm Country Club – Lakeland, FL
Hosted by All Florida Pickleball, David Tabb
National Championship – December 13th - 15th
Missouri Pickleball Club – Fenton, MO
Hosted by DUPR
The Dink Minor League Format: Teams compete against each other in Matches using the MLPlay™ format, featuring team matches that are composed of four 21-point games, one women’s doubles, one men’s doubles, and the final two games consisting of mixed doubles. Teams play in a round robin pool, with guaranteed matches and a playoff bracket to determine the winning team. All participating players must have a DUPR (Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating) account, and teams are formed by combining the DUPR ratings of all four players.
For a full list of events and to sign up to participate as a player or host, please visit dupr.com/minorleague.
For further information on partnership and sponsor inquiries, reach out to thedinkteam@heydink.com.
Minor League Pickleball offers an innovative team competition format, bringing together teams consisting of four players (two women and two men). Spanning multiple days, our events feature a unique and engaging format with exciting variations on traditional match-ups and scoring systems for games, matches, and tiebreakers. With events hosted in 25 states across the nation, including 108 confirmed events and 7 Regionals, Minor League Pickleball has attracted over 8000 players since its inception in 2022, providing a dynamic and competitive platform for pickleball players of all skill levels For more information visit www.dupr.com/minorleague.
DUPR (Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating) is the premier global pickleball rating system and technology platform, trusted by the world's leading clubs, tournaments, leagues and players. DUPR's dynamic rating system unifies pickleball across age, gender and location by analyzing match results to accurately evaluate all players across a 2.000 - 8.000 scale. Players and operators can visit www.dupr.com to sign up and learn more.
The Dink is pickleball’s #1 media and news source, offering a range of content via its newsletters, website, podcast network and social media channels. The Dink publishes daily to over 1 million pickleball players of all levels, covering news, stories, tips & strategy, product reviews, pro analysis and basic information about the sport. The Dink is also the creator of The Pickleball Box, a pickleball subscription box, and hosts a number of pro, amateur and celebrity events throughout the year. Visit thedinkpickleball.com to learn more.
In a milestone deal for pickleball, Pickleball Inc. and the United Pickleball Association (UPA), the parent company of Major League Pickleball (MLP) and The Professional Pickleball Association (PPA Tour), and DUPR (Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating) today announce a strategic partnership to provide pickleball players with a best-in-class experience when engaging in pickleball play, including tournaments, leagues, club and recreational play.
This partnership unites the pickleball play industry leaders to deliver the following:
“This partnership with Pickleball Inc. and UPA aligns us with the industry leaders across pro and amateur pickleball and positions DUPR as the common language of pickleball,” said Tito Machado, CEO of DUPR. “UPA, Pickleball Inc. and DUPR are united in growing and providing a best-in-class pickleball play experience to establish the foundational systems of the sport that will grow the game for generations to come. With DUPR, players, organizers and fans have a simple way to know their skill level, find and organize better events and have more fun on the court.”
“DUPR has established itself as the standard for player ratings in pickleball, and we are excited to move forward as industry leaders together,” said Connor Pardoe, CEO of Pickleball, Inc. and Founder and CEO of the PPA Tour. “Integrating DUPR ratings across our properties will enhance our industry leading pickleball play software solutions, as well as competitive, pro and amateur events.”
About DUPR
DUPR (Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating) is the premier global pickleball rating system, trusted by the world's leading clubs, tournaments, leagues and players. DUPR's dynamic rating system unifies pickleball across age, gender and location by analyzing match results to accurately evaluate all players across a 2.000 - 8.000 scale. Players and operators can visit www.dupr.com to sign up and learn more. Today, DUPR has over half a million users, a 20% month-over-month growth rate since its founding, and a presence in over 140 countries, including China, India, Germany, and the UK.
In early 2024, DUPR welcomed new board members and investors, including David Kass, tennis legend Andre Agassi, and others to support its mission of unifying the pickleball community with a common language through an accurate, global rating system. The company's partners and supporters include Life Time, The Picklr, JOOLA, Gamma Sports and many others.
About Pickleball Inc.
Pickleball, Inc. is the go-to organization for all things pickleball. Across amateur and professional events, world-class instruction, premier content, data and software, unrivaled commerce and more, Pickleball, Inc. serves fans and players alike with everything they need to enjoy the sport. Entities overseen by the organization include: The Carvana PPA Tour, the competitive circuit for the best professional players in the world and the host of more than 25 pro and amateur events at top venues across the country; Pickleball Central, the leading pickleball omnichannel retailer with gear for people of all ages and levels; Pickleball Tournaments and Pickleball Brackets, leaders in tournament software delivering a next-generation experience for events, leagues, and ladders; PickleballTV, the 24/7 pickleball network; Pickleball.com, the go-to source for pickleball news and information; and TopCourt, the premier provider of online pickleball and tennis instruction.
About the United Pickleball Association
The United Pickleball Association (UPA) is the steward of the fastest-growing sport in the United States and brings the world’s best professional and amateur pickleball to millions of people globally. As the parent company of the Professional Pickleball Association (Carvana PPA Tour), Major League Pickleball (MLP by Margaritaville) and the United Pickleball State Championship Series, UPA serves as the go-to entity for players and fans to compete in world-class events and enjoy the top pickleball athletes on the sport’s biggest stages.
Media Contacts
DUPR: Erica Annon / erica@mydupr.com
Pickleball Inc, UPA: Jeff Watson / J.watson@ppatour.com; Jay Moskowitz / jay@majorleaguepickleball.net
Delaware Life is the Presenting Sponsor of DUPR, Pickleball’s Most Accurate Global Rating System, and Will Collaborate to Increase Play Opportunities at Grassroots Level
Delaware Life Insurance Company (“Delaware Life”), a Group 1001 company and a leader in annuity and life insurance products, and DUPR (Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating), today announced a long-term partnership dedicated to driving growth and innovation in pickleball.
Under the agreement, Delaware Life is the exclusive presenting sponsor of DUPR, pickleball’s leading data and technology platform. DUPR’s proprietary global rating system evaluates player performance based on match results to generate a real-time, reliable, and accurate assessment of a player’s skill level to provide a unifying language for the sport across age, gender, and location. Together, the organizations are partnering to drive grassroots pickleball engagement across the United States to introduce new players to the fastest-growing participatory sport and support the growth of DUPR’s amateur, collegiate, and minor league events.
“Pickleball is one of the fastest-growing sports embraced by individuals of all ages and aligns closely with our client base. This is just one of the reasons we’re teaming up with DUPR – to support the growth of this exciting game and provide new ways to engage with our clients and business partners,” said Colin Lake, President and CEO of Delaware Life Marketing. “While our brands operate in different spaces, our missions are closely aligned. We’re both passionate and committed to delivering outstanding tools and services that empower our respective communities with information, insights, and opportunities to continue to grow and reach their full potential.”
Delaware Life and DUPR will also collaborate on exciting level-based pickleball events and opportunities, leveraging DUPR’s vast network of clubs and organizations including Life Time, Ace Pickleball Clubs, and Dill Dinkers to enhance Delaware Life’s customer, employee, and partner engagement experiences.
“We are honored to partner with Delaware Life to not just support the growth of DUPR, but also the growth of pickleball overall. The growth and excitement around pickleball show no signs of slowing down, and now, with Delaware Life, we can enhance our efforts to bring more people into the game and build a global pickleball community connected by the world’s most accurate rating system,” said Tito Machado, DUPR CEO.
Founded in 2021 as the analytics arm of Major League Pickleball and now operating independently, DUPR has quickly developed as the best-in-class global pickleball rating system used by amateurs, collegiate, and professional players alike to accurately assess skill level. In 2024, the organization welcomed new board members and investors, including David Kass, tennis legend Andre Agassi, and others to support its mission of unifying the pickleball community with a common language through an accurate, global rating system. Today, DUPR has over half a million users, a 20% month-over-month growth rate since its founding, and a presence in over 140 countries, including China, India, Germany, and the UK. The company's partners and supporters include The Picklr, JOOLA, Rally Republic, and many others.
To learn more about the partnership between Delaware Life and DUPR, please visit https://dupr.delawarelife.com.
About DUPR
DUPR (Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating) presented by Delaware Life, is the premier global pickleball rating system and technology platform, trusted by the world's leading clubs, tournaments, leagues, and players. DUPR's dynamic rating system unifies pickleball across age, gender, and location by analyzing match results to accurately evaluate all players across a 2.000 - 8.000 scale. Players and operators can visit www.dupr.com to sign up and learn more.
About Delaware Life Insurance Company
Delaware Life is an insurance and annuity company that empowers financial professionals with a wide array of customizable solutions. A subsidiary of Group 1001, we were born out of the advisor industry, and we understand how important it is to find the right fit for every client, every situation, and every individual need. We’re passionate about equipping you with annuities that give your customers peace of mind and a successful future—allowing them to plan with confidence for whatever’s next.
About Group 1001
Group 1001 is a collective that empowers companies to create positive growth. Our insurance and annuities are easy to understand and accessible to all. Our online investing platform gives individuals control over their savings. Our technology and innovation help companies succeed. And our strategic partnerships bring people together through education and sports.
As of December 31, 2023, Group 1001 had more than 1,200 employees and combined assets under management of $62.6 billion, serving more than 950,000 customers. It comprises the following brands: Delaware Life, Gainbridge®, Clear Spring Health, Clear Spring Property and Casualty Group, Clear Spring Life and Annuity Company, and RVI Group, among others.
On April 3rd, at the Major League Pickleball Premier Level Draft, the New York Hustlers selected Jackie Kawamoto with the 16th pick of the 2024 draft.
Shortly after, the Los Angeles Mad Dogs used the 26th pick to select Jackie’s twin sister, Jade Kawamoto.
The final rosters for the MLP Premier teams are comprised of the 48 most in-demand players in professional pickleball. Six of those coveted spots went to three pairs of siblings: the Kawamoto sisters, Ben and Collin Johns, and Jorja and JW Johnson.
Whether as practice partners, doubles teammates, or competitors, sibling teams have a unique chemistry that is difficult to replicate. Their shared history, communication skills, trust, competitive edge, and motivation all contribute to their success on the court.
For Jackie and Jade, the sibling advantage has helped them rise rapidly through the ranks of professional pickleball.
“Just having that person to always practice with was definitely an advantage for us,” says Jackie. “I'm a righty and Jade is a lefty, and we move together very well. I think that's our biggest strength. I know where I need to be when she gets pulled wide, and vice versa. I know all of her shots. We just know each other's game so well.”
“We've practiced with each other our whole lives, so it comes naturally,” adds Jade.
Like many professional pickleball players, the Kawamoto sisters have a background in competitive tennis, playing throughout their childhood and into college.
Their journey with pickleball began in 2019.
“At first it was just fun, something to do with the family,” says Jade.
“It didn't take long for all of us to get hooked and pretty much play nonstop,” adds Jackie.
They started competing in 2021, and in less than 3 years, they’ve become top rated pros. The Dink recently rated Jackie and Jade the number five women’s doubles team in the world for 2024, and their 5.9+ DUPR ratings demonstrate how far they’ve progressed in their short time since finding the sport.
“Chemistry is such an important part of this game because of the nature of the game and how quickly it goes,” Jackie explains.
Jade adds that the emotional support is just as important as the training.
“When you grow up with each other, and you're the same age and have gone through similar experiences… I know it's a cliche or whatever, but it does help you on the court to have someone that knows your emotions and knows how to bring you up when you're down,” she says.
This season, that bond faces a new challenge. Where the Kawamoto sisters played together for the ATX Pickleballers in 2023, this year they’ll meet as rivals.
It’s fitting, perhaps, that their new teams represent the sister-cities of New York and Los Angeles, two American metropolises that share similarities and a healthy rivalry.
For Jade and Jackie, meeting head-to-head is an opportunity to keep improving their game.
“We were pretty competitive with each other when we were younger,” Jackie recalls. “It always pushed us to be a little bit better.”
“We still like to be competitive with each other,” Jade says, “but mostly in a fun-spirited way, not like ‘I have to be better than you at this’. It helps us get better if we're trying to have that competitive mindset, but also keeps it fun.”
There is no limit to the number of teams a school can submit to a Regional, and the University of Florida (UF) used that to their advantage this past weekend by bringing five teams to compete. Never before had a school brought more than three teams to a DUPR Collegiate Pickleball event! By the time the finals rolled around, all of the players from the eliminated UF teams could be heard cheering on their last remaining team in hopes of securing their first Regional championship.
In the finals, UF faced Clemson, who was both the winner of last year’s Georgia Regional and the winner of the last Super Regional in Virginia. Clemson taking the first game in Women’s Doubles didn’t phase UF, as UF rattled off 3 straight wins in Men’s Doubles, 1st Mixed Doubles, and 2nd Mixed Doubles to secure the title. Prior to the Georgia Super Regional, UF and Clemson had already secured spots at Nationals, so the remaining four bids went to University of Georgia, University of North Florida, Florida College, and Southeastern University (SEU). All school maintained a great team spirit throughout the tournament which made it even more exciting to be a part of!
The Georgia Super Regional also welcomed Charleston Southern University, Davidson College, University of Kentucky, Louisiana State University, and The University of Texas at Tyler to their first DUPR Collegiate Pickleball event! University of Kentucky almost pulled off a #14 seed vs. #3 seed upset against SEU in the Round of 16 by taking them to a Dreambreaker. In fact, the playoffs for this tournament saw an incredibly high number of Dreambreakers, as 7 out of the 15 elimination playoff matches went to a Dreambreaker, including both semifinals and 3/4 of the quarterfinals. Here is the link to view the full schedule and standings from the weekend.
A special thanks goes to our DUPR Collegiate Pickleball partners: JOOLA, HEAD, GAMMA, Rally Republic, Total Pickleball, and OOFOS. Another thanks goes to Pickle & Social in Buford, GA for hosting the 2nd annual Georgia Super Regional!
Cliff Drysdale Tennis and Peter Burwash International have joined forces with Minor League Pickleball to bring a new and exciting experience to racquet sports enthusiasts across the nation. This strategic partnership will see a series of innovative events and competitions hosted at various CDT and PBI managed properties starting this 2024!
Minor League Pickleball is an innovative team competition where teams of four players (2 women and 2 men) compete against each other in a novel and engaging format, with twists on traditional match-ups and scoring for games, matches, and tiebreakers. Teams compete against each other in Matches using the MLPlay™ format, featuring team matches that are composed of four 21-point games, one women’s doubles, one men’s doubles, and the final two games consisting of mixed doubles. Teams play in a round robin pool, with guaranteed matches and a playoff bracket to determine the winning team. All participating players must have a DUPR (Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating) account, and teams are formed by combining the DUPR ratings of all four players.
“We are thrilled to partner with Minor League Pickleball, a fantastic event concept that highlights many of sport’s most appealing qualities,” said Scott McCulloch, President and COO for Cliff Drysdale Tennis and Peter Burwash International. “Providing our members, guests and loyal community of pickleball players with engaging play options and competitive offerings is one of our top priorities, and Minor League Pickleball events will help strengthen our programs across the nation.”
“Minor League Pickleball is focused on providing amateur players with the most dynamic and exciting opportunities to compete. By partnering with Cliff Drysdale Tennis and Peter Burwash International, we’re able to reach even more players and host MiLP events at some of the most renowned racquet sports facilities in the world. We’re excited to work together to bring more people into this exciting game and create more engaging opportunities to play,” said Caroline Luelf, Director of Minor League Pickleball.
Caroline Luelf, Director of Minor League Pickleball, expressed her excitement about working with CDT and PBI to expand the reach of the sport and create more opportunities for players to enjoy the game. The events will be held at select locations across the U.S., including private clubs, public facilities, and resorts, with a special travel experience planned for July at Omni Amelia Island Resort.
All players who compete in MiLP events will accumulate points to earn an opportunity to compete in the Minor League Pickleball National Championship, scheduled for December 13-15 and featuring a $50,000 prize purse.
Upcoming Minor League Pickleball events at CDT and PBI managed facilities:
April 13-14: JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort and Spa (Palm Desert, CA)
April 20-21: Esplanade Naples Golf and Country Club (Naples, FL)
May 4-5: Weston Racquet Club (Weston, FL)
May 18-19: Tyler Athletic and Swim Club (Tyler, TX)
June 22-23: John Newcombe Country Club (New Braunfels, TX)
July 19-21: Omni Amelia Island Resort, Travel Package (Amelia Island, FL)
To register for events and learn more about Minor League Pickleball, visit: www.dupr.com/minorleague
To learn more about Cliff Drysdale Tennis, visit: www.cliffdrysdale.com
To learn more about Peter Burwash International, visit: www.pbitennis.com
Pickleball is having a transformative effect on thousands of Baby Boomers, allowing them to rediscover their zest for sport, physical activity and social interaction — or, in some cases, experience it for the first time in their lives.
Word is spreading about pickleball's innate qualities as an accessible and easy-to-learn sport which can be enjoyed by anyone, regardless of age, skill level, physical capability, social demographics or previous sports experience.
Statistics from DUPR’s player database show that 31.1% of our registered active (i.e., competitive) players are 60 or over, with the oldest to register high match counts aged 83.
For example, take Kath Knowles from Anglesey, an island off the north coast of Wales, who had lived for 67 years without ever playing in competitive sports — until she discovered pickleball.
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Kath has overcome breast cancer, suffered from mental health issues, went through a divorce and had a heart attack before pickleball brought her what she calls "a wonderful release" late in life. She had a second heart attack on the pickleball court in January 2021 and required two further stents to be fitted. However, her love for the sport is unwavering.
Kath has since led the growth of pickleball on Anglesey and across North Wales, introducing over 200 people to the sport via taster sessions, taking it into schools, helping to train coaches and leaders and accompanying a happy group of players to national competitions.
“I dragged people in off the streets!” she laughs. “I was determined to encourage others to get off their bums and play this game that had brought sport into my life. This game is truly addictive and the friendship and social interaction is quite unique. What pickleball has done for me is immense. Without it, I’d just be a moaning old biddy!”
At West Herts Wizards Pickleball Club in Hertfordshire, north of London, 76% of members are over the age of 55. One player in his 70s has dementia but still participates every week, accompanied by his sister.
Wizards’ Club Secretary, Lyn Epps, says: "He was an excellent tennis player back in the day, and his natural racquet skills come to the fore. Neither he, nor his sister, would mind me saying he never knows what the score is, and we repeat the rules regarding the non-volley zone over and over, to ensure the game goes well and everyone’s happy!"
Sue Nicol founded South Suffolk Pickleball Club in East Anglia after her retirement. She calls it "dangerously addictive."
"It absolutely hit the spot for me," she says. "As a former Pilates teacher, I saw the potential of pickleball for an aging population. There's a lot of squatting, lateral movement, and, of course, the psychological benefits of how sociable it is."
A significant catalyst for pickleball's growth in the UK has been the University of the 3rd Age (U3A) - a nationwide group of over 1,000 charities who create opportunities for older people to come together, share skills, and learn for fun. It's reported that over 80 U3A groups play pickleball.
Michael de Groot from Worcestershire discovered pickleball through U3A and is now a qualified coach. Michael believes the social benefits outweigh even the abundant physical and cognitive advantages that older people get from the sport.
He says, "The social interaction on and off court plays a major role in reducing loneliness in older adults and giving them a sense of belonging, and new friendships too. This should not be underestimated. You can see the evidence every week. Players arrive smiling and leave smiling."
Pickleball is more than just a sport, it is a lifeline, offering newfound joy and purpose. Through the stories of individuals like Kath Knowles, Sue Nicol, and Michael de Groot, we see how pickleball has transformed lives, providing an outlet for overcoming challenges and fostering meaningful connections.
In the largest collegiate regional to date, Clemson rose as a formidable contender to claim victory and secure the crown for themselves. They went through both the #1 UVA and #2 UNC in the playoffs - both of the past National Champions. This win makes them undefeated in both of their attended Regionals (won the 2023 Georgia Regional), and the second school with multiple Regional wins (Utah Tech is first with 4).
In total, there were 177 players from 20 different schools from Maine to Miami at the Virginia Super Regional. Penn State University, the University of Massachusetts, the University of Maine, and Robert Morris University all made their DUPR Collegiate Pickleball debut at the event. The 30-team challenger bracket was also the largest ever for a Regional, with Colter Cox and Luke Moretz from NC State winning it. On Sunday, there were back-to-back Dreambreakers on the livestream, with #1 UVA escaping #8 Miami in the Quarterfinals, and then #3 Clemson closing the door on #2 UNC in the Semifinals.
Clemson, UVA, and UF obtained 3 out of the 4 bids to the 2024 Collegiate National Championship by advancing to the semifinals. UNC, who also made the semifinals, already secured a bid at the Townebank College Cup in February.
There was a Battle for the Bid between Miami and JMU to decide the owner of the last bid, as they were the only two eligible Quarterfinalists. JMU claimed the bid with a 3-0 performance, and have locked in their spot for Nationals in November.
A special thanks to Performance Pickleball in Richmond, VA for hosting the first ever Virginia Super Regional! Another thanks goes to our DUPR Collegiate Pickleball partners: JOOLA, HEAD, GAMMA, Rally Republic, Total Pickleball, and OOFOS.
In competitive pickleball, stress is a given. But stress doesn’t have to debilitate your performance. It can actually facilitate it.
Winning between the ears starts with the mindset you cultivate.
Winning matters. Being your best matters. Otherwise, you wouldn’t feel stressed. The problem is many pickleball players view stress as the enemy. It’s not the enemy. It’s the gateway to growth!
When you adopt the right mindset, you can overcome fear, embrace challenges, and unlock your potential. But you must pass through stress to achieve what you want.
There are four stress mindsets, each with its own challenges and opportunities. But there is one that, if you adopt it, will empower you to embrace challenges and overcome fear. Let’s dig in.
Does that ring a bell? This is where we view stress as our mortal enemy, something to escape from at any cost.
But what if we told you stress is just your body preparing you for a challenge?
Instead of fleeing from stress, see it as a signal that you're about to do something effortful. Let’s get real for a moment. Nothing great has ever been accomplished without facing significant difficulty.
To take on difficult challenges, your body has a hard-wired stress response that prepares you for action. Lean into it, embrace it. Because uncomfortable thoughts, emotions, and feelings are often what you need to rise to the occasion.
This mindset views stress as something that can be overcome by sheer willpower.
Have you ever heard of David Goggins? Yep, the former Navy Seal who runs bare-chested and calls out your weaknesses. Yeah, that guy.
People with this mindset tend to push through stress just fine, but they oftentimes don’t make great teammates. This is not who you want with you in a competitive doubles match.
While resilience is important, it shouldn’t come at the expense of others. Understand that not everyone may be able to handle stress the same way you do. Try to balance your willpower with understanding and empathy for others.
This mindset views stress as life’s classroom. This is not ideal.
People with this mindset often focus on the worst possible outcome and rationalize why failing would be OK. This can be detrimental to performance.
In the final moments of a competitive match, you don’t want your teammate to think like this.
Michael Jordan wasn’t looking to learn from failure in the Finals. Rather, he wanted the ball in his hands. He trusted his skills and confidentially took action even in the face of adversity.
While learning from failure is beneficial, you shouldn’t focus on failure during a stressful moment. Instead, shift your attention to what you can control and take confident action.
This is the ideal mindset—viewing stress as a challenge that can enhance one's performance.
This is the optimal mindset where stress is viewed as a challenge or an opportunity. It involves seeing stress as a source of energy that can enhance performance. Remember, stress is your brain and body preparing you to do something effortful.
Stress can either debilitate or facilitate performance and by leveraging this mindset, you can use the extra energy generated by stress to perform to your potential.
To build a winning stress mindset, you need to reframe stress as enhancing. That means seeing stress as:
So, take a moment and think about how you approach stress. If you aren’t in the right mindset, just know that mindsets aren’t fixed. With practice and awareness, your perspective can change.
Ready to take your mental game to the next level? Check out AIM7, the ultimate pickleball trainer, and its masterclass library of content on developing mental fitness, developed by world-class performance psychologists.
Don't let stress hold you back any longer. Embrace it, harness it, and unleash your full potential on the pickleball court. Start your journey towards a winning stress mindset today with AIM7!
DUPR (Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating), is the premier global pickleball rating system and technology platform, trusted by the world's leading clubs, tournaments, leagues, and players. DUPR's dynamic rating system unifies pickleball across age, gender, and location by analyzing match results to accurately evaluate all players across a 2.000 - 8.000 scale. Players and operators can visit www.dupr.com to sign up and learn more.
Written By: Alex Auerbach, PhD, and Erik Korem, PhD.
AI’s Pickleball Potential
Sports aren’t typically the first thing that comes to mind when you think about the Artificial Intelligence (AI) revolution. However, AI in sports is now synonymous with big business. Estimates value the sports AI market at more than $2 billion, and research suggests that it may reach more than $7 billion by 2027. Currently, AI is being used for everything from training NFL players to shaving time off their 40-yard dash to predicting and preventing injuries on the basketball court. And it’s poised to have a significant impact on the sport of pickleball.
Harnessing the Power of AI for Pickleball
AI systems use mathematical algorithms that generate highly accurate analysis in real time. For pickleball, data can be collected via wearable sensors and high-definition motion capture cameras to record players' footwork, paddle angles, and shot choices. This data can be transformed into a format processed by an algorithm and can be used to train the AI model, allowing it to learn patterns and relationships. The model is then integrated into an application or program and is the basis for making predictions on new data that is collected. The more data it acquires, the more the algorithm adapts and the better its ability to simulate human intelligent processes. Coaches can then reference the data and immediately adjust a player’s mechanics and techniques, repeat the drill or session, and compare results.
But AI isn’t just for pickleball pros. Recreational players are already enjoying the benefits of AI. Training tools like SwingVision and PB Vision bring the power of AI to local courts without the need for high-end equipment or professional-grade video. By uploading footage shot on a smartphone, these systems can analyze player movements, pinpoint problems in swing speed and follow through, and provide suggestions for improvement. In addition, AI is becoming an integral part of emerging pickleball virtual reality (VR) simulations that produce engaging immersive, customized training programs.
In addition, the recent partnership between leading global pickleball rating system DUPR and sport and AI analytics technology pioneers Playsight has opened up new possibilities. PlaySight’s AI automated highlights also allow players to relive their best moments in a match instantly. The collaboration promises to redefine how players experience and interact with the sport.
Preventing Injury and Speeding Recovery
Off the court, AI is showing great benefits in improving player health and conditioning. Systems can evaluate heart rate and joint stress and alert players to potential injury. Next-generation pulse oximeters incorporate AI into handheld devices that measure respiratory rate, temperature, and blood saturation levels.
AI can also help accelerate recovery times from injuries. Trainers and physical therapists are increasingly relying on AI-generated results to create personalized rehab programs to get players back on the court faster and prevent re-injury.
In addition, manufacturers of pickleball equipment, especially paddle companies, are using AI-powered systems to determine material specifications and performance metrics for the design of their newest products. Because of its ability to perform analysis on a microscopic level, AI can identify the optimal materials for improved power, control, and durability and give manufacturers next-level customization options to develop paddles suited for a variety of playing styles. These advancements are poised to propel paddle sales, which are projected to reach $253.8 million by 2028 and are currently more than $125 million in the US alone.
It's an exciting time for pickleball and AI will continue to play an ever-expanding role in the sport’s future. As more players tap into AI’s ability to achieve better results on the court, it’s likely there’ll be a corresponding increase in their DUPR ratings.
Honcho Pickleball League, the premier national amateur pickleball league, and DUPR (Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating), today announced a partnership to drive growth and local skill-based playing opportunities for players across the country.
Honcho Pickleball League is one of the largest amateur leagues in the country with capacity to support up to 3,200 players across 12 states with 20 venue partners for this upcoming round of seasons taking place from late April through June, and has established itself as a leader in the grassroots growth of pickleball. As part of the partnership, Honcho will adopt DUPR as the official rating system of the league, and DUPR will support Honcho as it looks to enter into new markets and add new venue partners to offer even more opportunities for players to compete.
“We are excited to dive into this relationship with DUPR,” said Chris Mott, Chief Revenue Officer, Honcho Pickleball League. “Their support not only provides us with one of the largest, most detailed player databases in the sport, but also aligns with our mission to provide exceptional pickleball experiences and development opportunities for our players. We look forward to a fruitful relationship that brings added excitement and competition to our communities across the nation.”
DUPR’s solution provides organizers with the ability to showcase their events to the most active and engaged community in pickleball, and enables players to find more opportunities to play at their level wherever they are. The foundation of DUPR is its industry-leading rating, which analyzes match results to provide an accurate, reliable evaluation of a players skill level across age, gender and location. With DUPR, organizers can create more competitive opportunities for players by organizing events and matches by player ratings, and players can know their level to find better, more fun competition.
“DUPR is committed to democratizing pickleball, collaborating with teams, leagues and operators everywhere to give them access to technology that supports even better pickleball experiences,” said Tito Machado, DUPR CEO. “We are excited to showcase Honcho Pickleball League to our community, support their players with a dynamic, accurate rating system, and aid their expansion into new markets to grow the game we all love.”
DUPR supports players, organizers and operators in pickleball with free-to-use tools to make the pickleball experience even more fun and ultimately driving the growth of the game. From its global rating system to its dynamic digital community where players can find and connect with matches, leagues, clubs and tournaments, DUPR is providing the fast-growing sport with the foundational framework to ensure enjoyment and fun for generations to come.
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About DUPR
DUPR (Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating) is the premier global pickleball rating system and technology platform, trusted by the world's leading clubs, tournaments, leagues and players. DUPR's dynamic rating system unifies pickleball across age, gender and location by analyzing match results to accurately evaluate all players across a 2.000 - 8.000 scale. Players and operators can visit www.dupr.com to sign up and learn more.
About Honcho Pickleball League
Honcho Pickleball League is the premier destination for pickleball enthusiasts who crave the perfect blend of competition, community and fun. Our league exudes confidence and swagger, providing consistent, fully administered game play on a weekly basis. We are the epitome of high-energy, fostering an electrifying atmosphere both on and off the court. Ranging from mid-season happy hours to championship gatherings to league merch to big winners pots and packages, this is not your standard local league and community!
We embody a winning spirit, striving to create an innovative and inclusive environment to continue to support in the greater effort of growing the sport of pickleball. Our league offers consistent weekly match play with multiple skill set divisions to choose from to ensure that players can excel in their passion for pickleball, week over week!. We proudly associate with top pickleball brands, ensuring an unparalleled experience for all. Visit www.honchopickle.com for more.
[Austin, TX] – DUPR (Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating), the leading global rating system in Pickleball, is excited to announce a strategic partnership with PlaySight, a pioneer in sports AI and analytics technology. This collaboration aims to elevate the pickleball experience for players, clubs, tournaments, and leagues worldwide.
DUPR, renowned for its unparalleled accuracy and global scale, assigns players a rating between 2.000-8.000 based on match results, regardless of age, gender, location, or skill level. Leveraging this expertise, the partnership will integrate DUPR ratings seamlessly into PlaySight's innovative platform, offering players increased access to advanced AI technology to gain a better understanding of their game play, and unlock advanced analytics and insights into their performance.
The integration enables players to easily view their DUPR rating alongside their match footage, providing valuable insights into their performance and progression. It also introduces "DUPR Moments" through PlaySight's AI automated highlights for pickleball. Players can relive their best moments of the match instantly, empowering them to analyze and improve their game efficiently.
"This partnership marks a significant milestone in the evolution of pickleball," said Tito Machado, CEO at DUPR. "By combining DUPR's accurate, global rating system with PlaySight's cutting-edge AI technology, we're delivering an all-encompassing solution that enhances the pickleball experience for players, organizers, and fans alike."
Chen Shachar, CEO of PlaySight, shared his enthusiasm about the partnership, saying, "We are excited to collaborate with DUPR to persistently introduce cutting-edge technology and innovation to the pickleball community. The integration of DUPR ratings into our platform not only provides players with invaluable insights but also amplifies their overall engagement with the sport."
This partnership between DUPR and PlaySight represents a significant step forward in the pickleball landscape. With the integration of DUPR ratings, statistics, and more into PlaySight's AI platform, the collaboration promises to redefine how players experience and interact with the game.
For more information about DUPR and PlaySight, visit www.dupr.com and [PlaySight website] respectively.
About DUPR
DUPR (Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating) is the premier global pickleball rating system and technology platform, trusted by the world's leading clubs, tournaments, leagues and players. DUPR's dynamic rating system unifies pickleball across age, gender, and location by analyzing match results to accurately evaluate all players across a 2.000 - 8.000 scale. Players and operators can visit www.dupr.com to sign up and learn more.
About PlaySight
PlaySight is a global sports technology company that is pioneering the next generation of sports AI and analytics. Its innovative technology enhances the sports experience for players, coaches, and fans across various sports, including pickleball.
At DUPR, we're committed to providing accurate ratings and a fair playing field for all pickleball players. That's why we've recently made changes to our match validation process for recreational games. In this blog post, we'll explore the significance of validating your matches and how these changes enhance the integrity of our rating system.
Understanding Match Validation
Validating matches is vital for maintaining the credibility of player ratings. By requiring validation from all players involved, we ensure that only legitimate results contribute to ratings, fostering fairness and accuracy across the platform.
How Match Validation Works
Upon entering a recreational match on the DUPR platform, all participants receive a notification via the app, alerting them to the logged match awaiting validation. For the match to be validated and impact player ratings, all participants must affirm the match outcome. This consensus approach ensures that the match results are accepted by everyone involved, reflecting a true and fair outcome.
Improved Validation Process
With our updated validation process, a recreational match is considered validated only when all players involved have confirmed the results. This change eliminates any ambiguity and ensures that matches are accurately recorded on our platform. If you notice that your match hasn't been validated yet, it simply means that one or more players still need to confirm the results.
Managing Validation Status
If only one participant validates the match, it remains in a "pending validation" state. During this period, the match does not affect any player ratings and waits for further action from other participants. In cases where a participant disagrees with the match entry, they have the option to reject the match. Upon rejection by any participant, the match is automatically removed from the platform to ensure that only consensus-approved matches impact player ratings.
Streamlining Communication
To streamline the validation process and expedite communication with other players, we've introduced a convenient group chat feature within the app. Initiating a group chat allows you to easily coordinate with your fellow players and confirm match results.
Simply follow these steps to start a group chat:
By validating your matches and participating in our updated validation process, you're contributing to the accuracy and reliability of our rating system. Together, we can uphold the integrity of pickleball competition and ensure fair play for all players.
If you have any questions or need assistance with match validation, don't hesitate to reach out to our support team. We're here to help and ensure that your pickleball experience on DUPR is seamless and enjoyable.
David McCune says the India pickleball market is ‘poised to go boom’ and that the nation’s technically adept players pose a real threat to the USA’s hegemony in the sport.
DUPR Executive Director David McCune was "blown away" by the level of play and scale of pickleball participation on a recent overseas activation at the Indian Open in the vast, vibrant city of Mumbai.
February's Indian Open, organized by Global Sports, boasted a $150,000 prize purse, making it the most lucrative pickleball tournament ever played outside North America.
David's observations highlight that players from sub-continental and Southeast Asian regions bring exciting new skill sets to the court that are set to provide a stern challenge to the USA's hegemony in the sport. What was even starker is that when a nation of 1.4 billion people gets a taste for a new sport, it can create high volumes of participation quickly!
"The region is poised to go 'boom!'" smiled David after meeting with partners, athletes, sponsors, club owners, local dignitaries and celebrities in Mumbai to raise awareness of the benefits of DUPR (or "humanizing the algorithm," as he neatly calls it).
David added: "The best question about the level of play in India is not to ask how far they are behind the States, but how far along they are. Let me tell you, these guys are doing very well indeed!
The tournament was a real eye-opener for some of the US pros. When they got into those rapid hand battles, it wasn't a series of blocks and speedups — the Indian athletes were actually redirecting their attacks with spin on the ball. These guys are used to badminton where a shuttlecock reaches speeds of nearly 500 km/h, so pickleball is virtually in slow motion for them."
David was particularly taken by the current Indian No. 1 Harsh Mehta: "Until he hits it, you just don't know whether he's going to roll it, cut it or flick it. I watched him break the ankles of one of our top 10 pros numerous times! This guy is incredible."
Brian Omwando was another competitor in the Indian Open draw. An ex-tennis player turned pickleball fanatic, he opened Nairobi Pickleball Club last May and has helped embed DUPR as the go-to system in tournaments in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Brian led a squad of five players to Mumbai (it was his first-ever plane flight).
"It was a totally new experience for us - seeing how players warm up, the different drills they do, and tactics like stacking, which we are now including in our practice sessions. The standard was a different level but we were amazed how well we played against players who have been playing for many more years than us."
British player Louis Laville reached the round of 16 in the men's singles where he fell to India’s Rohit Patil. He was also bowled over by the host nation's rising stature in the sport.
“Pickleball in India is absolutely exploding," he said. "They have coaching programs, investment, sponsorships, and financial backers.
“What the tournament showed us is that the UK and Europe need to get on with developing pickleball facilities and getting more people playing very quickly, because the rest of the world is starting to motor ahead in terms of numbers and level of players and investment into the sport. I am very excited to watch the top Indian players take on some of the top pros at April’s US Open!"
Written By: Mike Dale
The 2024 National Pathway encourages players to participate in multiple The DInk Minor League events throughout the qualifying season (November 25, 2023 through October 14, 2024) to earn points to then qualify for the 2024 The Dink Minor League Pickleball National Championship taking place December 13-15, 2024 in Fenton, MO.
National Pathway and Leaderboard
Each DUPR Division has its own National Leaderboard. Each individual player’s points are accumulated based on their team’s performance at official The Dink Minor League Pickleball events.
How to Qualify and Get on the Leaderboard
There are two ways to qualify for The Dink MiLP National Championship:
National Pathway #1: Local The Dink MiLP Events
Local The Dink MiLP Events are hosted all across the USA.
The National Leaderboard keeps track of the points of every individual in each division. Top players from the leaderboard will receive an invitation to the National Championship.
National Pathway #2: The Dink MiLP Regional Showdowns
The Dink MiLP organizers will be hosting a total of 7 tournaments in different regions of the USA.
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These Regional Showdowns will include 12 to 16 teams per division. At each event, the 1st place teams from each division will receive a Dream Ticket to the National Championship.
Sign up now for a The Dink Minor League Pickleball event to get your name and points on the National Leaderboard and earn your spot at The Dink MiLP’s pinnacle event, The Dink Minor League Pickleball National Championship 2024.
To learn more about The Dink Minor League Pickleball, visit our website. To explore highlights from the 2023 MiLP National Championship, view our blog post.
Stay up to date with all things The Dink MiLP by following us on Instagram and joining our Facebook Group.
Continued Momentum for DUPR Collegiate Pickleball As It Establishes Foothold as Leader in Collegiate Space
Austin, TX and Dallas, TX (March 11, 2024) – DUPR (Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating) and Rally Republic, the first California-inspired pickleball lifestyle brand, are teaming up to enhance DUPR Collegiate Pickleball events and bring more resources and support to college pickleball overall.
The partnership marks another significant milestone for DUPR Collegiate Pickleball, the fastest-growing and largest collegiate pickleball tournament series. Pickleball’s growth continues to skyrocket, and the collegiate space is no different. With more and more colleges and universities developing pickleball club teams, DUPR’s Collegiate Pickleball tournament series offers the most regional and national opportunities for individual and team collegiate competition, with the added bonus of competing for scholarship money.
“We are thrilled to support DUPR Collegiate Pickleball and partner with DUPR to offer more incentives, perks and opportunities for student athletes to compete in the world’s best game,” said Chad Phillips, president of Rally Republic. “DUPR Collegiate is the sport’s premier college series and we are looking forward to exposing our brand in front of student athletes and fans, and generating even more excitement and buzz for pickleball among this audience.”
Rally Republic’s line of licensed paddles featuring school and university names and mascots are incredibly popular with athletes, alumni and fans alike, not only for showcasing school pride but also for their high-quality handling and performance. As part of the partnership, Rally Republic will have an onsite presence at eight 2024 DUPR Collegiate Events, including the Super Regionals and both the Individual and Team Collegiate National Championships, to enable players and fans to engage with the brand and its paddles onsite.
“Both our organizations are dedicated to growing the game and building a global community of passionate players. It’s a natural fit to welcome Rally Republic onboard as partners of DUPR Collegiate Pickleball,” said Tito Machado, DUPR CEO. “DUPR Collegiate events are incredibly fun, high energy and the competition is top-notch. We are excited to build out activation opportunities for our players and fans with some of the best names in pickleball that will create an even more exciting environment for players and fans alike.”
DUPR has led the way in establishing competitive collegiate pickleball by creating compelling opportunities for players to compete, earn scholarship prize money and identify new pathways to continue to play. Since hosting its first college event in 2022, DUPR Collegiate Pickleball has hosted 16 events for 1300 athletes – including the largest collegiate pickleball tournament ever with over 350 players – and contributed over $250,000 in scholarship money and travel stipends for players.
As the fastest-growing sport in the U.S. with more than 48.3 million Americans playing pickleball, San Diego-based Rally Republic launched in 2023 as the first California-inspired lifestyle brand created specifically for pickleball enthusiasts. Founded by a team of successful entrepreneurs in the e-commerce, apparel, and licensed sports sectors, they saw an opportunity to bring their expertise to the world of pickleball and create a brand that offers high-quality yet design-focused pickleball paddles, which are now available for sale online at www.RallyRepublic.com and on Amazon.com, and in-store at U.S. college bookstores and sporting goods retail stores including Rally House and Gameday Spirit. Rally Republic’s product lineup will soon expand with plans to unveil apparel, equipment, and accessory lines.
For a full schedule of events, please visit dupr.com/collegiate
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About DUPR
DUPR (Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating) is the premier global pickleball rating system and technology platform, trusted by the world's leading clubs, tournaments, leagues and players. DUPR's dynamic rating system unifies pickleball across age, gender and location by analyzing match results to accurately evaluate all players across a 2.000 - 8.000 scale. Players and operators can visit www.dupr.com to sign up and learn more.
About Rally Republic
San Diego-based Rally Republic is the first California-inspired lifestyle brand created specifically for pickleball enthusiasts. With a mission to provide both top-quality and design-focused pickleball paddles, apparel, equipment, and accessories, Rally Republic’s product lineup embodies the vibrant culture and laid-back spirit of the West Coast. Rally Republic also has licensing partnerships with most major U.S. colleges and universities, sororities, and fraternities, enabling pickleball players to showcase their college, sports team, and/or Greek spirit while on the court. For more information, visit Rally Republic:
Media Contact
Erica Annon / DUPR / erica@mydupr.com
International Women's Day marks a global celebration of women's accomplishments and resilience. In the realm of pickleball, clubs like Pickle Pop and Gold Coast Pickleball's women's only group exemplify this spirit by providing platforms for women to excel, compete, and support one another.
The 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica, California is famous for its shops, dining, and proximity to the beach and the Santa Monica pier. However, the area was hard hit by the effects of the pandemic and is still recovering, creating the perfect opportunity to bring pickleball to some of LA’s most in demand real estate.
Steph McCaffrey, a former professional soccer player with an MBA from Wharton, and Erin Robertson, a Project Runway winner with a background in design and fashion, teamed up to cofound Pickle Pop right in the heart of the promenade. This pickleball venue stands out not only for its distinctive pink courts but also for its commitment to fostering an inclusive and empowering environment, particularly for women.
Robertson says, “a lot of times in sports, everything is super masculine, even for women's sports. It's not like I wanted to make it (Pickle Pop) feminine and fluffy, but I definitely wanted to soften the energy of it, so it felt warm and welcoming, but also fun, bright, energetic and like you would want to move your body.”
The decision to introduce a women's only open play at Pickle Pop was fueled by their general manager Jane Hollon's observation of the need for a space where women could enjoy the game and, as Hollon puts it, “avoid the male players who maybe aren't as experienced and are just like bang, bang, bang.”
What began as a one morning event has now blossomed into “one of our most popular programs,” says Hollon, expanding to three days a week. The program’s rapid growth highlights the demand for providing spaces tailored to the unique preferences and needs of women in the pickleball community.
"If you don't have a DUPR, do you even play pickleball?" says Hollon. Pickle Pop recognizes the importance of DUPR’s rating system and recently organized a fun event to help players earn their rating.
Six thousand miles across the ocean, nestled in Carumbin Beach in Queensland, Australia, Gold Coast Pickleball’s facilities cater to local players of all types and skill levels.
Suzanne Mackenzie decided to team up with two friends to start a women's only pickleball group at the facility after feeling targeted on the court.
“I’d be on the court with my husband, who has bad knees and isn’t very mobile, and these young guys would absolutely be targeting me. I’d say ‘ease up, buddy.’ It was intimidating, terrifying, not enjoyable.”
Determined to build confidence among female players, Mackenzie envisioned a community grounded in friendship, camaraderie, and teamwork.
The success of Gold Coast Pickleball's initiative is evident in its growth from 30 participants to over 90 women of various ages and skill levels. Utilizing DUPR has proven effective in maintaining a level playing field, ensuring that everyone feels welcome and has an opportunity to participate.
As Sue Bailey, a member of the group says, “the women's only group opened up an opportunity for us (women) to play competitively. You play socially and win some games or lose some games. It doesn't really matter. But when you're playing with a team, it adds that extra incentive to work harder, get better, and to support the team.”
As we celebrate International Women's Day, let's raise a paddle to Suzanne, Steph, Erin, Jane, and all the women who are leading the game on and off the court. They're breaking barriers, building communities, and showing the world what women can do when they come together.
Written By: Alana Jackler
We are thrilled to announce the much-anticipated 2024 The Dink Minor League Pickleball (MiLP) National Championship Powered by DUPR, where the top amateur players from across the nation come together and compete! Building on the success of the 2023 National Championship, this event promises to be an exciting showcase of competition, camaraderie, and unforgettable moments on the pickleball court.
Participate and Win
The Dink MiLP National Championship 2024 is being held at the Missouri Pickleball Club, located in Fenton, MO, from December 13 to 15, 2024. We’re excited to share that this year, we’ve significantly increased the prize purse to a total of $50,000 which will be distributed across all divisions.
Available Divisions
Divisions are skill-based, determined by the combined DUPR rating of your team. The following DURP divisions will be available for the 2024 The Dink MiLP National Championship:
Learn more about The Dink Minor League divisions and rules.
Regional Showdowns
In addition to the traditional qualification routes, we’ve added a new avenue to secure your spot — Regional Showdowns. With seven locations across the US, these events promise a fun-filled experience and a chance to qualify for the National Championship.
We’re happy to unveil details for some of the upcoming Regional Showdowns:
Stay tuned for more details on Regional Showdowns.
Journey to the National Championship
Get ready to showcase your skills! All pickleball enthusiasts are invited to join The Dink MiLP excitement. Whether you're a seasoned player or just starting, there's a division for you.
Qualifiers are open, so now is the time to participate in The Dink MiLP events, get on the National Leaderboard, and earn your spot to compete in the National Championship against the nation's best amateur players. Don't let this opportunity pass – register for a The Dink MiLP event now!
Click Here to Find Events Near You!
To learn more about The Dink Minor League Pickleball, visit our website. Stay up to date with all things The Dink MiLP by following us on Instagram and joining our Facebook Group.
Rise of the Utah Valley Wolverines: A New Era in Collegiate Pickleball?
This past weekend saw a remarkable turn of events in what was once hailed as Trailblazer territory, as the #1 Utah Tech Trailblazers were dethroned, and the Utah Valley Wolverines emerged as the champions of the Utah Super Regional.
While the western region of collegiate pickleball doesn’t have the same number of schools or density as the eastern regions, one could easily argue that the western region is the country's most competitive.
The Utah Super Regional, held at the Picklr in Kaysville, Utah, welcomed 11 schools from 4 states, forming 20 teams in the main bracket. Among them were veteran teams like Arizona State, University of Utah, and Loyola Marymount, alongside newcomers to DUPR collegiate pickleball such as Stanford and Brigham Young University.
Four of the teams that competed are ranked top ten in the DUPR Power Rankings that came out this past week on DUPR, and three of those teams are ranked top six. Not surprisingly, each one of these schools earned themselves a bid to nationals:
However, the biggest story of the tournament was Utah Valley’s performance. Utah Valley was the only school this weekend that had multiple teams win every match in their group stage. The #1 team from Utah Valley won every single of their eight matches without dropping a single game against their opponents. In the finals, they handed Utah Tech their first-ever 0-3 match loss and first-ever finals loss in a regional tournament.
Will Utah Tech (or another team from the west) step up and take the crown back from Utah Valley? Either way, this is definitely the start of the newest collegiate pickleball rivalry and hints that we will see a level of competition in the 2024 Collegiate National Championship that will break records.
A very special thanks to The Picklr for hosting the second DUPR Collegiate Super Regional of 2024. To learn more about The Picklr, visit their website here: thepicklr.com
In the dynamic world of DUPR, the journey to unlocking your full potential begins with understanding the fundamentals. From earning your initial rating to honing your skills through gameplay, every step shapes your pickleball experience.
In this chat, Dave and Sarah will tackle common questions players encounter when starting their DUPR journey. Let's explore starting out, finding good playing partners, and understanding match count.
Here's a breakdown of the key takeaways:
1. Getting Started:
2. Playing Partners:
3. Match Count:
4. Playing Dynamics:
5. Fair Play:
6. Strategy Matters:
7. Recording Matches:
8. Club Participation:
9. Match Dynamics:
10. Past Results:
11. Rating Decay:
DUPR isn't just a rating system; it's a community-driven platform designed to elevate your pickleball experience.
For more insights and updates, please stay connected with DUPR through our app, website, social media channels, and newsletter. We're here to support you on your pickleball journey, one match at a time.
Disclaimer: The responses provided in this blog post are based on the conversation between Dave and Sarah, and are subject to updates and revisions by DUPR.
Austin, TX and Rockville, MD (February 29, 2024) – DUPR (Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating) and JOOLA, a leading brand in pickleball and table tennis, today announced a new partnership that will see JOOLA become the Official Sponsor of DUPR Collegiate Pickleball, the largest tournament series for college players. The partnership will drive further growth and advancement of collegiate pickleball to create more pathways and opportunities for players to compete in college and beyond.
DUPR Collegiate Pickleball Powered by JOOLA will have a total of 26 events in the Spring and Fall, with 8 Super Regional events and 16 Campus Regional events, Individual National Championships in June and the Collegiate National Championships in November. Now in its third year, the 2024 season offers the most extensive series of events and the largest scholarship prize money yet, providing more opportunities for competitive collegiate pickleball players to showcase their skills and jumpstart their professional career.
DUPR has led the way in establishing competitive collegiate pickleball by creating compelling opportunities for players to compete, earn scholarship prize money and identify new pathways to continue to play. Since hosting its first college event in 2022, DUPR Collegiate Pickleball has hosted 16 events for 1300 athletes – including the largest collegiate pickleball tournament ever with over 350 players – and contributed over $250,000 in scholarship money and travel stipends for players.
Tito Machado, CEO of DUPR, said: “College players are the future of the game. DUPR Collegiate Pickleball events are focused on creating more opportunities for players to hit the court and showcase their skills, and bringing new players and fans into the game to grow it for generations to come. JOOLA’s support is instrumental in driving more awareness and excitement around college pickleball. We are excited to work together to host more events, create more pathways for players and increase scholarship prizes.”
Richard Lee, CEO of JOOLA, said: “Collegiate pickleball has skyrocketed in popularity over the last few years and it is the fastest growing demographic in the sport. DUPR has established itself as the leader in this space. Its collegiate events are giving players real competitive opportunities to play and even find a pathway to the pros, and are shining a spotlight on the sport overall. These players are the future of the game and we are excited to support the 2024 DUPR Collegiate season.”
The schedule of events for the 2024 DUPR Collegiate Pickleball Powered by JOOLA season is as follows:
Spring Super Regionals
2024 Collegiate Individual National Championships
Fall Super Regionals
Campus Regionals
2024 Collegiate National Championship
For more information please visit dupr.com/collegiate
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About DUPR
DUPR (Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating) is the premier global pickleball rating system and technology platform, trusted by the world's leading clubs, tournaments, leagues and players. DUPR's dynamic rating system unifies pickleball across age, gender and location by analyzing match results to accurately evaluate all players across a 2.000 - 8.000 scale. Players and operators can visit www.mydupr.com to sign up and learn more.
About JOOLA
JOOLA has been a pioneer in table tennis since its establishment in 1952. In 2022, its expansion into pickleball quickly attracted the biggest names in the sport. As a sponsor of major professional pickleball tours, associations, and to top athletes in the game, the team at JOOLA combines its expertise with fresh perspectives to bring synergy and innovation to the pickleball market. JOOLA creates a variety of equipment, apparel, and accessories for pickleball players, both professional and recreational. JOOLA is based in Rockville, MD, and is owned by Sport Squad, Inc. Learn more about JOOLA and see why the sport’s best are joining Team JOOLA by visiting joolausa.com.
Media Contact
Erica Annon / DUPR / erica@mydupr.com
Pickleball has achieved tremendous success over the past few years because it’s not only a great workout — it’s also a lot of fun and a great social activity regardless of your pickleball rating. One way to make sure that pickleball stays fun and enjoyable for the entire pickleball community is to find players who are at your level. It's great for welcoming newcomers and connecting with players of all abilities within the pickleball community.
That’s where DUPR comes in.
As the only global pickleball rating system that uses the same scale to rate players regardless of their age, gender, or location, DUPR ensures that players enjoy fun and competitive games.
With hundreds of thousands of players, more than 2,000 clubs, and located in over 150 countries, you can easily find equally matched opponents almost anywhere.
Whether you’re on vacation, meeting new players in your local area, or competing in pickleball events, with DUPR’s rating system you’re sure to find players matching your skill level.
Having a DUPR rating means that you are part of a curated group of players. This ensures that you avoid being “sandbagged,” the unfortunate situation of playing against a more experienced player who knowingly competes at a lower skill level to gain an unfair advantage.
A DUPR rating is transparent. You’ll always know an opponent’s current skill level, whether they are relatively new to the game or highly experienced. Having a DUPR rating also shows that you are active in maintaining and building the community spirit that pickleball is known for. Asking “What’s your DUPR?” is a great way to introduce yourself to new players and often leads to an exchange of shot tips, strategies, and product information. This fosters an environment where players can learn from one another. It provides an opportunity for higher-rated players to teach less experienced ones, and help them elevate their game and rise through the rankings.
Having a good DUPR rating isn’t just about bragging rights. It also demonstrates that you have a solid understanding of pickleball rules and etiquette. From kitchen violations to foot faults and the two-bounce rule, your DUPR rating demonstrates that you’re committed to fair play and know the rules of the game. As a result, players with DUPR ratings are more likely to follow pickleball rules and protocols. Not just because maintaining their rating demands it, but because they are committed to the spirit of true competition and to foster the community spirit inherent in pickleball.
Getting your DUPR rating is easy. Just click here to register and join the global DUPR pickleball community.
The World Pickleball Tour, pickleball’s leading amateur challenger tour, is collaborating with DUPR (Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating) to grow the game and drive nationwide participation for amateur players to compete, showcase their skills and win prize money.
“DUPR’s community is made up of incredibly active, passionate and competitive players who leave it all out on the court. That’s what our events are all about - giving amateur players everywhere unforgettable fun and competitive experiences. We are excited to work with DUPR to highlight opportunities for amateurs to compete and grow the world’s best game,” said Corey Poches, Director of Partnerships, World Pickleball Tour.
“The World Pickleball Tour has developed an incredible series of events for amateur players to hit the court and showcase their skills in a fun, competitive environment. At DUPR, we are committed to bringing our community the best pickleball experiences, from our accurate rating system, to events and opportunities to play. We are excited to help support participation in World Pickleball Tour events and help players across the country to find another reason to hit the court,” said Tito Machado, DUPR CEO.
The World Pickleball Tour’s amateur-only tournament series features 35 events for 2024. Each tournament stop is a “challenger” event, and as a perk, all Gold Medalists from the circuit receive invitations to the 2025 WPT Amateur Invitational Championships to compete for their portion of the $175,000 cash prize.
The first event of the partnership kicks off in the Cincinnati area, hosted at The Pickle Lodge, a beautiful 17-court indoor venue in West Chester, OH from March 22 - 24. The round robin tournament will ensure players have ample opportunity to play more, wait less and win major prizes. All matches will count towards players' DUPR rating. All participants will receive a WPT player swag bag, featuring reusable branded totes packed with premium items, including a World Tour 2024 DRIFIT t-shirt, hydration and nutrition essentials, on-court fashion accessories and other tournament necessities.
Members of the DUPR community can get $10 off general registration with the code DUPRCINCI Register: HERE
Registration ends: March 18, 2024 at 12:00 AM ET.
Upcoming Events:
WPT Houston Challenger
April 26-28, 2024
PALA Pickleball
Spring, TX
Members of the DUPR community can get $10 off general registration with the code DUPRHOU Register: HERE
Registration ends: April 22, 2024 at 12:00 AM ET.
View the rest of the 2024 season schedule here: wptevents.com/events
For most kids, gym class is the highlight of the school week. It’s a much-needed break from serious class work and a chance to run around, play with friends, and expend energy playing basketball, soccer, volleyball, and floor hockey. Today, an increasing number of schools are adding pickleball to the menu as a way to provide students with a fun, easy way to increase physical activity and combat childhood obesity while addressing their ever-shrinking budgets.
Tailor-Made For Schools
Many aspects that have made pickleball so popular with adults – it’s easy to learn, it’s a fun workout, games are quick, and it allows people of various abilities and fitness levels to play together – also make it a great fit for school gym classes. Students can progress very quickly, which builds up their self-esteem and a sense of accomplishment and can lead to improvements in their overall academic achievement.
Pickleball is also ideal for schools because it solves the problem of how to provide students with a fun physical activity while adhering to tight budgets. According to The Society of Health and Physical Educators, (SHAPE America), the average elementary school spends only $462 per year on physical education. That’s not per child —that’s for the entire school. Given these constraints, pickleball provides a cost-effective activity that many students can play while meeting government mandates for physical education.
DUPR Fuels the Growth of Pickleball Among Younger Players
The Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) estimates that 8.9 million people played pickleball in 2023. As the average age of pickleball participants continues to trend downward – it’s currently at 35 – DUPR is working with organizations across the country to expand the sport further among younger players. For example, the most recent National Junior Pickleball Championships powered by DUPR was held in October in Las Vegas and featured 113 boys and girls ranging in age from 9-18 competing in singles, doubles, and team tournaments.
Bringing Pickleball to Schools
In addition to DUPR’s efforts, the nonprofit organization PHIT America is making it easy for schools to add pickleball to their physical education curriculum. PHIT America’s Play Pickleball initiative donates everything a school needs – paddles, nets, balls, training aids -- to introduce pickleball to students. Launched in Spring 2023 with the ambitious goal of delivering more than 100 kits to elementary schools throughout the US, PHIT America is partnering with pickleball pro KaSandra Gerke to spread the word about the fun and health benefits kids can enjoy from playing pickleball.
Pickleball is all about teamwork and good sportsmanship and therefore fits nicely with the values schools teach every day. The sport’s explosive growth over the past few years is poised to continue, and anyone who has watched an MLP or PPA match is witnessing the success younger players are having on tour. Seventeen-year-old Anna Leigh Waters continues to dominate and teen phenoms Hayden Patriquin and Quang Duong consistently compete at the highest levels. You never know, somewhere in America a student could be picking up a paddle in gym class for the first time, get hooked on the sport and soon play in a few pickleball tournaments, get their DUPR rating, and maybe become tomorrow’s next great pickleball champion.
Professionals Can Access Industry-Leading Tools and Technology to Successfully Introduce and Grow the World’s Fastest-Growing Sport in Their Communities
DUPR (Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating) and The Registry of Pickleball Professionals (RRPk), the pickleball arm of the International Coaches Institute, today announced a long-term partnership to support the growth and development of club owners and coaching professionals with pickleball education training and resources.
Pickleball is the fastest-growing sport in the US and is seeing explosive growth worldwide. DUPR and RPPk are collaborating to launch an educational training program and platform for professional coaches and event organizers to equip them with tools and training to capitalize on the excitement around pickleball and successfully introduce the sport in their communities. DUPR’s accurate global rating system and technology platform provide a unifying language and standard to evaluate player skill level and find opportunities to play, creating connectivity for the sport around the world.
“Our mission is to serve our members with the best tools and training to enhance their professional development. Pickleball is only continuing to grow worldwide and our partnership with DUPR will give our professionals the resources they need to effectively introduce and grow the sport in their communities,” said Luis Mediero, President of the Registro Profesional de Pickleball and International Registry of Pickleball Professionals. “We specialize in coaches and education, and DUPR specializes in the best, most accurate pickleball ratings and technology. It’s a natural fit for our organizations to come together to support our professionals and grow the sport effectively worldwide.”
RPPk will provide a DUPR Team Coach qualification to all coaches who pass the corresponding training courses in their professional training program, and will release a number of certification programs to support organizers in their professional development later this year. The partnership will kick off with a pickleball tournament in Madrid, where coaches will be able to take the first RRPk course and experience the power and precision of DUPR during a championship tournament.
“Professionals are the lifeblood of the game, and we are committed to providing the training, tools and technology to grow pickleball and make the experience fun and exciting so players keep coming back to the court,” said Tito Machado, DUPR CEO. “Our focus at DUPR is to bring accessible, easy to understand technology and analytics to pickleball to unify the sport across age, gender and location with a simple rating system. We are honored to partner with the RPPk and the International Coaches Institute to support professionals and the growth of the game worldwide.”
RRPk and DUPR are developing the following programs to be released later this year:
For more information, please visit www.RPPickleball.org
About International Coaches Institute & RPPk
The International Coaches Institute - ICI established during 2021, the Registry of Pickleball Professionals - RPPk dedicated to professional training, international certification and comprehensive professional services for PICKLEBALL teaching professionals, as well as the promotion of this sport. RPPk has more 1,200certified coaches in 21 countries, who have the highest recognition in the Pickleball industry. All our qualifications are recognized by: International Registry of Pickleball Professionals (RPPk International), European Registry of Pickleball Professionals (RPPk Europe), United States Registry of Pickleball Professionals (RPPk USA), Registro Profesional de Pickleball Latinoamericano (RPPk Latinoamérica), International Coaches Institute (ICI) and the y Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating (DUPR).
All training programs, certification and qualifications and professional services of the Registry of Pickleball Professionals - RPPk are endorsed and recognized by the Royal Spanish Tennis Federation - RFET / PICKLEBALL and by the Spanish Pickleball Association - Pickleball Spain.
The International Coaches Institute (ICI) has become the first and largest international organization dedicated to offering educational programs, international certification and comprehensive professional services to tennis, golf, padel, fitness and pickleball teaching professionals through their respective Professional Registries: Tennis (RPTennis), Golf (RPGolf), Padel (RPPadel), Fitness (RPFitness) and Pickleball (RPPk) with a clear objective: to offer all those tools necessary to train and develop people through sport.
About DUPR
DUPR (Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating) is the premier global pickleball rating system and technology platform, trusted by the world's leading clubs, tournaments, leagues, and players. DUPR's dynamic rating system unifies pickleball across age, gender, and location by analyzing match results to accurately evaluate all players across a 2.000 - 8.000 scale.
For more information on DUPR, visit the official website and follow DUPR on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok.
Tyson McGuffin is one of the most well-known names in pickleball. As one of the top players in the sport, he has made a significant impact with his skills and dedication to the game. In this Q&A session, we get to know Tyson, who is a DUPR athlete and active member of our community, a little bit better. We discuss his favorite hobbies, goals, and his thoughts on the DUPR Rating System.
What is your favorite hobby (jokingly outside of pickleball of course)?
“ I just picked up golf and am really loving that. Also cooking. I love my wife, but I do all the cooking.”
What is your favorite destination that you have played pickleball in?
“I love Palm Springs. Weather is nice, golf is great, and the vibes are good.”
What are some goals you have set for yourself in 2024 - whether personally or professionally in pickleball?
“I am determined to keep working on my craft, always stay grounded and be the people's champ. No matter what category - husband, father, player, coach, content creator - I want to shoot for 100%.”
How do you think the DUPR Rating System has enhanced the overall pickleball experience? Do you often or ever compare your DUPR to other players that you are playing, is it a factor going into a match that you play?
“Having an accurate rating system helps the level of play. It creates consistency and sustainability in the sport. It ensures equal play in a competitive setting. The algorithm helps determine how to organize play when you have a range of ratings. Knowing everyone’s DUPR helps keep matches competitive when levels are all over the place.
What inspired you to go pro?
“I was done playing tennis, but still wanted to compete. I was turned on to this silly sport by a member at the club where I was teaching. I have zero moderation in most things in life so dove fully into going pro quickly.”
We are proud to call Tyson McGuffin a DUPR Athlete. His dedication and love for the sport is obvious. With his goals set for continual growth and providing an inclusive playing environment through DUPR, Tyson is making his mark on the pickleball world and inspiring others to do the same.
Make sure to stay updated on Tyson McGuffin's ongoing journey as a DUPR athlete in 2024. Follow him on Instagram and tune into his podcast to catch all of Tyson's upcoming appearances.
Follow Tyson and all your favorite DUPR Athlete's on the DUPR app - Download now!
Fifteen schools and 113 players competed at Pickle Haus this past weekend to be crowned the Illinois Super Regional champions. By player count, it's the largest Regional that DUPR has ever run and the 3rd largest collegiate pickleball tournament ever! Multiple news stations were there to cover the action, as well as plenty of spectators from the surrounding Chicago area.
This tournament was the competitive debut for the UW-Madison, SIUE, Carnegie Mellon, Cornerstone, and Concordia pickleball teams. At the top, we saw the familiar faces of Ohio State, TCU, Indiana, and Michigan reach the semifinals and claim a bid to Nationals in November.
At our Michigan Regional last year, we saw Indiana beat the Ohio State 1st team in a Dreambreaker to advance to the finals and win the whole tournament. However the tables turned at the Illinois Super Regional, and it was instead the Ohio State 1st team getting their revenge and beating Indiana in the Dreambreaker to advance to the finals and winning the whole tournament.
The Illinois Super Regional was the first of eight Super Regionals DUPR is running this year, with the next one being the Utah Super Regional in Kaysville, Utah on March 2nd-3rd.
A big thank you goes to our sponsors: HEAD, GAMMA, OOFOS, Michelob Ultra, and Total Pickleball.
DUPR (Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating) is thrilled to announce the expansion of its partnership with GAMMA Sports, marking an exciting new chapter in the future of pickleball in 2024. GAMMA is set to become the official ball for DUPR with the launch of the innovative CHUCK Tournament Pickleball to the market.
“We are thrilled to be expanding our DUPR partnership. DUPR’s commitment to pickleball aligns perfectly with our brand mission to expand the pickleball community. We believe this collaboration will support growth and introduce pickleball to an even wider audience,” said Molly Boras, Executive Vice President of GAMMA Sports.
"This strategic partnership with GAMMA Sports as The Official Ball of DUPR is truly exciting. Together, we look forward to strengthening our joint mission of growing the sport of pickleball at a rapid rate,” said Ben Van Hout, Director of Sponsorships atDUPR.
The CHUCK Tournament Pickleball will make its debut at DUPR's Collegiate Super Regional on February 3rd and 4th in Illinois. The ball features 38 holes instead of 40 for a guaranteed true flight and is engineered to withstand temperatures at both ends of the outdoor spectrum. The CHUCK Tournament Pickleball will be released for sale on February 7th on GAMMA Sports website.
As two entities committed to advancing the sport of pickleball, DUPR and GAMMA are excited about the potential of this partnership in fostering community engagement amongst all pickleball players in the nation and on a global scale.
To learn more about DUPR, please visit: www.mydupr.com
To learn more about Gamma Sports, please visit: www.gammasports.com
###
About DUPR:
DUPR (Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating) is the premier global pickleball rating system and technology platform, trusted by the world's leading clubs, tournaments, leagues and players. DUPR's dynamic rating system unifies pickleball across age, gender and location by analyzing match results to accurately evaluate all players across a 2.000 - 8.000 scale.
For more information on DUPR, visit the official website and follow DUPR on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok.
About GAMMA Sports:
GAMMA Sports is a family-owned manufacturer of innovative pickleball and tennis equipment. With over 50 years of experience in racquet sports, GAMMA has become a trusted name among athletes and sports enthusiasts around the world. With a commitment to quality and performance, GAMMA provides products to improve every player’s game. The company's product lineup includes high-performance paddles, balls, grips, and accessories.
GAMMA Media Contact:
Paige Powers
Communications Manager, GAMMA Sports
Email: paige.powers@gammasports.com
Explaining the Research Behind DUPR’s Jan. 30th Updates
You all have probably seen the quick-hitter algo update and FAQs we posted on Jan 25th looking forward to the Jan 30th algo improvements or saw me talk briefly about them in my Reddit post last week. I wanted to take the opportunity to go a little more in depth here for those of you who are interested as to how we took the methods from my last blog post and applied them to these decisions, or just generally for those who are keen to get a better understanding of the algo’s inner workings.
Our goal is, in essence, to solve an “optimization” style problem: maximize X while obeying Y. In our case here, “X” is the accuracy of the overall system (we want to predict future matches as accurately as possible) and “Y” is the standard of pre-match transparency and post-match interpretability (it should be intuitive to a user whether their DUPR will go up, down, or stay the same as a result of the match they just played).
The original weekly algo had high accuracy and low transparency/interpretability —it did well on the optimization but didn’t satisfy the requirements. The instantaneous algo had lower accuracy but high transparency/interpretability — it easily satisfied the requirements but with plenty of room to grow on accuracy.
I see transparency as having two key components:
These components are crucial for users because they build trust in the system through clear and justifiable results, ensuring the output is viewed as fair and reliable for all.
The instantaneous ratings update presented a solution to the first transparency component by effectively telling the user: “this match, and only this match, is the reason your DUPR just changed”.
The win-and-go-up aspect of the instantaneous rating was an initial solution to the second transparency component because, while you may not know the exact amount a given match result will move your DUPR, you can at least have a good feel for the directionality and scale on intuition by comparing everyone’s ratings and the simple final W/L result.
So, how do we improve our accuracy while staying within the defined bounds? DUPR can either operate more accurately within the current solutions to these constraints (by building better models with the same requirements of instant results and win-and-go-up movements) or it can build additional solutions by adding channels of communication which show that causality or intuition more clearly to users.
Given some workflow hurdles to solve for the fact that many users typically only look at DUPR after the match has been played, and the required technical lifts to build these communication channels, our January 30th algo update is focused on optimizing within the solutions available to us, making sure each step adds accuracy and intuition.
Win intensity is stage one of fully reintroducing points to our ecosystem in a transparent and effective way. The question becomes: how do we reintegrate the accuracy of counting points back into the rating such that it satisfies the intuitive movement constraint?
The first step is: does counting points actually improve accuracy? Does seeing someone win 11-8 vs winning 11-0 mean that our prediction of their future performance should be relatively lower in the 11-8 case? With the framework discussed in the last blog, we can now answer this question pretty explicitly. We spin up a version of the algo that scales the movement of a player based on the points they’ve won, and, as many of you may have guessed, points do in fact add predictive value!
Calculating all of the points, even without much additional sophistication, adds an additional 25% or so of accuracy!
But there’s a catch. If Albus was supposed to win 11-5 against Barnabus and instead Albus only won 11-8, this pure points model would actually indicate Albus’ rating is too high as it currently stands or else it would’ve known to predict 11-8 from the get go! So the result would nudge both Albus’ and Barnabus’ ratings closer to the ratings that would’ve predicted 11-8: Albus goes down and Barnabus goes up, despite Albus beating Barnabus. While Barnabus may love the fact that his rating went up “unexpectedly”, Albus certainly could be frustrated. Maybe he had the game in hand at 11-4 and went easy for the last few points because he didn’t know he had to win 11-5 or better. Without a way of communicating that 11-5 target to users before the match is played, we simply don’t feel comfortable imposing that negative experience on users at this stage. We’re working on making this possible, but since many users don’t enter matches until after the match completes, for instance, we will have to address the entire user workflow to make this available for us.
So what can we do now? Well, we can design another model that still uses points, but allows for the inflection to still be at whether you’ve won or lost. By tuning the hyperparameters around exactly how this model works, we can maximize the accuracy of this method to within 10% of the pure points model — a significant step forward from where we are now! We’re calling this model feature Win Intensity. As before, if you win a match, you will go up, and if you lose, you will go down —this is the only way to guarantee transparency with this process because of the above.
But, now when you win by just a little, your rating barely moves up. If you win by a lot, your rating moves up much more. More of that point spread information is being incorporated.
Representative example of how DUPR can use Win Intensity to get close to the Pure Points-based ratings movement while still having an intuitive behavior. The exact shape here is for illustrative purposes only.
So yes, if I hypothetically took a bunch of lessons and managed to lose to Ben Johns by only 11-9, I would move down a very, very, very small amount after that match even though I would ideally show as having played quite above my current station. But when I turn around and start beating other people now by increasingly larger spreads, my rating would begin to rise much faster than in the former format. With more matches played, the relative differences from the Win Intensity model get averaged out and have less and less of an influence.
This is an area of ongoing focus for us, of course. We’d love to have all 25% of that accuracy bonus back (and then some), but this is a significant step in a positive direction while staying within the transparency conditions that have generated a significantly more active user-base.
I promise the next few sections will be shorter!
On the topic of taking a bunch of lessons and getting significantly better, we needed a way to incorporate drift and movement in player skill. Players get better with practice, more focus, or just generally more experience. Maybe they’re transitioning from another racquet sport and picking up a new pickleball-specific skill every week they touch a paddle. In the pre-Jan 30th instant algo, movement was constant regardless of when the games were played.
In this release, the ratings will now move proportionally to their match recency weighting. Recent matches will count for more in your rating and their weights will begin to slowly drop over time. As you get further and further from that match, the more recent matches entered will then hold relatively higher emphasis on your rating. If you take a few months off, the matches in your account will continue to decay in weight. Once you start entering matches into DUPR again, those recent matches will be much fresher than the old ones and your rating will move more than if you had been playing every day leading up to your latest match. This helps us learn better particularly in the case where you’ve taken some time off to practice and are coming back into the game with a few new tricks up your sleeve!
How did DUPR come up with the particular shape and decay rate? You may even be able to guess my answer at this point! We built a few hypotheses based on statistical theory and experience, fit them into our model, ran them against our dataset, and the one that best captured the natural trend in player skill movement was selected!
The last big change that was burning a hole in our quantitative pockets for this Jan 30 release date was the idea of match count and learning rate. Imagine you flipped a coin one time and have no prior knowledge of coins. They are an absolute mystery. It landed on heads. Our best guess at this time is that it would always land on heads–we have no idea what else it could be since we’ve only ever seen one flip! The next time we flip it, it lands on tails, and our best guess is now that it's only a 50/50 chance of being heads since we’ve now observed one of each. That's a move of 50 whole percent! On the other side of the spectrum, imagine we had flipped a million coins in our life and we had meticulously recorded 500k heads and 500k tails. Our next coin flip, be it heads or tails, doesn't change our estimate that much as to how likely this coin is to land on heads; we've already seen so much information to support our hypothesis that coin flips are 50/50 that this next flip adds relatively little new information.
Playing pickleball acts statistically in quite the same way; the more you play, the more we know about you and the less new information we gain from the latest match. An MLP/PPA pro is probably pretty close to their true rating, whereas someone just joining DUPR has a lot of unknown variables to discover! You may think “Wait, every time I play you should be learning more about me, right?” That is still true! But if it was your first game ever on DUPR, we’d have 100% of our knowledge about your rating coming from one single match and would have to update accordingly. As you play more matches, there are certain pieces of information that are redundant from match to match, and less and less of the match’s details are “surprises” to the algo that it can learn from. Let’s say you play the same team 10 times in a row. By the tenth match, we probably have a pretty good idea of how you typically match up against them and that tenth match usually just helps to confirm that constructed view rather than forming a new view altogether.
But you’ll notice this effect is acting in the opposite direction of the Match Recency effect; where Match Recency says we learn more from recent matches, Match Count says we are learning relatively less. With our new framework, we can calibrate these two effects together to determine the appropriate rates for DUPR to both “learn” and “forget” to maximize the predictive nature of the ecosystem.
With Win Intensity, Match Recency, and Match Count all affecting the ratings as of January 30th, how are matches entered prior to then going to be adapted into the upgraded system? This especially becomes a technological and operational concern when we have to go back and amend old matches or merge player accounts. The best way for us to do this, while also getting the benefit of getting that 15% accuracy bump as soon as possible, is to batch fix everyone’s ratings to the new model’s best guess. This, as you might imagine, would cause a lot of people to be quite frustrated, particularly those of you who may be slightly higher in the old system vs the new.
Our compromise is going to be to batch adjust only those people’s ratings whose ratings are going to go UP in the updated model. If you notice your rating has jumped overnight, congratulations! The upgraded model likes you more than the prior version did! This definitely will create some bias in the average rating since we’re not equivalently moving others down, but as we move further and further into the future, this bias will get decayed through the Match Recency effect and players will move to their unbiased ratings as they play.
With these updates to the DUPR algorithm, we've focused on making the system not only more accurate but also more intuitive and accessible, ensuring that every DUPR user can easily understand and benefit from their personal rating progression. We’re excited about these changes and the process through which they resulted and hope you’ve enjoyed seeing a little bit more into how we came to the decisions we did. As we work towards future algorithm updates and improvements, or maybe just as interesting topics pop up in the space, I hope to see you back here with me!
Written By: Scott Mendelssohn - Head of Analytics, DUPR
Here at DUPR, we're thrilled to unveil a groundbreaking feature that's set to revolutionize your pickleball experience – DUPR Feeds!
For the first time, we're introducing a dynamic way for players to connect, share, and engage within the vibrant pickleball community right from our app.
What's in Store with Feeds:
Get ready to dive into an improved pickleball experience on the DUPR app with the new DUPR Feeds – the ultimate social hub for pickleball players.
While the web version of DUPR Feeds is coming next week, DUPR Feeds is available now on our mobile app!
Click here to learn more about other upcoming app updates.
Pickleball, especially the professional pickleball landscape, has gone through a tumultuous period of late. A continuing surge in the growth of the sport paired with the ever-present “will they/won’t they” relationship between the MLP and the PPA saw DUPR spun out from its former MLP umbrella and into a verdant green pasture of new ownership and an opportunity to fully take the reins on our own destiny.
With the changing of the guard, DUPR can refocus on what it can do best—provide universal, ageless, and genderless ratings for recreational players and professionals alike to foster competitive matches, ensure honest tournament entries, and find partners to play with or against no matter where in the world you are.
You’ve heard that story before and maybe you’ve bought in and are along for the ride or maybe you’ve been burned before and are feeling a little skeptical. This series of blog posts I’ll be writing in the coming weeks is for both of you as we build up to the release of our first algo change reintroducing the points effect since THE algo change back in June. For those of you with your DUPR-branded bucket hats already atop your head, this is a chance to get a peek behind the scenes at what a real research and sports analytics team looks like now that we can be, first and foremost, a research and sports analytics team. For those of you remaining dubious, I hope this provides insights into how we learn from the past, how we approach the problems to solve, and can demonstrate that, while we are certainly ever-imperfect (as all science is), we take this responsibility seriously and have the process in place to deliver results.
For a relatively young company, DUPR has certainly seen its fair share of iterations. I’m sure there are more nuanced stratifications to be drawn, but from an algorithmic side, we’ve basically lived 2 lives:
Each of these algorithm styles has its pros and cons that need to be balanced across all of the company’s objectives–namely, in our case, user experience and accuracy. Let’s dive in.
The original algo, characterized by its update every week, moved slowly. For many of our enthusiastic players eagerly participating in matches throughout the week, the anticipation of seeing their DUPR rating update every Tuesday was a unique experience but lacked the benefits of instant gratification. Further, by combining the effects of an entire week’s performance into one single ratings move, it was hard to understand the effects and build faith in its quality. More often than not, the algo was working “as intended”, but there was absolutely no way for you to go back and verify, leading to skepticism and distrust. Clearly, the user experience needed an overhaul.
But “working as intended” for this algo was also quite raw; in places where the model couldn’t completely solve a problem, heuristics were used to hold the ship together. This is not altogether uncommon. In many algorithms across industries, heuristics are used to optimize a secondary constraint: labor-hours. If you can put something out into the world that moves the needle in a positive direction, the next biggest improvement may be had by going out and finding a second or third needle to positively move rather than spending far more time on needle number one. As long as you’re not looking for these needles in a quantitative haystack, you’re probably better off going out and finding one. When DUPR started, the problem of accurate pickleball ratings was less of a quantitative haystack and more of a quantitative needle-stack.
One of the needles we uncovered ended up being crucially important: connectivity.
How do you accurately compare Player A to Player B if they’ve never met, and may not even be in the same state or even country?
What happens as those connections grow or change? The full deep-dive into this thought process is worthy of its own blog post (and it will absolutely be one down the line when we also talk about ratings reliability!), but the important visualization here is that pickleball is a web of relationships, and information flows through these relationships in a definable and studyable way. Unlike most other sports with highly connected infrastructures that ship their players around the country to play each other in person (football, basketball, hockey, soccer, etc.,) or those with online presences that can generate artificial proximity (online chess and other forms of E-Gaming), pickleball is still relatively disjointed and communal.
A graphical representation of every doubles pickleball match on DUPR. Each node is a player and each line is a match, clustered by strength of connection.
The initial connectivity solution provided a significant boost in the accuracy of the system, but without the tools in place at the time to explain it, it contributed to effectively all of the confusion among the users of that system.
We understood this confusion was a significant issue in the original approach and demanded a change, but the complexities of this transition, both mathematically and technically, were immense.
Faced with tight deadlines and a focus on immediate solutions, the team worked diligently to address emerging issues. This rapid pace naturally placed significant demands on the tech stack, particularly when managing the data infrastructure requirements of large-scale, instantaneous updates for the entire population. The initially simplistic effects of an instantaneous algo and the prerequisites around things like unrated player initialization had to be solved in real time after going live. Eventually, after having whacked all of the moles, we got ourselves back to a steady state and were able to take a breath and try to take a pulse on the ecosystem at-large.
One thing was incredibly clear.
Despite the bugs, engagement was up with DUPR. Like, UP up. Getting immediate and transparent results was so gratifying to the user base as compared to the previous version that we saw the fastest growth in match entry per user than we had ever seen and new users were flooding the platform at the highest rate in company history.
Being able to know that “winning meant going up” gave players a concrete DUPR goal that aligned with their pickleball goal for a given match. Whereas the population of users (mostly) understands and believes that accounting for every single point would be more accurate, there was no denying that having no idea the amount of points you’d need to score in a given match to go up could lead to frustrations, especially if it was never explained why a rating had changed after the fact!
Immediacy was fun and transparency was key.
But the transition was bumpier than we had hoped for and the algorithm needed a few rounds of iteration until we got back to the plant-wide accuracy we expect from DUPR.
We knew we couldn’t move away from immediacy and transparency, and obviously we needed a way to reintroduce that crucial element of connectivity. So now, with the ability to forge our own research and development path as we see fit, the question becomes: How do we generate the most accurate possible system within the constraints of that user experience? Well, for that, we first need to understand what we mean by accuracy.
I ask you to predict the outcome of a coin toss and the chance that it ends up on heads. (I also ask that you bear with me for some very light math… I promise). Common sense has likely given you the answer to the question already: 50%. Imagine you are asked to evaluate two different models that are in the business of predicting coin tosses (if you have a good one, please let me know and we can make some Super Bowl Prop Bets together this year…).
When comparing these two models, both of them guess “heads” every time and get the answer right 50% of the time. Yet, clearly, both of these models are “wrong”. The right answer to guess is, of course, 50% (although a recent paper that looked at 351k real coin flips says there’s actually a ~51% chance a coin tends to land on the same side it started on!), but there are gradients to wrong-ness that clearly don’t come out by just seeing how many times our guess was right.
For instance, the moment we ever get a coin flip that lands on tails, we can definitively say that Model 2 is instantly and completely discredited. It thought tails was literally impossible and failed to account for the fundamental randomness and noise in the process of a coin flip. Model 1 more correctly aligns with that fundamental randomness, but maybe not enough.
We need to measure both how often we’re correct and whether we are well calibrated to that fundamental randomness. Being correct as often as you think you ought to be correct is just as important as getting the actual heads/tails guess right. If you think a coin has a 51% chance of landing on heads, you’d want to observe yourself being correct guessing heads about 51% of the time. If you were correct in guessing heads 100% of the time, then your model wasn’t as confident as it could’ve been, despite it guessing correctly 100% of the time.
There are numerous statistical ways to evaluate this, but the important takeaway (while staying underneath my mathy-ness budget) is that writing an algorithm that is meant to accurately predict which team wins a match of pickleball is both about constructing a guess that, on average, is more right than wrong and simultaneously is trying to think about how confident its guess is in the first place.
Ok, so we have an algorithmic starting place and we have a barometer of success, but how do we actually take the former and achieve the latter? Over the past few weeks, the analytics team has been able to rewrite and modernize our research pipeline from scratch under the sound principles that are required of a project being built for the scale and duration we envision for DUPR.
We created a full-fledged simulation engine with an ever-increasing list of model hyperparameters that we can now strategically and confidently tune through how they improve our success measurements, and have modularized our algorithm so that each individual component can be studied and improved specifically.
The hard work has been done to make the analytics workflow easy. Now the process is relatively straightforward:
Rinse. Repeat. Refine.
In the coming weeks, I’ll be continuing this series diving into how this has been applied at DUPR so far as well as poking around in some other fun curiosities. I hope you stay tuned and enjoy the behind the scenes look at DUPR’s analytical process!
Written By: Scott Mendelssohn - Head of Analytics, DUPR
After months of research and gathering feedback from users, we are excited to announce that on January 30th, we will release key updates and improvements to the DUPR algorithm. We are confident these updates will create even more accuracy within our rating and a better experience for pickleball players everywhere.
Tomorrow, we're releasing a new blog post that provides a behind-the-scenes look at DUPR's research process and how it contributes to the continual advancement of the algorithm.
As of January 30th, DUPR takes into account:
FAQs
So what does the updated rating mean for you? We’ve tried to answer the most common questions from our community below.
Do these changes start now or will they be applied to all my past matches?
These updates will be applied across all your match results in our platform on January 30th, as well as to all future results you submit. Want to ensure your rating is accurate and up to date? Hit the court and share your results.
Why is DUPR updating the algorithm again? Is this going to happen frequently?
Our team of data scientists is dedicated to ensuring DUPR is the world’s best and most accurate global pickleball rating. As we get more players and results onto the platform, and have more data at our disposal, we are able to make improvements and updates to the system to ensure that DUPR is providing the most accurate assessment of level. We’re confident that each of these updates will improve the foundational accuracy of the rating. On 1/26/2024, we're releasing a blog post that provides a behind-the-scenes look at DUPR's research process and how it contributes to the continual advancement of the algorithm. Will be linked here.
When do matches start to matter less? Is there a certain number of matches that count more (ie my most recent 5 matches)? When do matches start losing their value?
The weight of each match decays with each day that passes by. That means that any match played on the same day will have the same weight before considering the number of sets in the match. The match weight decays smoothly, so there is no cutoff for when a match is no longer counting.
What if all the players involved are not rated?
If all players are unrated, we do not know the level of the match, so we take a guess that the level is 3.5. The outcome of the match will push one team above 3.5 and the other below to properly reflect the levels displayed by the scores of the match. With each player’s next few matches, they will be able to move quickly toward their appropriate level, especially once they are playing rated players around their skill level.
Can my rating go down if I win?
No! You will be awarded a rating increase for each win, but the amount depends on many factors including your win probability, all players’ reliability, the score, the result type, and more.
Will my rating change if I haven’t logged in matches for a long period of time? I have 200 games entered but haven’t played in a year. How does that affect my rating?
A pause in playing will not directly affect your rating, but rather your reliability. In order to keep a reliable rating, we recommend that you continue to participate in DUPR logged or reported matches on a regular basis. If you jump back in after a break, you can expect some fluctuations in your rating in your first few matches back since your rating reached a low level of reliability. Once you record more matches, your rating will start to stabilize again and more accurately represent your current skill level.
Still have questions? Our support team is here to help. Fill out our new form: HERE
Seasoned Investors and Operators in Sports and Technology Join Effort to Unify Pickleball Through Technology and Universal Rating System
Austin, TX (January 24, 2024) – Today, DUPR (Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating), pickleball’s most accurate international rating system, announced a new board, ownership and investors, as well as an influx of $8M in funding to further advance its mission to unify the fast-growing sport with innovative technology and a dynamic global rating.
David Kass, real estate developer and Major League Pickleball team owner, will operate as the new owner and chairman, alongside new board members and investors including legendary tennis star Andre Agassi; Raine Ventures, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Raine Group; Jay Farner, CEO of Ronin Capital Partners and former CEO of Rocket Companies; Brian Yeager, Chairman & CEO, The Champions Companies; and R. Blane Walter, founder of InChord Communications. Tito Machado will continue to lead the organization as its CEO.
“Pickleball is still in its infancy and the sport is only going to continue to gain traction in the US and worldwide. We are making a major financial investment in DUPR to grow the platform, its technology and the game for the long term,” said David Kass, DUPR Chairman of the Board. “In just a few years, DUPR has experienced incredible adoption, with over 35 API partners and half a million users, enabling players to know their level, connect with friends and players, join clubs, and unlock advanced analytics, training tools and opportunities for upskilling. Now operating as its own entity, DUPR can focus on cementing its position as the connective tissue of the entire pickleball ecosystem. I am excited to work with this talented team to take DUPR into its next chapter.”
With over half a million users and a 20% month over month growth rate since its founding in 2021, and a presence in over 140 countries, including China, Germany and the UK, DUPR has established itself as the global standard in pickleball ratings. DUPR provides players across all levels with an ageless, genderless rating based on their match results to equip the emerging sport with a simple language and standard to gauge player ability.
“As an active, passionate pickleball player I know how important it is to play against players at your level for the ultimate enjoyment of the sport,” said Andre Agassi, former world #1 tennis player, eight-time Grand Slam champion and Olympic gold medalist. “DUPR is the most accurate system out there that gives all players a simple and easy way to know their skill level. With DUPR, you can also track progress, connect with others and maximize more opportunities to hit the courts. I believe in DUPR’s vision to benefit pickleball and players of every level. I am excited and proud to be a part of this team.”
DUPR’s various organized competition models provide endless opportunities to participate in pickleball. From juniors (focused on shaping young talent that will define the future of the sport), to collegiate (DUPR is the home of collegiate pickleball), all the way to Major League Pickleball — DUPR connects the entire pickleball pathway, offering something for everyone. The company’s partners and supporters include LifeTime Pickleball, The Picklr, Ace and OOFOS.
“Our team has been working tirelessly for the last few years to build the best-in-class rating system and technology platform to unify pickleball. Now, with the support and guidance of David Kass, Andre Agassi, The Raine Group and our other incredible investors and board members, we’re well-positioned to accelerate our growth and adoption worldwide, while also releasing new features to the platform to enhance the experience for players and organizers,” said Tito Machado, DUPR CEO.
DUPR uses a modified Elo algorithm that rates players, regardless of their age, gender, location, or skill, across the same 2.0 to 8.0 scale to evaluate their ability. The algorithm considers three factors: wins or losses, type of match (recreational vs tournament) and the rating spread between players. DUPR is free and one match is all it takes to have a rating. As players play more, their rating becomes even more accurate. Players who use DUPR play more often, and love the ability to know their level and find more opportunities to play. Tournament directors and event organizers report that when their players have a DUPR they see more activity at their club and increased growth for their bottom line.
To learn more about DUPR, please visit www.mydupr.com.
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About DUPR
DUPR (Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating) is the premier global pickleball rating system and technology platform, trusted by the world’s leading clubs, tournaments, leagues and players. DUPR’s dynamic rating system unifies pickleball across age, gender and location by analyzing match results to accurately evaluate all players across a 2.000 - 8.000 scale. Players and operators can visit www.mydupr.com to sign up and learn more.
Media Contact
Erica Annon / DUPR / erica@mydupr.com
Connor Garnett, a Professional Pickleball Player, was introduced to pickleball through his first Minor League Pickleball event, which instantly sparked his passion for the sport. With a background in college tennis and investment banking, his competitive and fearless nature led him to pursue professional pickleball at the highest level in the country. During the interview, he discusses his experience in his initial Minor League event, his journey to the Major Leagues, and his personal views on the DUPR rating system.
How did you first hear about Minor League Pickleball and what made you try it?
“I was still working full time at that point and just getting into pickleball and a couple of buddies were forming a team and they were like, “Do you want to come out this weekend to play this tournament?” It'll be a fun team event. Having come from college tennis, it instantly was appealing in that regard and it was awesome. I also didn't have to give up any work at that time. So it's kind of playing that balancing act where the regular tournament started Thursday. This was a perfect opportunity to get out there play a tournament and meet a ton of people with a few good buddies. So I was stoked to get out there and play with them.”
Any standout moments or experiences from your first time at Minor League?
"Having that scoring (MLPlay) there puts a little more pressure. It got me hooked a little bit more on pickleball coming from not really competing the last couple of years and just working in investment banking. I was able to get out there and have that Collegiate environment, which was a ton of fun. I remember us just battling it out. There was pool play which was also fun. You just got to see a lot of different teams and then you ended up with semis and finals which was a super cool way to do it.”
Do you think playing Minor League Pickleball prepared you to play Major League Pickleball? Was there a smooth transition? Any adjustments, both in your game and mentally?
"Yes. I think the level of errors goes down and so in Minor League, you get used to the format and the style of it, but you can still get away with a lot of stuff that's not going to work in Challenger (Major League Pickleball). Each level has its challenges, but Minor League helped me build confidence and get used to the format. The jump was significant, especially in the first Challenger event. The pressure increased, and you have to fully trust your game. Facing top players in premier level MLP means every match is a battle out there, so it's just getting used to those levels and putting in the work on the reps so you can fully trust your game."
Who would you recommend Minor League for, and why?
"Minors is great for those entering the sport and wanting their first exposure, or just looking to have a good time. It got my foot in the door and got some buzz around my name but it's also fun for those players who are just looking to have a good time. The Minor League events are out there, and it's a cool way to make a little bit of money and play the sport that you love. Like the one I attended, it added a fun twist with team costumes where the winner of the contest received money. It's not just competitive; it's also a place where you can go and hang out after the matches and just talk to everyone. It's a great stepping stone, but then you want to be focusing on the PPA tour stops to make that jump."
What are your thoughts on pickleball ratings and accuracy overall?
"DUPR does a good job of collecting more data, especially for lower levels. I know when I was first getting into the sport I had to call and ask about getting my ranking properly adjusted so I could play pro tournaments and it just wasn't picking up certain things and wasn't as Dynamic. I think DUPR has a great kind of functionality on capturing those earlier players and putting a ranking on them to at least help them make sure they're in an event but I think sandbagging is always gonna be prevalent. No matter how you slice it. It's just trying to mitigate it as much as possible."
How important is having an accurate rating for the sport, and should there be one standardized system?
"I don't look at ratings much but being able to accurately get that having one system out there that can just put a value on everyone. It is so important and I think that's just going to be crucial. The more systems you have the more confusing it gets so it's just the more you can standardize that the better it's gonna be."
"I love the DUPR system. I think it's great for some of the waterfall events and just being able to have that flexibility in these different formats is awesome. I think the cool thing about DUPR is you have been constantly tinkering with the system, experimenting with it. I like that because it's a learning process, figuring out what makes sense from my perspective. I'm not as close to that stuff. I think, for the pro level, DUPR does a cool job showing probabilities."
Follow Connor's pickleball journey on Instagram.
View the full interview on our YouTube channel.
After an amazing 2023, DUPR Collegiate Pickleball is excited to announce everything new we have to offer for 2024! In the post below, we describe changes we’re making to the bids, regionals, and rankings, as well as introducing campus regionals, DUPR duals, and regions! To get in contact with us, use our email at college@mydupr.com.
Bid System
Here are how bids will work for 2024:
In total, there will be 64 bids given out to the 2024 Collegiate National Championship.
Super Regionals
Regionals run by DUPR have been upgraded into Super Regionals! These Super Regionals will have more bids, scholarship money, teams, and courts than our 2023 Regionals.
Spring Super Regionals
Fall Super Regionals
Scholarship Money - $6000 total
Team Bracket
Challenger Bracket
1st-4th place teams will receive a bid to Nationals. If any of these teams already possess a bid, the opportunity for a bid will extend to the next highest-ranking team that does not have one. In some cases, schools may need to engage in an additional match to determine which team will receive the extended bid opportunity.
The Team Bracket will consist of MLP teams from each school, where there are 2-3 men and 2-3 women players on each team. It will operate the same as our 2023 Regionals, where teams will play Women’s Doubles, Men’s Doubles, 2 Mixed Doubles, and potentially a Dreambreaker to determine a winner between teams. The Challenger Bracket will be an open doubles tournament, unless we have enough players sign up to split into Men’s Doubles/Mixed Doubles/Women’s Doubles.
Schools may bring an unlimited number of teams and challenger players. Any school may attend any Super Regional.
Entry Requirements
Email college@mydupr.com to have a team bracket made for your school in the Regional you want to attend. Your team bracket players will register in that bracket we made for you, and all challenger bracket players will register in the bracket labeled “Challenger Bracket”
Campus Regionals
Campus Regionals are a way for DUPR Collegiate Pickleball to work with individual clubs running their own collegiate tournaments. If your club is running a collegiate tournament, and it meets certain requirements, the tournament can be a part of our Campus Regional series. Each Campus Regional will receive a Nationals bid to give out, as well as be featured on the DUPR Collegiate Pickleball website. Only 16 tournaments will be selected for the Campus Regional series in 2024. Here is the link for the application and more details.
2024 Collegiate Individual National Championships (CINC)
Date: June 1st-2nd
Location: The Pickle Lodge in Cincinnati, OH
Scholarship Money: $20,000 total
Individual Nationals is returning in 2024! This event will crown a champion for each of the Men’s & Women’s Doubles, Mixed Doubles, and Men’s & Women’s Singles brackets. Any college student taking at least 6 credit hours can compete!
Sign up for the 2024 Collegiate Individual National Championships HERE!
2023 CINC Champions
Entry Requirements
Schedule
2024 Collegiate National Championship (CNC)
Date: November 1st-3rd
Location: Lapiplasty UPA World Championships in Dallas, TX
Scholarship Monday: $32,000 total
For Nationals, 64 schools from across the country will compete to be the champion! Schools will be split into 16 groups of 4, and every single team will advance to the single-elimination playoffs, March Madness style. MLP teams are still guaranteed 6 matches, no matter their performance. There will also be a challenger bracket at the 2024 CNC, which will operate similar to the 2023 CNC challenger bracket.
To participate in the team brackets at CNC, a school must:
To participate in the challenger bracket at CNC, players must:
Dual Matches
Ready to challenge your local rivals? Got a free weekend and craving some Collegiate Pickleball? We have just the solution - introducing DUPR Duals. This new initiative will allow teams to organize matches against each other that count towards their team record and ranking. All dual matches following this format will be featured on the DUPR Collegiate Pickleball website. Here is the link to our doc explaining how to conduct a dual match with another school.
DUPR Collegiate Council
DUPR is the home of collegiate pickleball, and we want to make sure that we continue to foster open communication and collaboration with our player base. In 2024, we will organize a DUPR Collegiate Council that will be made up of leaders and players from each region of collegiate pickleball. The DUPR Collegiate Council and DUPR’s Collegiate Team will meet regularly to discuss feedback on previous events, the steps that DUPR is taking to grow the sport, and your input on what we can do to increase each player’s experience. Participation in the DUPR Collegiate Council will be by invitation only. If you are interested in lending your experience to help us grow collegiate pickleball, you may apply here.
Power Rankings and Leaderboard
Power Rankings are back for 2024! The goal of our Power Rankings is to answer the question: "Which school would win the Collegiate National Championship if it were held today?". Power Rankings are calculated by aggregating the highest doubles DUPRs from the top 2 men and top 2 women from a school. In order for a school to be on the Power Rankings, they must have brought a MLP team to any Super Regional, Campus Regional, Dual Match, or event from 2022 & 2023. To be eligible to count towards their college's power ranking, a player 1) must still be a current student at that college, 2) must have played in any DUPR event, and 3) must have a doubles DUPR. Spring, summer, and fall graduates have until July 31st, August 31st, and December 31st, respectively, before their student status is removed.
Power Rankings will be released on the first Friday of every month. The full list is available at our website here.
We have added the Leaderboard to our website, which tracks all of the matches, games, and points from every Super Regional, Campus Regional, and Dual Match. The goal of the Leaderboard is to provide a way to compare the stats of each school to each other, and to provide insight into which schools are winning the highest % of their matches, games, and points. The Leaderboard has no effect on bids or tournament seeding.
DUPR Regions
Introducing DUPR Regions - Teams are split up into different regions based on geographic location. These regions were decided based on a variety of factors, and with the ever-growing collegiate pickleball landscape, we shall review regional splits on an annual basis. DUPR Regions will allow players to be eligible for regional awards, experience heightened rivalries, and access more competitive opportunities.
Please note - Due to the current distribution of Collegiate Pickleball teams, not all regions will have the same amount of Super/Campus Regionals for 2024. Teams can compete in any regional tournament they wish, regardless of their assigned region.
See below to see what region your team belongs to -
DUPR Awards
Starting in 2024, DUPR shall implement the inaugural DUPR Collegiate Pickleball Awards! This initiative aims to reward players, coaches, and programs for their contributions to the success of DUPR Collegiate Pickleball on and off the court. These awards will be decided by the DUPR Collegiate Council and will be given out at the 2024 Collegiate National Championship during the awards banquet.
DUPR All-American
DUPR Scholar-Athlete
DUPR Rookie of the Year
DUPR Senior Player of the Year
DUPR Coach of the Year
DUPR Community Service Award (Team)
DUPR Ambassador of the Year
The Minor League Pickleball (MiLP) National Championship took place Dec 16-17, 2023 at Los Cab Sports Village in Fountain Valley, California. The event hosted teams from 24 states across the US and several countries. With five divisions competing, the weekend was charged with competition and camaraderie, leaving everyone with lasting memories and anticipation of next year’s Nationals.
Saturday consisted of 68 teams battling for a spot in Sunday’s finals. Sunday featured intense quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals. It also included a unique uniform contest, drawing many great team submissions. Team Matrix from DUPR 16 was voted the winner with their fun, creative, and vibrant spirit.
Player Insights
Reflecting on the experience, participants praised the event organization and atmosphere. Brodie Smith from California in DUPR 18 with Team Don’s Pro Shop, deemed it as the "best pickleball event" he had attended, emphasizing the exceptional care given to athletes and the seamless event execution.
Ashley Koo from Washington in DUPR 20, representing team Mutant Ninja Pickles, highlighted the exceptional teamwork fostered by the MiLP format, describing it as an "EPIC weekend of pickleball."
Jordan DeGroote from New York in DUPR 18 with Team The Sky Guys/Life Time reinforced these shared sentiments stating, “When I think of a perfect pickleball tournament, I now and forever will think of MiLP Nationals. Thrilling format, gorgeous weather, ideal venue, exhilarating competition, and TONS of pickleball! The tournament was so well organized and executed - we will definitely do our best to be back next year.”
Partnership with Swish
Central to the tournament's success was the use of Swish, one of DUPR's latest API partners. Swish streamlined the event by automating the entire player experience, encompassing everything from inputting and validating match scores to updating court assignments and providing players access to view other teams' results.
At the end of each day, tournament results were uploaded into DUPR so that players could quickly see how their ratings changed. Swish contributed to a seamless tournament and made the players' lives easier, allowing them to focus on their matches.
Division Winners
MiLP Nationals showcased top-tier play across various divisions, highlighting the different levels of skill and the competitive spirit of pickleball players. Here's the list of divisional winners:
First Place: Wild Monkeys - Oklahoma
Second Place: Hook’Em - Texas
Third Place: Team Angry Birds - California
First Place: Tennis Sucks - California
Second Place: Wear a Smile - Oklahoma
Third Place: Zen Johns from New Jersey - Pennsylvania
First Place: The Sky Guys/Life Time - New York
Second Place: Wild Monkeys - Oklahoma
Third Place: Cranky Big Red Bears - Texas
First Place: Mutant Ninja Pickles - Washington
Second Place: Pickle Rock - California
Third Place: Coachella Pickleballers All Stars - California
First Place: Team Florence - California
Second Place: Pickleball Lifers - California and the District of Columbia
Third Place: Cali Breeze 2.0 - California
Gratitude to Our Sponsors
The event's success owes a huge thanks to our sponsors: Anheuser Busch, Total Pickleball, OOFOS, and Oso. Anheuser Bush's refreshing drinks were a hit, Total Pickleball's "CHAMP" discount code still offers 30% off until the end of the year, OOFOS kept players comfortable as our official recovery footwear, and Oso kept the games going as the official ball of MiLP Nationals. Their support truly made a difference, enhancing the entire event experience.
The MiLP National Championship at Los Cab Sports Village represented more than just a competition; it embodied sportsmanship, teamwork, and a shared passion for pickleball. As the event wrapped up, the echoes of excitement and camaraderie remain, setting the stage for an eagerly anticipated return next year.
About Minor League Pickleball
Minor League Pickleball is a co-ed, amateur tournament where players compete in their respective divisions across the nation. The top teams earn the chance to advance and play at the Minor League Pickleball National Championship.
To learn more about Minor League Pickleball, visit the website.
Sign up today for a MiLP event or host your own MiLP event.
DUPR is proud to announce our strategic partnership with Pranav Kohli, the Asian Pickleball Association (APA), and PLAPL. This collaboration marks a significant step towards the global unification of the sport, supporting the excitement and growth across continents. The partnership with DUPR signifies an important step towards making pickleball a better experience
for both professionals and amateurs.
“I am excited to further align our efforts in the unification of the sport under one rating. Joining forces with Pranav Kohli and APA/PLAPL aligns perfectly with our mission to unify the sport on a global scale. This partnership reflects our commitment to bringing together diverse communities and promoting the universal sport of pickleball. Pranav Kohli's visionary leadership and APA/PLAPL's dedication to the sport make them ideal partners on our journey. By working together, we can create unparalleled opportunities for players, fans, and stakeholders alike,” said Ryan Maher, Head of Commercial at DUPR.
PLAPL and APA are excited to partner with DUPR to bring the sport of Pickleball to a larger audience globally. “With the growth of Pickleball globally,a reliable and robust rating system is needed to make the sport more inclusive. With the DUPR rating system present at more and more events, it will make these more exciting and rewarding experiences for professionals and amateurs alike,” said Pranav Kohli, CEO of PLAPL and Interim President of AP. “We are extremely excited about our partnership with DUPR,” he added.
A key focus of this collaboration is to support the growth of the sport in India and throughout Asia. DUPR is excited to contribute to the development of the sport in these regions, tapping into the immense potential and passion within the diverse and dynamic communities.
About DUPR
DUPR is the gold standard in pickleball ratings and event management, and is the official ratings system for MLP and PPA. In November of 2022, DUPR successfully launched a collegiate pickleball national championship in which 16 co-ed teams participated using the same unique team format used in MLP.
For more information on DUPR, visit the official website and follow DUPR on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.
About Asian Pickleball Association
Asian Pickleball Association is the soon-to-be-launched governing body for Asia affiliated with the Global Pickleball Federation. APA is working towards a united and inclusive front at the continental level and is committed to pushing the sport of pickleball to greater heights with the eventual goal of being part of the Olympics under the aegis of the Global PickleBall Federation.
About Pickleball League Asia Pvt Ltd
PLAPL is an organization centered around creating world-class events across the globe for professionals. PLAPL is in the process of launching the largest team-based global league in 2024 with the highest prize money ever in pickleball.
Sally and Paul founded Tres Palapas Baja Pickleball Resort ten years ago. Today, Tres Palapas is the cornerstone of pickleball in Mexico and also the number one global destination for the sport.
Since its opening, the resort has focused on promoting pickleball and has hosted numerous international junior tournaments. Throughout their years of operation, Tres Palapas has welcomed over half a million paying guests so far. The story of their dedication to the sport continues with DUPR.
How did you first get into pickleball?
"Twelve years ago I agreed to go for lessons and brought Sally with me. I personally learned pickleball by holding a paddle in my right hand and wearing flip-flops. After that two-hour lesson on bringing up stuff like ‘the kitchen’ and ‘the dink’, we were thinking ‘what is this?’ That same night we ran to San Jose and bought running shoes,” said Paul.
Why did you decide to get so involved with pickleball and combine it with your resort?
“We saw a need for a facility and we loved the game. Like I said, one of the reasons that made Tres Palapas what it has become is that we came from having no racquet experience of any kind and we built a place that we wanted to be at,” said Paul.
What is unique about Tres Palapas?
“We are different because we put pickleball first. We were built all around pickleball and it wasn't until this year that we actually opened rooms. There is so much more that you can have other than people coming to fill rooms. Other facilities are missing a huge part of the business. They are missing what you can bring to the community. Establishing a facility like Tres Palapas, has really refined how to be viable,” said Sally.
How important is the DUPR rating to you and your players?
“DUPR is getting very good recognition in the pickleball world. Now players are telling us, 'Here’s my DUPR,' and we get questioned if we use DUPR for registrations for our tournaments. Other than that, it's a huge motivator for the individuals who come in the door, and at the end of the day, it's great for the club because people have a greater investment in pickleball. Our players go from participating in events and clinics to becoming a greater part of the community,” said Paul.
How has the integration of the DUPR rating system contributed to the growth and development of players within your club?
"All that DUPR needs to know is the scores at the end of the game and who you were playing against. So being a resort, we've got our locals here, expats, as well as a lot of tourism. As an overall, we get a lot of different people coming in. It gives us a base to give people good quality play, especially for our round robins, our ladders, and leagues,” said Paul.
How has the pickleball space evolved since you started Tres Palapas?
“The first international junior tournament, which at the time was the largest junior tournament ever held, took place here at Tres Palapas in 2018. Some of the kids that were in that tournament are now running their own facilities in Mexico. DUPR makes their jobs easier and more possible. It gives them a solid foundation of something that's reliable. San Jose, our little tiny airport here, receives 7 million visitors from the United States alone every year, and a lot of them play pickleball. They need places to play and DUPR is helping out,” said Sally.
How do you think DUPR will help Mexico when it comes to the growth of the sport?
“The pickleball boom is on in Mexico. We're almost ten years into this now. We've had half a million paid entries through the gates. We have spawned so much pickleball in Mexico, and it's just at this point where it's starting to take off. You know, for us, we're the cornerstone in Mexico. Everybody still looks to us as to how they build their future. So hey, the next pickleball boom is right here. Mexico is it!” said Sally.
DUPR has teamed up with Tres Palapas to offer a fantastic 4 days - 3 nights giveaway on our Instagram page! To enter the giveaway, visit the post.
To learn more about Tres Palapas Baja Pickleball Resort, visit their website at: trespalapasbaja.com
Watch the full interview on our YouTube channel.
This past weekend, the annual DUPR Collegiate National Championship took place at Life Time Athletic Club in Peachtree Corners, Georgia, and brought together 400 athletes from over 36 universities across the country to prove which school deserved to be crowned the title of Pickleball National Champions. The three-day tournament featured big upsets, heated exchanges, and possibly the rowdiest crowd this sport has ever seen.
On the first day, schools battled each other in group play. Out of the six schools in each of the six groups, only the top two would make it out of group play into the elimination round. Each group experienced intense competition and the upsets started on day one.
Notable Upsets From Group Play:
UVA's March To Victory
Out of the 36 teams in the championship bracket, only 12 made it into the elimination bracket. Six of those teams earned a 5-0 record while only two teams, 1st seed Utah Tech and 7th seed Florida Atlantic, managed the impressive feat of not losing a single game during those five match wins.
While there was hardly a shortage of great pickleball during group play, probably the most impressive story of the weekend was the oppressive campaign led by 5th seed UVA that had them dominating throughout the playoffs, toppling top teams left and right.
During the play-in round of the elimination bracket, UVA faced off against their Commonwealth rivals, Virginia Tech. During group play, 24th seed Virginia Tech had already pulled off the upsets against 13th seed Kennesaw State and 12th seed Michigan and was looking forward to taking down UVA. However, UVA had other plans for their in-state rivals and secured their place in the quarterfinals by beating Virginia Tech 3-1.
In the quarterfinals, UVA faced off against the veteran team and 3rd seed TCU. After taking a big 2-0 lead on the Horned Frogs, the Hoos extended their run with a 3-1 win to advance to the semifinals.
Sunday morning, the UNC Tarheels defeated the extremely tough team from Florida Atlantic. Their first-ever match loss for the championship after Florida Atlantic almost forced a dreambreaker. The second semifinal match positioned the number one seed and 2022 National Championship runner-up Utah Tech Trailblazers against the red-hot UVA squad.
UVA's Thrilling Victory Over the Undefeated Trailblazers
The Trailblazers came out with a 21-11 win in women’s doubles with a women’s team that hadn’t lost all tournament. The men’s doubles game saw UVA take a 6-1 lead, forcing Utah Tech to take an early time-out. The Trailblazers clawed back to take the late lead at 18-16, forcing UVA to take their time-out. With their composure regained, UVA stormed back to win 5 straight points to end the game 21-18 and tip the momentum back in their favor. The Trailblazers never recovered and UVA took the next two mixed games at 21-18 and 21-12, handing the previously 34-0 Utah Tech team their first loss of the year, and their second-ever loss in their program’s history.
While the win gave UVA much to celebrate, their job wasn’t over as they now had to battle the defending national champions, The UNC Tarheels. Both teams traveled well and the stands were packed with fans, players, and students donning either Carolina or Jefferson Blue. Before the match even started, the stadium echoed with school chants for both UNC and UVA. The crowd was roaring and the stage was set for what ended up being the most electric collegiate match in history.
UVA's Unforgettable Journey to Claim the DUPR Collegiate National Championship Title
UVA came out on fire, handing the UNC women their first loss of the tournament and taking a 1-0 lead on UNC. The men’s doubles game had an extremely close half, with the Tarheels leading at the side change 11-7. However, UNC showed why they were the defending champions, made the necessary adjustments, and held the UVA men to just 2 points in the second half to win 21-9. UNC capitalized on the momentum and took the first mixed game against UVA 21-14. UVA showed the same grit and determination that carried them to the finals in the first place and took an early six-point lead in the first half that UNC just couldn’t recover from. UVA finished the game 21-13, forcing the first-ever dreambreaker in Collegiate National Championship finals history.
UNC started the dreambreaker with a big 4-0 start against UVA. However, UVA battled back and their women in the 3rd and 4th dreambreaker spot, allowing UVA to trail by only one during the side changeover. UNC absolutely turned it on in the second half and found their rhythm. They marched on to a 20-16 lead and a championship point. Throughout the tournament, UVA proved time and time again that even when the odds are stacked against them, you can never count them out. Twice they defended UNC’s championship point, clawing their way to their own championship point, and ultimately stunning the Tarheels and winning the dreambreaker 23-21. Multiple times throughout the tournament, the Hoos defied the odds, battled back from deficits, and without a doubt, earned their crown as the new DUPR Collegiate National Champions.
Thank you to everyone who came out to the event and a special thank you to all the teams, players, and all of our partners who helped make this event possible.
Thanks to our Partners
Visit HERE for the full Collegiate National Championship Guide, including Brackets, Standing, and more!
Media Contact: Kevin Brown, Director of Marketing at DUPR
The Latest DUPR App Update Features Personalized Club Rankings Where You Can Track Your Rise Among Other Members
We are excited to introduce the latest DUPR app update. We now have rankings for players per club on Digital Club. Members of a digital club can now see how they rank within a club.
Club Rankings Take Center Stage!
Get ready to elevate your game as DUPR introduces a game-changing feature: Club Rankings and Leaderboards! Picture this – you, your paddle, and a whole digital realm buzzing with excitement as you climb the ranks within your club. It's not just about hitting the ball — it's about owning the court!
Compare, Compete, Conquer
Turn up the thrill as you peek into the stats of other players in your club. Compare your growth, celebrate their achievements, and let the friendly banter begin. Who's the undisputed champ at your college club? It's time to find out!
Nationwide Showdown
But wait, there's more! DUPR isn't just about local supremacy; it's your passport to pickleball greatness across the entire country. Discover who reigns supreme in top clubs from coast to coast. Are you up for the challenge of taking on the best of the best?
Let the games begin!
DUPR is committed to providing the highest quality experience to pickleball players across the globe, which entails improving our algorithm to enhance accuracy and player satisfaction.
After listening to our community and gathering in-depth player feedback, we are proud to reintroduce 3 decimal places to all player ratings! Our main mission at DUPR is to create fairness in player ratings across the board. The three decimals enhancement allows for additional precision and helps to differentiate and rank players more accurately.
Benefits of the Change
The Need for Precision
There’s nothing more stimulating than playing competitively and tracking your progress. Previously, many players had almost identical ratings, leading to the need for additional clarity. Having a rating rounded to 3 decimal places drastically increases the likelihood that you can set yourself apart from your opponent with your unique rating.
Addressing User Feedback
At DUPR, we take user feedback seriously as it provides valuable insight into the experience of players. The feedback we've received in recent months has come from various sources, including in-person conversations, social media, emails, and our support channel. The three decimals enhancement addresses user concerns about matches that seemingly had little to no impact on ratings. What are your thoughts on the new changes? Let us know via email or social media. We encourage and appreciate all feedback as we continue to perfect our algorithm.
For more information on DUPR, visit our official website and follow us on Facebook, X/Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.
We can't wait to watch those players continue to rise this weekend at MLP Dallas.
Megan Fudge
Six upset wins since MLP Atlanta and 81% of wins across all doubles matches. Includes two quality upset wins against the high-ranked pairing of Simone Jardim (14th) and Parris Todd (4th) during the APP Sun Atlanta Open.
Recent APP Place Finished
ATL - Women's 1st
DAL - Women's 1st & Mixed 3rd
HOU - Women's 1st & Mixed 3rd
Collin Shick
He has been climbing for several months and continues doing so. Since the beginning of the year, Collin has a winning percentage of 60% despite being an underdog 60% of the time.
Vivian Glozman
She has won 54% of her APP doubles matches and is averaging 56% of points scored in APP matches since MLP Atlanta.
Recent APP Place Finished
ATL - Women's 3rd & Mixed 3rd
DAL - Women's 3rd
HOU - Women's 2nd
Andrei Daescu
He has won 87% of his APP matches and averaged 65% of points scored in matches since MLP Atlanta. Recent APP Place FinishedATL - Men's 1st & Mixed 2ndDAL - Men's 1st & Mixed 2ndHOU - Men's 1st & Mixed 2st
Follow DUPR on Instagram and stay tuned as we gear up for MLP Dallas!
Premier Level Draft
Steal #1 - Jade Kawamoto: Both Jade and her sister Jackie were major draft steals in the Premier Draft. Jade especially provided a great value pick for D.C. at 29 overall. Despite ranking 6th among MLP women on draft day, Jade was the 17th female drafted. A huge value, Jade increases her team's win probability by about 12 percent per match when compared to the typical 29th overall pick.
Steal #2 - Hurricane Tyra Black: Drafted at 36th overall, right around her draft day doubles ranking. However, since the MLP draft, HTB has shot up the women's doubles rankings to number 12 among MLP women. This disparity between doubles rank and draft position yields about 11 percent win probability added per match.
Challenger Level Draft
Steal #1 - Jaume Martinez Vich: Drafted at 44th overall, he is now the 5th-ranked men's doubles player in MLP Challenger. Given that their 4th round pick turned into the 5th overall men's doubles player in all of Challenger, it is not a surprise that Jaume's ascension yielded about 13 percent win probability added per match for the New York Hustlers.
Steal #2 - Patrick Smith: Despite going undrafted, Patrick Smith is one of the biggest values in Challenger after serving as an injury replacement for Brandon French of the Seattle Pioneers. The addition of Patrick and his subsequent rise to the 4th highest-rated men's doubles player in Challenger provides a 17 percent win probability added per match for his team.
Player ranking is only relative to other MLP Players
Kurt Schroeder is no stranger to DUPR, having brought the first Mexican club onto the DUPR platform. Although he only started playing pickleball about two years ago, Kurt is passionate about growing pickleball in his community of Progreso, a port city on Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, and promoting fair and equal play for all. After what was supposed to be a one year adventure, Kurt has never looked back and has spent the last 13 years in Mexico since moving from Canada.
Kurt had originally been introduced to pickleball by his friends from the Canadian city, Calgary because they wanted something to do while visiting him over the Christmas holiday. The story starts with Kurt’s long time friends ready and wanting to play, but the local groups would not let them participate because they were already over capacity with winter members. One of Kurt’s friends then said, “Just build me a court.” Kurt went on to measure his backyard parking area to see if a court would fit, and sure enough, it did. Then the Knights Court, named after the last name of his friends who requested it, came alive.
How important is the DUPR rating to you and your club?
DUPR is so important to our club because it allows us to group our players six at a time with people of similar abilities. There is nothing more frustrating than having one player who does not fit in the right category because it ruins the game for everybody else. So, it really helps us sort out who belongs where.
Do you think the DUPR rating helps motivate people?
It does for some people, and people are certainly driven by the rating. We would definitely like to see the latter come into effect.
Do you have any significant milestones or goals that you would like to share?
In the next five to ten years, there will be a lot of growth in pickleball here in Mexico. I also think that when we get more people entering their scores into DUPR, that will be a big thing. If every game was put into DUPR, that would also be great.
The Knights Court is known for having a mural that spans the length of the court which includes paintings of all Kurt’s friends and family, comical pickleball sayings, the name of the court, and even a couple DUPR logos.
“A local muralist did all of these. There are our three dogs, my niece, and my grandma. She also painted my wife and I. There are caricatures of everybody such as our parents, friends, and other family members,” said Kurt. His home offers six suites, which all have access to the court.
As Kurt said, “In Mexico, people can have donkeys, chickens, or roosters living next door and there are no complaints.” But when the pickleball court opened, people complained, ‘Why are people having so much fun at seven in the morning shouting and yelling?’ Kurt then had to move his regularly scheduled pickleball games from the early morning to late evening.
As DUPR grows into different parts of the world, the organization is proud to have enthusiasts such as Kurt, who are passionate about pickleball, help grow the sport, and spread awareness about DUPR.
About The Knights Court
The Knights Court is based in Progreso, Mexico, and was created to ensure a fun spot for all friends to play. Check out their Facebook page for more information: The Knights Court
View the full interview on our YouTube channel.
At Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating, we are committed to maintaining a fair and transparent environment for all our users. Our community guidelines are designed to ensure that every participant has an equal and enjoyable experience within our platform.
Any user found in violation of our community guidelines will face appropriate action, including removal from our platform. We are actively monitoring these activities and diligently working around the clock to identify and remove cheaters.
Our mission is to provide a trustworthy and inclusive platform for all pickleball enthusiasts, and we appreciate the vigilance of our community members in reporting any suspicious behavior.
Together, we can maintain the integrity of our platform and ensure fair play for everyone. Thank you for your continued support and commitment to the values that make Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating a vibrant and thriving community.
Sincerely,
DUPR Team
DUPR is committed to creating a safe and fair environment for all players and organizers. The following Community Guidelines were created to help foster and protect our amazing pickleball community. Respect for our community, opponents, coaches, and officials is a critical part of growing the game and an essential principle in the fair treatment of all. Overstepping these boundaries may result in a permanent ban, suspended account, or other restrictions. You can report any violations by submitting a ticket, HERE.
DUPR upholds a zero-tolerance policy towards:
Players and Organizers are expected to adhere to the following principles and may not:
All State Pickleball League was founded by like-minded pickleball players in New Jersey and currently has over 1,800 Members on the DUPR platform. We spoke to founders and owner operators Stephen Conger and Michele Dabal about their amazing journey in pickleball.
It’s a fairly unique story. I have been a liver transplant recipient for 18 years and they added pickleball as an event to the transplant games. A friend of mine, who I was playing tennis with at the transplant games lives in Florida, told me about this game called Pickleball. I said, ‘What in the world is that?’ She said, ‘When I come back to New Jersey, I'll teach you how to play.’ As soon as I started to play I fell quickly in love with the game and have been doing it ever since, said Michele.
We love the league idea. From there, we talked to Tito at DUPR. He was excited to work with us and see how that could happen. The three of us met regularly and established the framework of the league. We then launched in the fall of 2022 with 66 teams. We thought it was pretty phenomenal; we were all over the state. Spring came along and we went up to 106 teams. We kept on getting more players and it was just unreal. So, I think in that regard it was kind of a seed that was planted and then we just kept watering it. Now it has grown into this fall where we have almost 120 teams, said Stephen.
The nice thing with DUPR is that it has data from everywhere. DUPR encapsulates more than just competitive tournament play. Now, it still doesn't capture everything. There's not a rating system out there that captures everything. But in terms of the data that's available, it has more. said Stephen.
I think the league players are enjoying the more traditional play — not rally scoring, regular scoring — playing matches to 11, best out of three, because it's what they're accustomed to. But then when you go to Minor League pickleball, it bumps it up in the excitement level to be playing just like the Major League does. Initially people said, ‘Wait, how do you do this? Where do I stand? Wait, we don't change sides?’ But when they understand that, they are totally into it. It adds a special element to it where you are playing like the Major League pros, and you are at a really nice indoor facility and you just feel really good about the experience, said Michele.
About All State Pickleball League:The statewide pickleball league in NJ features team based competition over a 10 week period. They have over 30 locations around the state that teams use both public and private, and they also run Minor League Pickleball events throughout New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.
We are proud to have All State Pickleball League a part of the DUPR family as they continue to grow and evolve their league and expand to more locations. If you would like to learn more about their events and what they do, visit their website here: allstatepickleball.com
Website: allstatepickleball.com
Instagram: @allstatepickleballleague
Facebook: All State Pickleball League
View the full interview on our YouTube channel.
Gabe George is the Director of Pickleball at Military Adaptive Court Sports (MACS). His unwavering passion for playing and instructing pickleball knows no geographical boundaries, as he firmly believes, "If there’s a desire in the heart of veterans, we’ll make it there.”
Gabe’s Quest to Find A New Purpose
Gabe George, a retired Navy corpsman, faced a life-altering motorcycle accident resulting in the paralysis of his right arm, which later needed amputation. In his quest to discover a new sense of purpose, Gabe's journey led him to the world of adaptive sports. It was through this path that he became acquainted with MACS, an organization that would become instrumental in developing his passion for pickleball. Gabe not only found fulfillment in playing the sport but also discovered his talent and love for teaching others the game.
Humbling Pickleball Beginnings
Immediately, Gabe fell in love with pickleball. He enjoyed how he could play several games and not feel beat up afterward. He got his start playing at a local church where he lives in Jacksonville, Florida. His opponents consisted of individuals in their seventies and eighties. Recalling his initial experience, Gabe humorously remarked, "I had an eighty-four-year-old man stand in one spot and laugh while he whooped my butt and ran me around the whole court."
Spreading the Pickleball Passion Through MACS
Military Adaptive Court Sports is a phenomenal organization dedicated to teaching and promoting adaptive sports to disabled armed service members and veterans. Currently, their programs include pickleball, racquetball, and badminton, with plans to introduce padel tennis soon. All MACS instructors are certified and specially trained to work with individuals with disabilities.
I’ve had the honor of traveling all over the country teaching. I've taught hundreds and hundreds of veterans, able-bodied, and non-able-bodied people. It's my love. And when I'm not underwater diving or something, with my dog, or my daughter, I'm on the court somewhere.
Pickleball and DUPR: Ageless, Genderless, and for All Abilities
Pickleball aligns seamlessly with MACS due to its inclusivity.
Everybody can play. You don't have to be a pro. I've taught kids, older folks, people who can barely walk, knee replacements, and people with visual impairments who can hear the different sounds and different balls. It’s very adaptive.
The DUPR rating system is beneficial in that it matches players up evenly based on skill level regardless of age, mobility, gender, and any other factors.
It’s very helpful. Once you play a while you can understand how the rating changes. And I love the growth of how the rating system has changed. It’s always updating, it’s really great for what we’ve got going on right now. It’s helped get a judge of who you’re playing against. It’s not just about your age and your mobility, skill level is skill level. If you’re a master of your craft, it shouldn’t matter your age.
Making Their Way to Waterfall Nationals
MACS and their director, Gabe, are making their way to the 2023 DUPR Waterfall Nationals in Rockwall, Texas, October 12-15. MACS will have a sports clinic each morning from 10 a.m. to noon.
Gabe enjoys the DUPR Waterfall format of four matches in four hours which means four times the fun.
I love it because you get to play more. You get to mix with multiple different types of pickleball players and their different styles. I like what they’re doing with it, and I can see it being incorporated in a lot of other tournaments and events too.
He also mentioned the struggle that many of us have experienced with other tournament styles:
You’re sitting there and you've been waiting for hours and hours to play and just get to play that one game and then it's done. So, yeah, I think anytime it comes to a tournament when you’re guaranteed to get to play, that's going to light you up and make you want to be there more.
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If you're interested in learning more or participating in MACS, visit: Military Adaptive Court Sports. In the words of Gabe, "If there's a desire in the heart of veterans, we'll make it there."
To watch the full interview on YouTube, click here.
Liz and Emilie started to play pickleball as a weekly getaway. It is easy to forget the need to refresh and have fun, especially as busy, working moms.
Their inspiring motto, “Try Harder,” applies to their daily routine with family, work, and pickleball. The two friends love traveling and competing against players of different backgrounds, ages, genders, and abilities.
With the DUPR Waterfall format, of four competitive matches all within a four-hour period, they've discovered how to make the most of their time and be able to play pickleball and still return to work or other commitments afterward.
Liz and Emilie's friendship is a reminder that pickleball is a way to create memories, as well as build and maintain lasting friendships. They support each other, compete, and strengthen their bond on and off-court.
What do you like the most about pickleball?
"The competition is fun, meeting different people from all over. We played in a bunch of different states. It has been a really fun adventure getting to see and meet new people," said Liz.
"You get your energy out; you get to do something where you lose yourself. We laugh every single time that we get out there, and we just have fun," said Emilie.
How was your first experience playing at a Waterfall event?
"I like the quickness of it. There was not a lot of downtime, which was nice. We played four matches within an hour; that constant play was really beneficial. Even when we were not playing, they had courts reserved where we could warm up and continue to play. It was a really positive experience, " said Liz.
"Also, when people would lose, they could play on the other courts. It is not like all of sudden you had to just leave, and you could still enjoy the whole experience of the Waterfall," said Emilie.
What have you enjoyed most about the Waterfall format?
"The DUPR Waterfalls are great to be able to play, have fun, and be comfortable with yourself. I feel like it's not as much of a competition where people are shoving the ball down your throat and thinking they're better than you or you're better than me. And it moves quickly and it's fast which is a big deal, especially when you have to fit things into your busy schedule. We have our kids but we can still do things for ourselves," said Emilie.
"With these DUPR Waterfall tournaments, I was still able to go to work that afternoon after a morning tournament, so that's pretty awesome," said Liz.
How has the DUPR rating system enhanced your pickleball experience?
"I do like the idea that with DUPR, it's genderless and ageless. It really is strictly a rating. It gives more competition, especially when it is the two of us against two guys who are younger than us and look like they are in a lot better shape, but it is the rating system that keeps everything leveled, which is fun and makes us play better," said Liz.
Grab a friend and sign up for Waterfall Nationals today. Make memories, enjoy some pickleball, and meet new people, all while playing for the chance to win 20,000+ in prize money. This is an opportunity you won't want to miss. Sign up today! Registration ends Friday, October 6.
View the full video story on our YouTube channel.
Jake is a software engineer from Minnesota who loves pickleball and how it brings people together of all ages and sports backgrounds. He first played in a DUPR Waterfall Tournament at Lucky Shots Pickleball Club in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
DUPR first introduced the waterfall concept back in July 2022 when they announced the first ever Newport Beach DUPR Waterfall Presented by Takeya, which at the time had the largest prize purse in pickleball history at $100,000.
A DUPR Waterfall is a newer tournament format and came to life in 2023 with thousands of players entering into hundreds of tournaments across the country. It offers players four competitive matches all within a four-hour period. Players sign up with or without a partner and DUPR will create brackets of 16 teams based on the rating of the highest DUPR-rated player of the team.
What do you like about DUPR Waterfalls?
"I’d recommend Waterfalls to other pickleball players because they’re a cool twist on traditional pickleball tournaments. It’s exciting how everyone in your bracket plays at the same time, and it doesn’t matter if you win or lose, you still get to play 4 matches," said Jake.
What makes people want to play in a DUPR Waterfall?
Jake said, “I was excited about how everyone in your bracket plays at the same time and that no matter if you win or lose you get to play four matches.”
Most pickleball players will agree that the downside to the standard pickleball tournament is that there is too much downtime, or too much time in between matches, whereas in a waterfall format, players can expect to play for a specific four-hour timeframe on a given day.
Jake Bendickson played in a DUPR Waterfall in 2023, won a platinum ticket, and will have free entry into the DUPR Waterfall Nationals next month. The DUPR Waterfall Nationals takes place in Rockwall, TX on October 12-15, 2023, and there will be over $20,000 in prize money given away.
About Lucky Shots Pickleball Club:
Lucky Shots Pickleball Club has over twenty five hundred players on the DUPR platform and they are based in a historical office/warehouse originally built in 1947 for the Foley Manufacturing Company. Over the last several years, First & First has been actively transforming the property, which led to converting 40,000 square feet of the building into the Lucky Shots Pickleball facility. More info on their website.
Keep up with the collegiate regionals, all leading up to the 2023 November National Championship. Stay tuned for more updates! The Regional Championships were a testament to the hard work, dedication, passion, and growth of collegiate athletes. As this chapter closes, a new one opens as the teams prepare to compete at the National Championship.
Watching these young athletes has shown us that the future of the sport is in great hands. We look forward to seeing you all coming together and competing for the ultimate prize. The stakes are higher, the competition is fiercer, and the expectations are greater.
Check out the list of regional champions:
- Georgia Regional - Clemson
- Arizona Regional - Utah Tech
- Minnesota Regional - Michigan
- North Carolina Regional - UNC
- Ohio Regional - Maryland
- Oklahoma Regional - Mississippi State
- Colorado Regional - Utah Tech
- Utah Regional - Utah Tech
- Texas Regional - TCU
- Florida Regional - FAU
- Michigan Regional - Indiana
- Nevada Regional - Utah Tech
Full list of National participants. For more info, please visit DUPR Collegiate.
Nine schools competed last weekend at the Nevada Regional, closing the regular season for DUPR Collegiate Pickleball.
It was the last chance to secure a spot for the six schools that still needed a bid for Nationals. However, it proved challenging, as the aspiring teams faced the western powerhouses Grand Canyon University (GCU) and Utah Tech.
Utah Tech put its two teams in the semifinals against GCU and the University of California San Diego (UCSD). As they advanced through the semifinals, the two Utah Tech teams faced each other in the finals for the third consecutive time this season.
UCSD secured its bid to Nationals, while the University of Arizona faced off against Arizona State University to determine the last qualifying spot. The University of Arizona won, becoming the second Arizona team to secure their place at Nationals this year.
The top schools have just over a month to prepare until they hit the courts in Atlanta for the DUPR Collegiate National Championships.
With the fall season coming to an end, the Michigan Regional showcased 11 schools and 90 players competing for two of the final remaining bids to the Collegiate National Championship.
Virginia Tech, Ohio State, and Michigan University faced fierce opposition from schools like Wisconsin-Whitewater and Case Western.
The Indiana University squad won an incredible Dreambreaker against Ohio State in the semi-finals and a convincing 3-0 victory over the number one-seeded Miami University.
In their first-ever regionals appearance, Indiana University and Miami University have earned their tickets to the 2023 DUPR Collegiate National Championships.
Next week will conclude the 2023 regular season with the Nevada Regional Championship, where hopeful schools must fight veteran teams Utah Tech and Grand Canyon to earn their bids for Nationals.
The most competitive Collegiate Regional Championship took place in Boca Raton, Florida, with 24 teams from 17 schools battling to earn one of the few remaining spots available for the Collegiate National Championship on November 17.
Auburn, Florida State, and the University of Florida battled for every point against the pickleball newcomers Florida Atlantic, the University of Miami, and the University of Georgia.
Multiple rain delays weren't enough to stop Florida Atlantic University from becoming the new regional superpower.
Florida Atlantic and the University of Georgia guaranteed their spots at the National Championship in November.
This weekend wraps up the DUPR Collegiate Texas Regional Championship, where nine teams from six universities battled on Life Time's newest outdoor pickleball facility in Humble, Texas.
The teams traveled across the region to compete for the title of Texas Regional Champions, a bid to the Collegiate National Championship, and their share of the $4,000 prize pool.
In the finals match, Texas Christian University (TCU) and Florida State University stood undefeated and faced each other for the first time in their school's history. Ultimately, the TCU Horned Frogs emerged victorious winning the Texas Regional Championship.
TCU had already earned their bid to Nationals at the Individual Championship that took place in April, but Florida State University and the University of Texas earned their respective bids.
Next week, the collegiate tour madness continues with the DUPR Collegiate Florida Regional Championship in Boca Raton. This tournament, which is the largest regional event of the year, will host 24 teams.
Utah Tech dominated again despite solid opposition from Utah Valley and Utah State, winning its third straight Regional Championship.
Three teams (*#2 Utah Tech, #5 Utah State, and #8 Grand Canyon University) were veterans on the tour, with a spot locked in for the National Championship in November.
Other schools were debuting their teams in this tournament, including the University of Utah, Utah Valley University, Rick's College, and Northwest Nazarene University.
*Numbers reflect the GAMMA Power Rankings from September 1, 2023.
For the full 2023 DUPR Collegiate Pickleball Schedule, check out our page: HERE
Schools can attend any regional they want, and can bring as many players as they want! Email us at college@mydupr.com if you’re interested in bringing a team to a regional.
Think you’re a hardcore picklehead? Chances are, you’re no match for Michael Cobb who has played 1420 games in one year, averaging 27 games per week.
At 1400+ matches, you hold the record for most matches entered on DUPR, out of hundreds of thousands of users. When do you even sleep?
I have a special situation here in Kansas City, as I've been the regional director of iPickle Nation for three and a half years now. We run Round Robins five days a week using the DUPR system. It's the best thing out there, because it helps us put people in the right levels. It just seems to create really good competitive games. We probably run 15,000 matches through DUPR in a year.
Whenever the level is high enough, I play myself. That’s how I've been averaging 27 games a week, which is how I’ve gotten 1420 matches entered in DUPR since August of 2022 — so that's only little over a year’s worth. I don’t have a set goal I’m aiming for. As long as I can continue playing, I'll do it.
What got you hooked on pickleball?
About four and a half years ago, I was at a community center working out in Kansas City, and I went to go get a drink at the water fountain and it was down below where the gymnasium was. I looked in there and saw people playing a weird game. There was a guy at the fountain, I asked him: “what is that?” and he goes, “it’s pickleball, you ought to try that sometime.”
The next day I was playing, and I've been hooked ever since. There’s a competitiveness to it, but you can play recreationally if you want to. That's the great thing about pickleball — it’s an easy game for anybody to play, but to master it, there's a little more to it. And also the camaraderie. There's no discrimination on who can play this game. I also think it's going to keep elderly people living longer, honestly.
What was your favorite match you ever entered?
About two and a half years ago, we went to St Louis to qualify for the Nationals. My partner — his name is Raven Pier — does everything barefoot. It’s amazing. He walks out in the snow, barefoot. If it's 100 degrees out, it'll be barefoot. On the pickleball court, he’s barefoot. So the last match of the day, we had to win it to qualify, and it was an intense match. It probably lasted close to 40 minutes, with a lot of back and forth. I made some phenomenal plays, and so did he. We ended up winning 15-13, and we got to go to Nationals. That was definitely my best match that I can remember.
What about the worst one — the one you wish you could forget?
The worst match I remember goes hand in hand with the best: we went to nationals and got our butts smoked. It was in California, and they forced Raven to wear shoes. I told him the night before when we were practicing, “Hey, Raven, let me give you a pair of socks”, knowing that playing barefoot with shoes might be hard on his feet. He said he’d be okay and played without socks. During practice, I noticed he wasn't moving as well, and usually he's a phenomenal player, so I knew something wasn't right. Well, after the matches were done and we had lost, he took off his shoes and he had bloody heels.
How do you feel about the changes to the DUPR rating algorithm?
When they changed the algorithm, it seemed drastic. We went from like a chess type algorithm to strictly almost on wins and losses and it affected people. My community was asking me, “what’s going on?” and I had to explain you were just revamping the algorithm. But I do think it's a great system. Of course, there's going to be some tweaks to it that need to be done. If I'm not mistaken, there's wins and losses and the first type of algorithm being mixed together now, so it has definitely improved tremendously in the past months.
Which features would you want to see added to DUPR?
If there was a way to check in-depth stats for the last hundred games, or eventually, once you get enough data, you can bring up a player and get insight into your stats with that specific player.
What do you say to players who complain about their DUPR rating?
90% of players will think they're better than they are. I mean, that's just a given. And that’s ok, but it means they have trouble accepting their classification at first. I always tell them, you're just going to have to play and keep it going because the more games you get in, the more accurate it'll be.
Full interview on YouTube: HERE
Check out Michael Cobb’s Profile: HERE
At DUPR, we believe that fair, level-based play creates the most enjoyable experience for pickleball players and is a key driver of adoption for the sport. Today, we’re proud to announce a joint partnership with Pickleball Software and Ace Pickleball Club to ensure its players can experience the most competitive and enjoyable matches possible, based on the most accurate rating system. This will elevate the game for all players.
“This partnership underscores our unwavering dedication to the sport of pickleball here at DUPR. We are thrilled to collaborate with Ace Pickleball Club and Pickleball Software, uniting to deliver players an unparalleled experience that combines competitive fairness with precise data accuracy,“ said Tito Machado, Head of DUPR.
“Ace Pickleball Club is committed to providing our members and guests with the optimal pickleball playing experience. We’re thrilled to be partnering with DUPR to ensure our players can experience the most competitive, fair, and enjoyable matches possible while helping to drive a high level of accuracy in their ratings,” said Mookie McDevitt, VP of Strategic Partnerships at Ace Pickleball Club.
"Pickleball continues to grow because of a highly addictive community, great software tools for management and the growth of premier facilities like Ace Pickleball Club. Pickleball Software is eager to help streamline the technical side for Ace players by connecting DUPR's Universal standard to the app, promoting competitiveness and growth at every Ace club in the nation,” said Scott Hause, Founder of Pickleball Software.
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About DUPR
DUPR is the gold standard in Pickleball ratings and event management, and is the official ratings system for MLP and PPA. In November of 2022, DUPR successfully launched a collegiate pickleball national championship in which 16 co-ed teams participated using the same unique team format used in MLP.
For more information on DUPR, visit the official website and follow DUPR on Facebook, X/Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.
About ACE Pickleball Club
Ace Pickleball Club is the fastest growing indoor pickleball franchise in the world, with over 50 facilities currently in development across 11 states. Each Club will feature between 8 to 16 regulation size courts in a climate controlled environment, and the membership based club is focused on providing optimal playing conditions for everyone from beginners to experts. Ace Pickleball Club began offering franchises for development in February of 2023, opening their first corporate-owned location in Roswell, GA in July 2023.
About Pickleball Software
Pickleball Software, powered by Sports Carnival Software, is the premier all-in-one facility management solution designed to streamline operations for pickleball clubs and enthusiasts alike. PS empowers pickleball clubs to manage every aspect of their operations to help scale and grow their community. It offers a versatile, customizable solution for clubs to oversee player members, staff, events, court reservations, lessons, leagues and more.
Leading club management platform CourtReserve is extending its offerings and elevating players’ pickleball experience thanks to a new strategic partnership with DUPR (Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating) - pickleball’s most accurate global rating system that is trusted by pro leagues, clubs, and players around the world.
The partnership will see a seamless integration directly into CourtReserve’s advanced reservation system, allowing clubs and players to better match skills and experience.
From the end of September, club accounts on CourtReserve will be able to automatically sync all player ratings straight from DUPR. Clubs can manage players and events based on specific DUPR ranges, create leagues based on ratings, and foster stronger communities with players of the same ability.
Speaking on the partnership, Tim Owens, CourtReserve Co-Founder said: “Pairing Pickleball’s leading club management system with the number one rating system is an absolute no-brainer. Not only does it give all our clubs access to the most accurate, most comprehensive pickleball player ratings, it makes it easier than ever for the entire pickleball community to join in with matches and tournaments tailored to their skill level.”
Tito Machado, DUPR Head of Operations added: “We’re really excited to announce this strategic partnership between two of pickleball’s key players. It allows us to add even more value to the community and foster a more fun, more competitive player experience across the board.”
The partnership with DUPR is part of CourtReserve’s mission to drive innovation and elevate pickleball clubs worldwide. It’s another clear step in the organization’s efforts to deliver best-in-class technology and software that elevates the player experience. It will also support additional new features within CourtReserve’s platform - such as advanced League and Organized Play.
The DUPR integration will be available for clubs to activate within their existing CourtReserve account by the end of September.
About CourtReserve
CourtReserve is the leading all-in-one court reservation & club management platform that helps tennis and pickleball clubs run their business with ease and confidence. It provides a flexible, configurable set up for clubs to manage players, staff, events, court bookings, lessons and much more. With an online scheduler and customized member portal, players can easily see court availability and sign-up for events right from their computer or mobile device.
Learn more at https://courtreserve.com.
About DUPR
DUPR is the gold standard in Pickleball ratings and event management, and is the official ratings system for MLP and PPA. In November of 2022, DUPR successfully launched a collegiate Pickleball national championship in which 16 co-ed teams participated using the same unique team format used in MLP.
For more information on DUPR, visit theofficial website and follow DUPR onFacebook, Twitter,Instagram, andTikTok.
For further details, contact: CourtReserve, via: support@courtreserve.com
DUPR (Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating) is thrilled to announce a groundbreaking partnership with the Asia Federation of Pickleball (AFP). AFP has adopted DUPR as its official ranking platform for the 2023 Asia Pickleball Games, which will take place October 6-9 in Taichung City, Taiwan.
The first ever Asia Pickleball Games are representative of the sport's growth in the Asian market. Open to players of all skill levels, the event will showcase the passion, camaraderie, and athleticism that define pickleball. DUPR and AFP are excited about the potential this partnership holds to introduce pickleball to new audiences, promote level-based play through the sport’s most accurate rating system, and foster a sense of unity.
“I am honored to be a part of this pivotal moment in pickleball history. Our commitment to an accurate rating and innovation aligns seamlessly with the Asia Federation of Pickleball's vision, and together, we are dedicated to providing players and fans with an unforgettable experience. We envision the Asia Pickleball Games as a platform for cultural exchange, athleticism, and sportsmanship, and we are eager to contribute to the growth of pickleball not only as a sport but as a global phenomenon,” said Ryan Maher, Head of Commercial at DUPR.
“We are excited about the collaboration with DUPR. Their innovative ranking solution aligns perfectly with our mission to provide 44 Asia nations with a seamless, transparent, efficient and user-friendly ranking experience. DUPR is the appointed ranking platform for the 2023 Asia Pickleball Games and we look forward to leveraging the DUPR platform for future Asian tournaments,” said Jimmy Tan, CEO of Asia Federation of Pickleball.
The Asia Pickleball Games is open exclusively to DUPR Users from Asian countries. To register for the event, a DUPR user must join the club via this link. All event details are in the player handbook published on the Asia Federation of Pickleball website.
About DUPR
DUPR is the gold standard in Pickleball ratings and event management, and is the official ratings system for MLP and PPA. In November of 2022, DUPR successfully launched a collegiate Pickleball national championship in which 16 co-ed teams participated using the same unique team format used in MLP.
For more information on DUPR, visit the official website and follow DUPR on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.
About Asia Federation of Pickleball
Established in 2020 and headquartered in Singapore, Asia Federation of Pickleball (AFP) is a not-for-profit organization and missioned to work collaboratively with 45 countries/states to participate in the Asian Games. On another scale level, AFP is working with 11 countries in hope to participate in Southeast Asia (SEA) Games 2025/2027/2029 in Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore respectively.
Through tournaments, coaching, and partnerships, AFP aims to expand the sport's reach and create a vibrant pickleball community. In emphasizing fair play and integrity, AFP would enforce standardized rules and ethical practices. AFP strives to make pickleball accessible to all individuals and aims to play a pivotal role in advancing pickleball across Asia.
Collegiate picklers, listen up: this fall semester, collegiate pickleball is coming to you!
So if this summer you’ve been practicing your dink shots, lobs, and overhead slams, why not sign up for a DUPR Collegiate Pickleball event in your area and take a shot at gaining eternal glory and winning some bonus scholarship money?
We are excited to kick off the fall semester at DUPR, and put on five more Regionals and the 2nd Collegiate National Championship (CNC)! Detailed in this article is updated information about bids, CNC registration, our new club guide, and the remaining Regionals.
As of October 17th, 2023: These are the 36 schools that have obtained a bid to CNC:
- Clemson
- JMU
- Utah Tech
- GCU
- Michigan
- UW-W
- UNC
- TCU
- Florida
- UVA
- NC State
- Maryland
- Ohio State
- MS State
- Texas A&M
- Utah State
- CU-Boulder
- Utah Valley
- UofU
- FSU
- UT Austin
- FAU
- Georiga
- Miami (FL)
- UNF
- Auburn
- Indiana
- Miami (OH)
- Virginia Tech
- Villanova
- GCSU
- Arizona St.
- Iowa
- Duke
- KSU
- UConn
In order to participate in the Team Bracket in the Collegiate National Championship on November 17-19, 2023 a program must meet these two requirements:
Your school can bring players to participate in the Challenger Bracket without having a bid. A bid is only required to play in the Team Bracket. All players in all brackets must be taking at least 6 credit hours at the school they are representing.
As a reminder, there are 36 bids to be given out. 10 more bids will be given out at the remaining Regionals (2 at each Regional). The remaining 9 bids will be decided by the DUPR Collegiate Advisory Committee.
Here main the factors we are considering for these bids (this is not an exhaustive list):
Registration for the CNC is now live! Here is the link to the event on DUPR.
In order to make registration as smooth as possible, here is the link to the CNC Registration Guide outlining all of the necessary information.
Listed below are the high-level bullet points from the guide:
For the team bracket, money is awarded based on how far your team advances.
Play-ins $500 (x4) $2000
Quarterfinals $1000 (x4) $4000
Semifinals $2500 (x2) $5000
Runner-Up $5000 (x1) $5000
Champion $15,000 (x1) $15,000
Total $31,000
This year, there will also be prizes for the challenger bracket!
DUPR is committed to supporting the growth and development of pickleball programs at colleges across the country. In order to help these clubs, we have created the DUPR Collegiate Pickleball Club Guide, which is a 15+ page document on everything you need to know to run a pickleball club. Here is the link to the club guide. If you have any questions about the contents of the club guide, or about starting a pickleball club at your school, you can email us at college@mydupr.com.
Here are the remaining Regionals for 2023:
Utah Regional - September 9-10
10996 S River Front Pkwy, South Jordan, UT 84095
Texas Regional - September 16-17
13600 Will Clayton Pkwy, Humble, TX 77346
Florida Regional - September 23-24
1499 Yamato Rd, Boca Raton, FL 33431
Michigan Regional - September 30-October 1
200 W Avon Rd, Rochester Hills, MI 48307
121 Carnegie St, Henderson, NV 89052
Schools can attend any regional they want, and can bring as many players as they want!
Email us at college@mydupr.com if you’re interested in bringing a team to a regional.
This month we’re shining the spotlight on our friends at PALA Pickleball, the largest indoor pickleball club in Texas and a DUPR Platinum Club member!
PALA Pickleball has something for everyone, offering leagues, open play, clinics, drills, pickleball tournaments, and special events. With 11 indoor state-of-the-art courts with fixed (permanent) professional nets, and 8 outdoor courts for sunny days, suffice it to say players are able to get plenty of pickle time.
Besides state-of-the-art facilities, PALA prides itself on having a vibrant community of players of all ages and walks of life. The club’s founders understand what pickleball is all about: community.
As club founder Kaitlyn Myers says: “One of the great things about pickleball is that it brings people together from all different walks of life. Our goal is to provide a space where everyone is welcomed, and we will make sure everyone feels like they have a place here.”
That’s also why Kaitlyn and her friend and co-founder Gabby Angulo decided to establish a restaurant-bar at the core of the club. “You need food and drinks. Nothing starts a good conversation better than great food, delicious drinks,” she says.
Under the leadership of senior partnerships manager Luke Williams, PALA Pickleball Club has seen some impressive growth in recent months, signing sponsorships with Michelob Ultra, Houston Methodist Hospital, and BMW.
The club now has a new full-time head of coaching and four new pro instructors, as well as a PPA and APP player (Ryan Skufca) to rank and continue building the community of pickleball in Houston.
As a DUPR-affiliated club, PALA has organized 500+ tournaments and over 2,000 matches, with ten new Waterfall fight clubs and over $25,000 in cash given away, turning them into the organizer of the largest pickleball tournaments in Houston, Texas!
Still, starting a pickleball club from scratch is no walk in the park. From finding and purchasing the right land, to running logistics and growing the business, Kaitlyn and Gabby have had several ups and downs along their business journey.
“Pickleball is the fastest-growing sport, and to be part of that journey is crazy but totally rewarding. The hardest part is trying to meet everyone’s needs. We want to cater for everyone, and doing so can be sometimes challenging at times.”
As pickleball continues on its upward journey, clubs like PALA are helping to spread the popularity of the sport while making sure it stays true to its community roots.
To view PALA Pickleball Fight Club events with cash prizes, visit: DUPR Events
Pricing:
$60 early Membership (yearly)
$80 Month to Month
$20 Open play for 3 hours +
$40 Court Rental
$0 court rental for members
Contact Info:
Website: palapickleball.com
Instagram: @Palapickleball
Facebook: @Palapickleball
Interested in joining Pala Pickleball Club? Check out their website for further information.
In order to become an official DUPR Platinum Club, your club must already be an existing club on our platform.
If you would like to become a club, please reach out to: support@mydupr.com
How has the pickleball space evolved since you came into it?
One of the biggest changes is that the age demographic lowered drastically. Before, when I showed up to my local courts, I was the youngest one by about 10, 15 years, and I'm 27. Now when I go to the courts, there's a bunch of people younger than me. There are these two kids that are probably about nine and ten that are always there, and there's a lot more college kids and whatnot.
The second change would probably be seeing how much more attention pickleball gets and how much the media presence has grown. Now, you always see pickleball, it's always in the news somewhere. I swear, every one of my friends knows what it is now. Even within pickleball, the production quality of events or channels has gotten so much better than when I first got into it. Coming from a video background, the commercials felt like they were something from the early 2000s. Social media felt nonexistent. Stuff like that was baffling to me. And now we've just seen all of the numbers go way up in terms of follower count. But also, people have just gotten smarter about how they produce content.
How important is your DUPR rating to you?
For me, it's a good ballpark to check whether I'm generally trending in the right direction. I'm probably not going down, but I don't agonize over it or anything. I just look at the big picture: is it going up over time, or am I going down over time? I don't want to go down, that would bother me.
What are your thoughts on Life Time facilities for Pickleball?
Life Time is huge in my area because the founder actually lives in Minnesota, so I see him pretty regularly and we’ll have a conversation. In Minnesota, it gets so cold in the winter that you can't play outside for at least six or seven months of the year. So for me, I always end up going to a Life Time in the winter because they have a bunch of different venues in my area and they keep expanding them. So in the winter, it's huge for me. And then, as a content creator, being able to bring my laptop and camera, get my stuff done on the court, and then get off, get some food, and work in a lounge is really nice for me. That way, if I want to work a little bit before I play pickleball, I can do that, pack up my stuff, get on the court, and then do a little bit after. So there's a lot of flexibility and then obviously having a gym is really nice.
What is your favorite paddle at the moment?
Right now, I keep going back to the Six Zero Double Black Diamond. If I use a paddle for probably three-plus months, that's probably a good sign because I hit every single paddle that comes out. Prototypes are constantly coming through my doorway, so if something lasts me that long, it's probably a pretty good paddle.
What is your favorite venue?
Indian Wells, it’s such an iconic tennis center; it was just amazing out there. You've got mountains in the background. It's hard to beat that.
What got you into pickleball, and how did it become a core part of your life and career?
My friend and I went to play pickleball one day, and he had no racquet sports background. He's never played tennis, he's never played ping pong, nothing. And he smoked me. I'm pretty sure I got pickled 11 to 1. It was so embarrassing to me how badly I got beat, especially as a former tennis player. So after that, I decided to buy a paddle and play until I could beat him. I got hooked and immediately went and told my wife and my siblings, and they got into it too.
How was the Pickleball Studio channel born?
I was looking at all the videos on pickleball at the time and thought that I could probably make videos that people find more beneficial. I started by making some commercials and social media stuff for some local companies here in Minnesota. Then, I remembered that I had an extensive bunch of background on YouTube and thought I could try making some videos about pickleball, now that I kind of knew the game.
My first video had about 40,000 views within two weeks, which surprised me. People clearly liked this content. That's when I thought, I should figure out how to make this my full-time thing. That didn't happen for many more months. But I was playing so much pickleball, and it was so hard to focus on my actual client work that I realized that if I didn’t make this my job, I’m going to drop the ball on my real work and that was going to be a problem!
Special thanks to Chris Olson for taking the time to catch up with DUPR and stay tuned for more stories like this soon!
Chris Olson
Instagram: @thepickleballstudio
YouTube: @PickleballStudio
Website: pickleballstudio.com
My Pickleball Coach provides players a DUPR driven 1-1 coaching experience right through their phone anytime and anywhere
DUPR has partnered with MyJourney Technologies which provides elite, one-on-one Pickleball coaching to anyone, anywhere right on their phone. The mobile phone app called My Pickleball Coach provides customized 1-1 coaching based on best-proven methodologies so players improve fast.
Tito Machado, CEO of DUPR, “Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in the US with players expected to surpass 10 million by 2024. The growth is fantastic but we’re at an inflection point and the sport needs some organizing principles. The first step was creating a consistent rating system to provide a foundation for the most competitive and fun play. Step two is ensuring player improvement. Connecting My Pickleball Coach to DUPR provides players with a personal coach to grow their skills”
Martina Kochli, CEO of MyJourney and a world-class coach says, “My Pickleball Coach provides the world's best Pickleball coaches to players to improve their skills and measure their DUPR progress. When players get better, they play more pickleball, they influence their friends to play, and the sport grows. The “DUPR challenge” is built inside of My Pickleball Coach and enables players to work on skills that grow their skills and their DUPR.”
Pickleball players from beginners to advanced can download the My Pickleball coach app and run the DUPR Challenge to receive a custom report on their game. They then can activate personalized 1-1 coaching via their phones from top-ranked professional players and coaches like: Collin Johns, Martina Kochli, Jordan Briones, Zane Navratil, and John Cincolaright.
Pickleball players from beginners to advanced can download the My Pickleball coach app now:
About DUPR
DUPR is the gold standard in Pickleball ratings and event management and is the official rating system for MLP and PPA. In November of 2022, DUPR successfully launched a collegiate pickleball national championship in which 16 co-ed teams participated using the same unique team format used in MLP.
For more information on DUPR, visit the official website and follow DUPR on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.
About My Journey
MyJourney is the developer of My Pickleball Coach and is the inventor of Coaching as-a-service technology that provides one-on-one and scalable coaching. Their technology powers the digital coaching platform with TaylorMade and Alex Morgan’s MyJourney Soccer.
It’s not every day that a qualifier makes it to a pro singles final, whether it’s in pickleball or any other sport — and yet that’s exactly what 23-year-old Collin Shick managed to pull off at the PPA’s Red Clay Hot Sauce Florida Open earlier this year.
Yet meteoric as his rise may appear, it didn’t come completely out of the blue. Shick is a former collegiate tennis player specialized in doubles who considers Rafael Nadal his role model. Suffice it to say he’s no stranger to racquet sports.
After deciding against a pro tennis career, Collin started playing pickleball for the same reason all of us do — for fun. Yet what started as a fun pastime quickly evolved into an obsession. Ultimately, it was the team spirit that drew him to pickleball the most.
“In my experience with college tennis, team events have always been my favorite thing,” says Collin. “Whether it was juniors or college, I love playing for a team and having your teammates grinding with you day in and day out."
A med student at the University of North Carolina, Collin was playing pickleball at a local park with a friend one day when the UNC Pickleball Club president walked up and encouraged him to join the club.
That’s when Collin discovered DUPR Collegiate tournaments. “My favorite memory is winning the first-ever DUPR Collegiate National Championship,” he says. “That was pretty special, it was the first real professional pickleball event I ever played in.”
After a little over a year of perfecting his pickleball skills, Collin decided to go pro in 2023, with a sponsorship from Selkirk and joined DUPR as a DUPR athlete in July 2023.
After reaching the quarterfinals in the Boca Masters in January, Collin went on to compete in PPA’s Florida Open in Daytona, where he barely lost to Ben Johns in the finals.
Wondering how Collin manages to juggle med school, pro pickleball, and being a college athlete all at the same time?
“I like to stay busy. I can’t study all day, every day in medical school. I love getting out there, getting some exercise, and getting to be competitive again. Also, working on something new, that’s how I stay motivated.”
Clearly the future is looking bright for Collin. Here’s to his success and to many more matches where he keeps us at the edge of our seats!
In a monumental stride for pickleball enthusiasts across Europe, the recent English Open witnessed the remarkable influence of DUPR. The event unfolded as a pivotal platform for pickleball's growth on the continent, and DUPR couldn't be prouder to be a part of it.
DUPR's presence at the English Open was a testament to its status as the world's most accurate rating system. With an unwavering commitment to user input, transparency and precision, DUPR showcased its undeniable role in shaping the global future of the sport.
Not only did it educate existing players and clubs about the nuances of its rating system, but it also warmly embraced newcomers to the pickleball community, introducing them to the intricacies of accurate player ratings.
Alvaro Menendez, Senior Product Manager of DUPR, describes the event as the "Best European pickleball event so far!"
The English Open brought into focus the pivotal role that rating systems play in fostering fair competition and enhancing player experience. The event marked a watershed moment for both the sport and DUPR, by highlighting the importance of relying on an accurate rating system for the broader growth of pickleball on a worldwide scale.
"I was thrilled to see the massive number of athletes playing at such an elevated level at the English Open in Telford. Even more exciting was confirming that what we largely consider 4.5 DUPR level of play in The United States was right on par with 4.5 level play in Britain," said Dave McCune, Director of Activation.
As the crowd's cheers during the English Open continue to reverberate, it is abundantly clear that DUPR's positive influence has left its mark on the pickleball landscape in Europe. The event represents a gateway to an exciting future - one where precision, transparency, and the passion for pickleball converge to elevate the sport to new heights.
Recap provided by: Ryan Maher, Head of Commercial at DUPR
Pickleball with a Heart began as a tiny tournament to raise enough money to make 40 generous candy bags for underprivileged kids in our community.
Since that first event in October 2021, they hosted various fundraising tournaments and ladder leagues and raised over $10,000 for small local charities.
They became interested in DUPR because they wanted their events to be competitive and fair, encouraging new players to enter competitions and have a positive tournament experience.
Their club is "virtual," meaning they play at various local courts. Most events are played on six courts at the Greentree Sportsplex, though they have hosted events at Glen Creek Tennis Club, Peters Township Tennis Center, and South Park Tennis Courts.
Their club has grown to over 520 members! They are proud to be making a difference in these small charities with little to no dedicated fundraising volunteers and are thrilled that DUPR is a part of their journey.
To find out more about Pickleball with a Heart, visit their club page: HERE
Provided By: Laurie Lawrence, Founder of Pickleball with a Heart
DUPR (Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating) is thrilled to announce its expansion into China with the launch of its new club – DUPR China. This strategic move aims to standardize ratings in pickleball competitions across the country and promote the rapid growth of the sport among Chinese players. DUPR China will be led in collaboration with Yui See Lau, Co-Founder of the Canadian National Pickleball League.
China's deep-rooted passion for racquet sports has laid a solid foundation for the introduction and development of pickleball. With its unique blend of strategy, skill, and fun, pickleball promises to captivate Chinese tennis, badminton, and ping pong athletes and provide them with an exciting new opportunity to delve into the world’s fastest-growing sport.
DUPR China will revolutionize the pickleball landscape in China by implementing a standardized ranking system, ensuring fair and accurate evaluations of players' skills and achievements. By introducing consistent ratings, DUPR China will offer players a clear path to track their progress and compete against opponents of similar abilities. This initiative aims to foster healthy competition, inspire new players, and elevate the overall level of play in China's pickleball community.
Yui See Lau, Co-Founder of the Canadian National Pickleball League, will be partnering with DUPR to lead the charge in China. Yui See’s understanding of the industry’s dynamics combined with his passion for promoting pickleball make him an invaluable addition to the DUPR China team. Together, DUPR and Yui See will work to ensure the sport thrives and pickleball becomes a household name in China, enlisting the help of Full Send (Fu Xin) Pickleball’s Juan (Yuki) Chen and Han (Kevin) Chenas their liaisons in China to connect with the multitude of pickleball clubs that have started appearing and gaining momentum in the Guangdong Province in cities such as Hengqin, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, as well as in Beijing and Shanghai.
DUPR China is committed to supporting pickleball enthusiasts, players, and clubs across the country. By providing a standardized ranking system and fostering a sense of community, DUPR China aims to accelerate the sport's growth and build a vibrant pickleball ecosystem throughout China.
DUPR China invites all pickleball enthusiasts, players, and organizations to join them on this exciting journey. With the combined efforts of DUPR, Yui See Lau, and the pickleball community in China, this initiative is set to revolutionize the sport and create a legacy for future generations of Chinese pickleball players.
August 12 (Guangdong Province — Hengqin)
Our first stop takes us to Hengqin, located in the southern part of Zhuhai City and separated from Macao by a bridge, is a major platform for promoting the diversified development of Macao's economy.
August 19 (Shanghai)
Our second tournament of the series will be in Shanghai. Shanghai is the Oriental Fashion Capital, a city that is constantly being put in industry lights with Milan, Paris, London, New York and Tokyo. As Shanghai was opened as a commercial port in 1843, it became one of the first Chinese cities exposed to Western culture and customs.
August 26 (Beijing)
Beijing will play host to our third tournament. Beijing is a metropolis in northern China and the capital of the People's Republic of China (PRC). It is also known in English as Peking. Beijing is also one of the four municipalities of the PRC, which are equivalent to provinces in China's administrative structure and is one of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China.
August 27 (Chongqing)
Our fourth stop, Chongqing, is one of the four municipalities of the PRC, one of China's five major cities, and constitutes another metropolis made from a large city (Chongqing Downtown), and six regional central cities with populations of over one million each, and 25 other counties. The world map hanging in the halls of the United Nations marks only the names of four cities in China, one of which is Chongqing.
September 3 (Guangdong Province — Hengqin)
For the championship we come back to Hengqin (our first stop) where we will be inviting the top 3 teams/players from each city that participated in the series tournaments and divide them into two big group by age, 50+/50-, to compete in a final showdown for a high-stakes, winner-takes-all tournament!
For media inquiries, please contact:
Yui See Lau, DUPR China Club Director
DUPR (Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating), pickleball’s most accurate global rating system, today announced the official launch of their new mobile app. DUPR is trusted by the world’s leading professional pickleball tours – Major League Pickleball and Professional Pickleball Association – premier pickleball clubs, and recreational players alike.
Highlights and new features of the app include:
"We have focused on transparency and community building with this update," said Tito Machado, Head of DUPR. "Users will now have clear visibility on how each match impacts their rating and we believe that the group messaging feature will promote a vibrant sense of community and allow for better organized rec play."
As the go-to platform for the sport, DUPR serves as a central hub for players to communicate, find level-based play, and track their growth and personal successes. DUPR also provides tools and technology for organizers, clubs, and communities to showcase their pickleball journey.
The DUPR mobile app is now available to download on iOS and Android Devices, ensuring accessibility for players across all platforms. For more information about the DUPR App, visit mydupr.com.
DUPR is the gold standard in Pickleball ratings and event management, and is the official ratings system for MLP and PPA. In November of 2022, DUPR successfully launched a collegiate Pickleball national championship in which 16 coed teams participated using the same unique team format used in MLP.
For more information on DUPR, visit the official website and follow DUPR on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.
Kevin Brown, Director of Marketing kevin@mydupr.com
1. Why can’t I see the match impact of my rating on all of my matches?
You will only be able to see the match by match impact on your rating for matches in which the new algorithm was used. Matches with the previous rating system will not be shown as part of this new feature.
2. I have been a DUPR user for a long time, why can’t I see my rating over time since the beginning of my account?
Tracking rating changes over time is a new functionality that was built with instant ratings and was not supported with the old algorithm.
3. When is my rating updated?
Ratings are updated almost instantly after your opponent accepts a match.
4. I won a recreational match. Why did my rating go down?
Recreational matches calculate ratings on a game by game basis. Even if you won a two out of three game match, if you lost a game to a much lower ranked player there is a chance it could decrease your rating.
DUPR is proud to announce its partnership with Total Pickleball, who will be the official retail partner of DUPR. Total Pickleball is a leading provider of pickleball equipment and accessories. This collaboration brings together two industry leaders committed to promoting the growth and development of pickleball worldwide.
"We are thrilled to join forces with DUPR as their official retail partner," said Rick Kerpsack, President of Total Pickleball. "Both Total Pickleball and DUPR share a common goal of enhancing the pickleball experience for players worldwide. By offering a comprehensive range of high-quality products, we aim to empower players to reach their full potential and enjoy the sport they love."
As the official retail partner of DUPR, Total Pickleball will offer a wide range of products that cater to the needs of pickleball enthusiasts at every skill level. With a shared passion for the sport and a commitment to excellence, this partnership will enhance the overall pickleball experience for players around the globe.
"This partnership with Total Pickleball has laid the foundation for an extraordinary alliance that will propel us to new heights," said Tito Machado, Head of DUPR. "This strategic collaboration combines our shared vision, experience, and passion for the sport of pickleball."
DUPR has gained recognition as the most accurate global rating system in the pickleball community. By utilizing advanced algorithms and data-driven analytics, DUPR provides players with precise skill ratings, ensuring fair competition and facilitating player matchmaking. With Total Pickleball's dedication to offering top-notch equipment and accessories, players can now access everything they need to elevate their game to new heights.
Through this partnership, Total Pickleball will also actively collaborate with DUPR to promote events, tournaments, and initiatives that foster community engagement and player development. Together, they will work toward creating a more inclusive and accessible pickleball landscape, encouraging players of all ages and skill levels to embrace the game.
Total Pickleball is a leading provider of premium pickleball equipment and accessories. With a wide selection of paddles, balls, bags, apparel, and more, Total Pickleball is committed to serving the needs of pickleball enthusiasts at every level of the game. With a focus on quality, innovation, and customer satisfaction, Total Pickleball is dedicated to providing an exceptional pickleball experience for players worldwide.
Total Pickleball Media Contact:
Grace Oeser, Partnerships Manager Total Pickleball grace@warehousesports.com
DUPR is the gold standard in Pickleball ratings and event management, and is the official ratings system for MLP and PPA. In November of 2022, DUPR successfully launched a collegiate Pickleball national championship in which 16 co-ed teams participated using the same unique team format used in MLP.
For more information on DUPR, visit the official website and follow DUPR on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.
DUPR Media Contact:
Kevin Brown, Marketing Operations Manager kevin@mydupr.com
The Oasis Pickleball Club has become a premier tournament venue in Texas, with more than 40 permanent outdoor courts and home to many high-profile pickleball tournaments. This was the second Minor League Showdown event to occur in 2023 filled with plenty of highs and lows throughout the weekend in both the DUPR 18 and DUPR 20 divisions. All the teams who competed did not disappoint and brought the same hyped and upbeat team energy to this event as we’ve seen at previous Minor League events.
From customized jerseys to color-coordinated outfits, we saw some unique styles all around. Team names were nothing short of creative with some notable team names such as “Baby Got Backhand”, “Big Dink Energy”, “Dink 182” and “Not Another Podcast”. Minor League teams traveled from near and far to compete in this event, with players traveling from cities around Texas and even out of state from California, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Florida to name a few. On Day 1 on Saturday, the weather brought less than ideal conditions with 20 mph winds at times and large gusts which was challenging for most players throughout the day. Certain players adapted to the conditions and those teams proved to be successful throughout the weekend.
On Day 1, the 12 teams in the DUPR 18 division competed in pool play and the two top teams in each pool advanced to the Semi-Finals on Sunday. The Oklahoma Outlaws advanced to play the 501’s and Baby Got Backhand advanced to compete against Risky Biscuits on Sunday. The remaining teams that didn’t advance played a compass backdraw on Sunday. Both Baby Got Backhand and the Oklahoma Outlaws advanced to the finals with Baby Got Backhand coming out victorious after winning a fifth game dreambreaker and securing a $1600 prize for their team. The Oklahoma Outlaws took home $800 for second place.
For the DUPR 20 division, six teams competed in a round robin format on Saturday to determine seedings for Sunday. Dink 182 and the undefeated No Strings Attached moved directly into the semi-finals while the remaining teams played each other in the quarterfinals Sunday morning. Team Not Another Podcast and Team DUPR advanced, but Teams No Strings Attached and Dink 182 both advanced to the finals, with Dink 182 winning the final in three games. Dink 182 won the $2,800 prize and No Strings Attached took home $1,200.
All the teams who competed accumulated points based on how they finished towards Minor League Pickleball’s National Pathway Year-End Championship in December. Teams who accumulate the most points throughout the year advance to Championship and compete for large prizes. Thank you to all the Teams, Sponsors, and staff who made this tournament possible.
Written By: Sydney Steinaker - Executive Assistant
Edited By: Kevin Brown - Director of Marketing
Contact: Marketing@mydupr.com
We are excited to be adding a Professional event as a part of the Road to Oasis, Waterfall Nationals this year in Rockwall, TX on October 12-15, 2023. Waterfall Nationals is a culmination for the amateur athletes who have competed and earned their Platinum Ticket to Nationals throughout the year at DUPR’s local Waterfall events.
The amateur athletes are competing for a total prize purse of $20,000+ and the title of Waterfall Nationals Champions. The Amateur event will finish up on Saturday evening ensuring that the Battle of the Paddles will be the premier event concluding our Nationals weekend!
DUPR will be offering Battle of the Paddles on Sunday, October 15, 2023.
The concept is for paddle companies to form one men’s and one women’s team to represent the brand. There will be a men’s and women’s draw. Every athlete needs to have a DUPR rating between 5.0-5.5 at the time of registration. Brackets are formed with a 16-team maximum and after each round, athletes continue playing against a team with the same sequence of wins/losses.
What is a Waterfall: VIDEO
Games will be MLP style rally scoring, best 2 out of 3 games to 21. This event will be live streamed. The entry fee is $500 per team.
Battle of the Paddles prize money is below:
1st: $3000
2nd: $1500
3rd: $1000
Consolation: $500
Least Amount of Allowed: $400
Sportsmanship: $100
Paddles companies, not athletes, are only allowed to sign teams up for this event. Sign-ups will be taken on a first come/first serve basis.
Please book time on Kerri's calendar to sign up for more information, if you have any questions, or to sign up your teams.
Contact: Kerri@mydupr.com
On April 14-16, 2023 DUPR held their Collegiate Individual National Championship at the Life Time Fort Worth-Alliance facility in Fort Worth, Texas. In total, there were 73 players and 20 universities represented during the event that competed for $22,000 in scholarship money.
The University of Virginia brought the highest number of participants with 18 students representing the University's Cavaliers.
The purpose for DUPR starting the Collegiate Individual National Championship this year was to recognize the most talented college players in pickleball, regardless of the university they attend. Any college student taking a minimum of 6 college credits is eligible to participate in this league. For players, the goal is to secure a spot for themselves in the Collegiate Team National Championship which will take place in November later this year.
Throughout the weekend, some of pickleball’s most talented up and coming players competed in Gender Doubles, Mixed Doubles, and Men and Womens Singles. The Collegiate Individual Nationship Championship league is the only tournament through DUPR with a singles event.
Each player is guaranteed 5 matches per event, utilizing the rally scoring format. For each perspective event, the scholarship payouts were as followed:
$2,000 Winner
$800 Runner-Up
$400 Semifinalists
$200 Quarterfinalists
In addition to this, the winner(s) of each event earned a bid for their school to compete in the year-end championship in November.
Recent PPA Pro Singles Silver Medalist and University of North Carolina student, Collin Shick had all eyes on him this weekend, and rightfully so, pulling off a 27-0 record for the weekend and earning him the triple crown in all three events. Dylan Ciampini, another rising star in pickleball hailing from Utah Tech University, won women’s singles and doubles.
Below are the results for the finals of each event:
Men’s Singles
Winner: Collin Shick (University of North Carolina)
Runner-Up: Martin Michelsen (University of Florida)
Women’s Singles
Winner: Dylan Ciampini (Utah Tech University)
Runner-Up: Caitlin Lewis (University of North Carolina)
Men’s Doubles
Winner: Collin Shick & Hunter Boyd (University of North Carolina)
Runner-Up: Christopher Crouch & Django Chassang (University of Flordia)
Women’s Doubles
Winner: Dylan Ciampini & Katelyn Nadauld (Utah Tech University)
Runner-Up: Taylor Crabtree & Lillian Vandixhorn (Texas Christian University)
Mixed Doubles
Winner: Collin Shick & Sarah Carpenter (University of North Carolina)
Runner-Up: Jared Brungard & Dylan Ciampini (Utah Tech University)
The following Universities were represented during the event with the amount of players representing the colleges and universities in parenthesis:
We would like to thank our event sponsors: Gamma Pickleball, OOFOS, and Cirkul who provided our players with bucket hats and water bottles. Additionally, we’d also like to thank the LifeTime Fort-Worth Star Alliance facility for hosting the event and providing an excellent experience for all participants.
If you are interested in getting involved with DUPR Collegiate Pickleball, please e-mail us at college@mydupr.com.
Be sure to follow us on social media as well to stay up-to-date for all future Collegiate events.
Written By: Sydney Steinaker - Executive Assistant
Edited By: Kevin Brown - Marketing Operations Manager
Contact: Marketing@mydupr.com
Hey Pickleball Fam,
The APP Tour's Florida swing continues this weekend from the city of Plantation. With last week's gold medalists Dekel Bar and Vivienne David sitting this one out, who will beat the top rated team, Dylan Frazier (6.568) and Simone Jardim (5.886). Could it be first time partners Zane Navratil (6.490) and Jackie Kawamoto (5.757)? We shall see! And don't forget about Florida residents JW Johnson (6.607) and Lee Whitwell (5.592). Two forehands in the middle makes a great pairing for pickle.
In the Senior Mixed Pro bracket, we see last week's gold medalist, Scott Crandall, opting out and thus, Kim Kesner (5.202) playing with Rick Witsken (5.568) as our 3rd seed. Just like in our Pro Mixed bracket, last week's Silver Medalists (Scott Moore (5.585) and Eva Welsher (5.281)) are taking the top spot on our list. Will Kesner have the golden paddle with a new partner? Mircea Morariu (5.567) and Julie Johnson (5.250) will have something to say about that.
Good luck to all our competitors and may there be many a third game tiebreak.
We'll be updating this list as the weekend progresses with winner predictions by bracket. Stay tuned and let us know who you're rooting for on social. @duprpb
DUPR is excited to announce our Collegiate Tournament Schedule for 2023!
There will be 12 Regional Tournaments, The Collegiate Team National Championships, and new this year is the Collegiate Individual National Championship. All tournaments will be played at Life Time locations across the country.
DUPR is working to bring the college pickleball experience to as many schools as possible, and that starts by having regionalized tournaments across the nation. DUPR will be hosting the first annual Collegiate Individual National Championship, where players from any school can come and compete in brackets for all 5 events.
To conclude the year, DUPR will be hosting the 2023 Collegiate National Championship for the 36 best college teams in the country!
Here is an overview for each of the tournaments:
DUPR Regionals
DUPR will be putting on 12 Regionals at Life Time clubs between March and October of this year. In order to participate in the DUPR Collegiate National Championship, every college has to participate in at least one Regional, and receive a bid for their school. Regionals are the main way to receive a bid, but there are other methods as listed below. Schools are not locked by location and can play in as many Regionals as they want.
All it takes is 2 men and 2 women players from a college to form a team and compete! Your school doesn't need to have an official pickleball club in order to participate. You just need 4 current students and a DUPR Digital Club for your school. Search here to see if your school already has a DUPR Digital Club, and if not, contact college@mydupr.com to have one made for your school.
To register, go to the Regional event on DUPR (links are below) and sign up in your school's team bracket once your school has decided who is going. If your school doesn't have a team bracket, contact college@mydupr.com to have one made for your school.
Scholarship Money (Per Regional): $4,000
Entry Requirements:
Format:
Bid Distribution:
DUPR Collegiate Individual National Championship
Date: April 14th-16th 2023
Location: Life Time - Fort Worth-Alliance (Fort Worth, Texas)
Scholarship Money: $22,000
In addition to Regionals, DUPR will also be starting the Collegiate Individual National Championship in 2023. We want to recognize the best college players, regardless of what school they are from. This Championship will have a Men’s & Women’s Doubles, Mixed Doubles, and a Men’s & Women’s Singles bracket for any college student to compete in.
Entry Requirements:
Format:
Bid Distribution:
DUPR Collegiate National Championship
Date: November 17th-19th 2023
Location: Life Time - Peachtree Corners (Atlanta, GA)
Scholarship Money: $31,000
To wrap up the collegiate pickleball season, we are once again having the College National Championship for the best schools in the country. In order to participate, each college will need to obtain a bid. Bids are given out in three ways: Regionals, the Collegiate Individual Championship, and the DUPR Collegiate Council.
Entry Requirements:
Format:
Travel Stipend
DUPR is offering up to a $1000 travel stipend for the first 100 schools that qualify! To see the requirements and apply for the travel stipend, click here.
More Information about Bids
In order to play in the DUPR Collegiate National Championship, a college must obtain a bid either through a Regional Tournament, the Collegiate Individual National Championship, or the DUPR Collegiate Council. DUPR will keep track of which schools have received a bid as the year progresses. Once your school receives a bid, you cannot receive any more. Any bids you would have received will be given to the next highest placed team at the tournament. This prevents schools from blocking other schools from receiving bids.
24 bids will be given out across the 12 regional tournaments, and 5 bids will be given out at the Collegiate Individual National Championship. To get to 36 total bids, the DUPR Collegiate Council will give out bids to schools based on competitiveness, DUPR rating, club size, and how the club has used the DUPR software at their school and community. DUPR will update the colleges regularly about how many bids have been given out, and to which schools.
Contact Us
Email: college@mydupr.com
Grab a teammate, and showcase your game with DUPR Flex Leagues in your community.
Are you an organizer interested in hosting your own DUPR Flex League in your area?
If so, please complete the application form below to get started.
Players are placed in a round-robin group and play 4 matches over 5-weeks. Players will be divided into leagues/groups based on their location and DUPR.
What else?
- Organize your weekly league matches at a time and on a court that’s convenient for you and your opponent.
- Matches can be played during any week of your Flex League session. You can even play all four matches in the first week if you’d like!
- Matches are gendered, mixed or open doubles with brackets by DUPR.
For more info and questions, contact: flex@mydupr.com.
The DUPR Waterfall features a new and innovative format that offers players four (4) competitive matches all within a four-hour period. This revolutionary, amateur-only event will be like none other.
Format:
Brackets are formed with 16 teams maximum and after each round, you continue playing against a team with the same sequence of wins-losses. For example, after round three, teams who won their first 2 and lost the 3rd play and teams that lost the first and won the next 2 play. Your sequence matters even though all teams have 2 wins and 1 loss.
Open Gender / Age Events:
Participants can play with a partner of any age, gender, or level. The common denominator? Play will be competitive, level-based, and DUPR-neutral across demographics.
DUPR Rating:
All players must have a DUPR of 5.0 or less because the DUPR Waterfall guarantees DUPR-neutral play. Players with a DUPR rating higher than the maximum number in that bracket cannot play down. Players are permitted to play in a higher DUPR rated bracket if their DUPR rating is lower than the bracket's minimum rating. The tournament director will have final approval on tournament admission.
Players that don't have a DUPR rating can enter the tournament. Player can self-rate, but If a player doesn't have a DUPR rating, that player can't win a Platinum Ticket. It is highly encouraged to record 3-5 self-recorded games through the DUPR app prior to registration. If a DUPR rated player has a partner with a NR, that team will play in the DUPR rated bracket of that player.
Brackets:
Play will occur within a four-hour designated time window. Players sign up with or without a partner and DUPR will create brackets of 16 teams based on rating of the highest DUPR rated player on the team.
Partner Differential:
Within the DUPR Algorithm, matches, where players are rated with a difference greater than 1.50, are excluded. Therefore, players may not sign up with a partner outside of that range. So, a 5.0 can’t play with a 3.4, but a 4.9 and a 3.5 could play two players rated a 4.4.
Payment:
Payment must be taken through: mydupr.com registration page.
Refunds:
No refunds for any reason after the cancellation deadline (2 weeks prior) unless the Registration & Weather Insurance Policy has been purchased prior to the cancellation deadline. If you withdraw before the cancellation deadline, you will be issued a 90% refund. If you are withdrawn from the tournament by the event administration, you will receive a 100% refund.
Refunds will be granted for withdrawals prior to 2 weeks before the event. Simply select the bracket and click “Withdraw”. Email waterfall@mydupr.com if you have refund issues.
The Major League Pickleball (™) draft continues this week with the 12 Challenger teams selecting their players!
See the current doubles and singles ratings of those eligible to be drafted below.
There are many talented players on the board and it’s clear team owners are looking for experience as well as team chemistry.
Will GMs select the highest rated players, or look to some of the rising stars to round out their rosters?
The Major League Pickleball(™) draft is just around the corner. See the current rank based on doubles DUPR ratings of the players who have submitted their names and are eligible for the draft. While the majority of play is doubles, players’ singles skills can make a huge impact when a Dreambreaker decides the match.
One thing is for certain, with 48 women and 48 men, the 2023 season is sure to include exciting new partnerships and the most competitive field of players ever assembled.
"The year will be divided into two “seasons” of three events – in the first season, 12 teams will compete in the MLP Premier Level (the first 48 drafted players) and 12 will compete in the MLP Challenger Level (the next 48 drafted players), with rosters consisting of two men and two women. The teams will then flip levels and re-draft players for the second season. With the expansion to 24 teams, MLP is offering up to $5 million in prize money and payouts to its players in 2023."
See full 2023 schedule and more info
This is the final list for the Premier Level Draft. After the Premier Level Draft on Thursday December 15, 2022 MLP will add a number of players eligible for the Challenger Level Draft which takes place on Dec 19, 2022.
Who will go #1 overall, Ben Johns…Anna Leigh Waters…or will it be a surprise?
Join DUPR in welcoming our Executive Directors. As an Executive Director, each individual operates and owns DUPR Flex and Team Leagues; runs innovative DUPR events like the Waterfall & Jamboree; and activates their community members and local clubs and facilities. Use the image below to see if you have an Executive Director near you.
South Carolina (Max Easton)
Washington (Pablo Granados)
Minnesota (Scott Buell)
Utah (Brandon Chesley)
Northern California (Carmen Sanz)
Arizona & New Mexico (Chase Distefano)
Michigan (Calvin Bushor)
Middle States (Rick Fortuna)
Maryland (Sam Morris)
Oregon (Aaron Boehme)
Hong Kong (Venise Chan)
Japan (Daniel Moore)
Great Plains (Dave McCune)
Texas (Rich Lopez)
Southern California (Steve Riggs)
Australia (Mike Newell)
Florida (Andrea LaMack)
Arkansas (Cindy Fish)
DUPR is pickleball’s most accurate global rating system trusted by world premier pickleball clubs, professional tours, and recreational players alike. Learn more at mydupr.com.
It's round 4 of our most popular and biggest list: DUPR by Region.
It's the 12 USA Pickleball Regions--plus the UK and Canada. See who the Top 50 Men and Top 50 Women are, grouped by where they call home.
As a reminder, we use the 12 USA Pickleball Regions, so if you're curious why Colorado isn't in "Mountain" or where we came up with "North Mid Atlantic" as a region...well, we didn't. Here's the map of regions from our last regional list as well as some more information about How DUPR is calculated.
The regions are listed in order of the average DUPR of the Top 100 Overall--followed by our lists of the UK and Canada.
Please email hello@mydupr.com for any inquiries or corrections about our Regional Lists.
Click the map for our Rankings page with the full lists.
My fellow pickleball enthusiast,
My name is Jillian Braverman and I am the CEO of DUPR, joined by DUPR’s Founder, Steve Kuhn, and we are writing to you today in celebration that the sport has unified under one rating: DUPR. Pickleball.com, along with its subsidiaries, the PPA Tour, PickleballTournaments.com, and PickleballBrackets.com, will adopt DUPR (Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating) as its official and exclusive rating system.
This is a watershed moment for the sport of pickleball, marking the unification of the amateur game. This partnership will enable Pickleball.com & DUPR to create more innovative amateur player experiences, optimized ratings, and most importantly grow the game we all love.
In less than two years DUPR has built our sport’s most accurate rating system, and become the official rating of the World Pickleball Federation along with fifteen (15) other individual international federations. We’d like to thank our over 600 club partners, representing the world’s pre-eminent and largest pickleball leagues, associations and facilities across the world. Clubs like Life Time, Invited Clubs (formerly Club Corp), Spare Time, Sean Bollettieri & The Tennis and Pickleball Club of Newport Beach, Club Pickleball USA, Chicken N Pickle, In-Shape, and many, many others. You are the thought leaders in your community.
Thank you to our amazing Executive Directors and Regional Ambassadors, a program for which we received over 500 applications in under twenty-four hours. You are the grassroots engines that help your local communities hum and we are nothing without your trust and support. Thank you. We’d also like to thank the tennis community as it opens its arms more and more to pickleball. DUPR has received a tremendous outpouring of support from major Tennis Federations across the world as we welcome this new community to our great sport. We are humbled to act as pickleball’s gateway for these tennis players. Stay tuned for some big announcements on this topic.
Additionally, we’d like to thank our community for helping us harness its collective creativity to build innovative bridges to the everyday recreational player: DUPR Team Leagues powered by MLPlay, DUPR Flex Leagues, The first-ever Collegiate National Championship, The Waterfall (pickleball’s first self-run tournament), and the DUPR Rating Assessment Clinic by Collin Johns & Sonny Tannan.
This is only the beginning of many other unique and innovative formats that make our beloved sport more fun and fair for everyone, created and driven by community members whose passion and business is pickleball. Lastly and most importantly, we’d like to thank, well— YOU.
You’ve trusted us and we want you to know that we will work tirelessly every single day to earn that trust. You deserve a rating that is accurate, transparent and universal— you deserve a global passport to play.
You deserve DUPR.
Thank you,
Jillian & Steve
#OneRating #PickleballZealots #PickleballUnited #OneNationUnderPickleball
Collaborative relationship unifies the sport with the premier rating system on the premier software platform
Pickleball.com, along with its subsidiaries, the PPA Tour, PickleballTournaments.com, and PickleballBrackets.com, will adopt DUPR (Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating) as its official and exclusive rating system.“Today is a watershed moment for the sport of pickleball, marking the unification of the amateur game. This partnership will enable Pickleball.com & DUPR to create more innovative amateur player experiences, optimize ratings, and most importantly, grow the game we all love,” said Jill Braverman, CEO of DUPR. Pickleball.com will serve as the home for all DUPR events, including DUPR Waterfall Tournaments, Flex, and Team leagues. DUPR will remain the Official Pickleball Rating of the PPA Tour.
"As pickleball’s preeminent tournament management solution and long-time stewards of the game of pickleball, we are excited about removing the confusion and inconsistencies caused by having multiple rating systems. Coalescing around a single rating system will eliminate unnecessary distractions and allow us to continue to focus on enabling fair and fun competition in both recreational and tournament play," said Melissa McCurley, CEO of PickleballTournaments.com.
Pickleball is the fastest-growing and most popular participatory sport in America. DUPR and Pickleball.com have independently promoted this growth and will continue to provide solutions to meet the evolving needs of the growing community.
We are proud to announce that Major League Pickleball and the PPA Tour’s VIBE Pickleball League have agreed to a strategic merger to unify the sport of pickleball as a global, co-ed, team-based league featuring the greatest players, biggest events, and visionary owners. This league will continue to live under the “Major League Pickleball” brand name and format.
Pickleball is the fastest-growing and most popular participatory sport in America – and soon the world. MLP and the PPA have independently fostered this growth by supporting world class players, driving powerful marketing, and creating unbelievable live experiences. Coming together as one team league allows us to build much bigger events, offer more prize money, enhance player development, pursue larger media and sponsorship deals and, most importantly, grow the game we all love.
Our league is starting with the best professional players in the world and a group of iconic leaders from sports and business including LeBron James, Tom Brady, Kevin Durant and Kim Clijsters. Just yesterday we announced Anheuser-Busch is our newest team owner – and we are just getting started.
Today marks a real milestone in the evolution of pickleball. In a world desperate for more social connection and reasons to celebrate, we are so excited for this merger and what it means for our community and our beautiful sport.
Kind regards,
MLP & PPA
Life Time to host multiple MLP tour events during 2023 season and adopt DUPR as official rating system
Chanhassen, Minn., (Nov. 7, 2022) — Nearly five million people are now playing pickleball according to the latest data from the Sports and Fitness Industry Association and today, Major League Pickleball (MLP) and DUPR (Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating) announced a strategic alliance with Life Time (NYSE: LTH) to continue elevating the sport through hosting tournaments and events at iconic Life Time locations, adopting the DUPR official rating system across all Life Time clubs, partnering on improved technology and offering shared marketing support.
“This is an exciting time for all of us involved in making pickleball a sport that everyone chooses to play – whether competitively, for fun, for physical and mental health, to be a part of a welcoming community or all the above. I’ve never seen a sport so unifying,” said Life Time Founder, Chairman and CEO Bahram Akradi. “Through this strategic alliance among our organizations, we will take pickleball to the next level through elevated events, experiences, ratings and execution with one standard in mind – being the best. We are thrilled to be working with MLP and DUPR.”
As a part of the partnership, Life Time will adopt the DUPR rating system and technology across all of its pickleball programming, making the sport even more accessible by creating even playing fields and providing best-in-class technology to run events. MLP will also be bringing at least two of its marquee team-based events to Life Time locations in 2023.
MLP has made news in recent months with its roster of new team owners including iconic professional athletes, serial entrepreneurs, best-selling authors and speakers, billionaire investors and more. As the 2023 season gets underway, the league will grow to 16 teams, double its events from three to six and surpass the $2M mark in player prize money and payouts.
“We could not be more excited to create this strategic alliance with Life Time,” said MLP and DUPR Founder Steve Kuhn. “Life Time owns and operates the most pickleball courts of any company in the U.S., located within the most beautiful athletic country clubs in prime locations creating the perfect environment to host MLP events. Additionally, aligning with DUPR to provide the most accurate global rating system will provide immense benefit to players, regardless of which Life Time club they’re playing at across the country. Together we’ll see the sport continue to explode in growth as we aim to hit our goal of 40 million players by 2030.”
Further details of the deal were not disclosed. For more information visit: MLP, Life Time and DUPR.
# # #
About Major League Pickleball
Major League Pickleball (MLP) is the first of its kind professional team league and the standard-bearer for the fastest-growing sport in the United States. Led by Founder & CEO Steve Kuhn, MLP is committed to perpetuating the sport's larger role in society and permeating every facet of pickleball's business, marketing, and community relations. With iconic team owners, a co-ed team format, an innovative draft, easy to understand scoring, groundbreaking broadcast quality, and the highest prize money events in pro pickleball, MLP's goal is to elevate and grow the sport in everything it does. For more information on Major League Pickleball, visit MajorLeaguePickleball.net and follow Major League Pickleball on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
About DUPR
DUPR (Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating) is the most accurate and only global pickleball rating system trusted by the world’s premier Pickleball clubs, tours, and professionals. All players, regardless of their age, gender, location, or skill, are rated on the same scale between 2.00-8.00 based on their match results. DUPR is free and anyone can have a rating.
About Life Time®
Life Time (NYSE: LTH) empowers people to live healthy, happy lives through its portfolio of nearly 160 athletic country clubs across the United States and Canada. The company’s healthy way of life communities and ecosystem address all aspects of healthy living, healthy aging, and healthy entertainment for people 90 days to 90+ years old. Supported by a team of more than 30,000 dedicated professionals, Life Time is committed to providing the best programs and experiences through its clubs, iconic athletic events, and comprehensive digital platform.
Collin Johns (above left), top 10 pickleball player in the world by DUPR and Sonny Tannan (above right), have joined forces to introduce their proprietary rating assessment clinic to get players rated with DUPR in a fast, fun format.
What to expect:
Collin and Sonny’s assessment uses the objective DUPR algorithm to evaluate the maximum number of players in the shortest amount of time while removing the subjectivity of human opinion. Participants receive a provisional DUPR by competing against a variety of players. Players of all levels are welcome to participate.
Benefits:
Use the link below to learn more about Collin and Sonny's rating assessment clinic.
DUPR is pickleball’s most accurate global rating system trusted by world premier pickleball clubs, professional tours, and recreational players alike. Learn more at mydupr.com.
If you haven't heard about Zane Navratil and his infamous spin serve, you haven't been paying attention.
Zane Navratil, 26, started playing pickleball in 2013 after claiming three high school tennis State Championships in Wisconsin. Zane continued his tennis career playing Division III tennis at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater where he earned a Master's Degree in Accounting and achieved Academic All-American status. Upon graduation, Zane moved to Milwaukee, WI and took a position as an auditor for Deloitte & Touche, an internationally recognized public accounting firm. Pickleball, however, was calling his name, and he left his auditor position in 2020 to play and teach pickleball full time. Zane is currently rated #7 in Doubles (6.57) and #5 in Singles (7.03) by DUPR. He competes in multiple tournaments a month and rarely walks away without a medal. He also offers pickleball clinics across the country and is known for a teaching style that is both efficient, methodical & informative, as well as engaging and fun. His driven and competitive personality is well balanced with his silly sense of humor and ability to have fun with his partners, competitors and students.
See Zane and this paddle in action, competing against JW Johnson at the 2022 APP Franklin NY Open:
Details:
Winner will be chosen 10/14/22 at 2:00pm PST - Announced on the DUPR Instagram.
OFFICIAL RULES
1. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN.
2. HOW TO ENTER: Beginning on September 29th, 2022 at 12:00pm PDT through October 13th, 2022 at 12:00pm PDT, log on to Instagram and go the Paddle Giveaway on DUPR’s Instagram profile. Follow @duprpb on Instagram. In a comment on the Paddle Giveaway post on DUPR’s profile, tag two friends and write your 2-decimal doubles or singles DUPR (ex: 3.25). No more than 1 entry per Instagram account is permitted. Use of any robotic, automatic, programmed, or similar entry method or entering more than the number of times permitted will void all entries and result in disqualification. You may not enter more times than indicated in an attempt to circumvent the rules.
3. ELIGIBILITY: Open to residents of the 48 contiguous states of the United States and D.C., 18 years of age and older as of September 29th, 2022 who have a claimed DUPR account, except for employees of DUPR ("Sponsor"), Sponsor’s affiliates, subsidiaries, and agencies (collectively with Sponsor "Promotion Parties"), and members of their immediate family or persons living in the same household. Void where prohibited.
4. DRAWING: A random drawing will be conducted on or about October 13th, 2022 at 2:00pm PDT by Sponsor to select the winner from among all eligible entries received. Odds of winning depend on the number of entries received. Potential winner will be notified via Instagram direct message and an Instagram post that will tag them. The return of any prize notification or prize as undeliverable may result in disqualification and an alternate winner may be selected. All income taxes resulting from acceptance of prize are the responsibility of winner. By entering this sweepstakes, entrant accepts and agrees to these Official Rules and the decisions of the Sponsor, which shall be final in all matters. Acceptance of a prize also constitutes permission to the Sponsor to use winner's Instagram handle for marketing purposes without further compensation or right of approval, unless prohibited by law. All federal and state laws apply.
5. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY: By entering this sweepstakes, entrants waive all right to, and hold the Sponsor and Instagram harmless from, any claim, liability, loss, damage (including punitive, incidental, and consequential damages), or expense (including attorneys' fees) arising out of or in connection with participation in this sweepstakes or the acceptance, use, or misuse of any prize. Promotion Parties will not be responsible for: late, incomplete, or incorrect entries; an entrant's failure to receive prize notices due to entrant's security settings or for entrants' provision of incorrect or otherwise non-functioning contact information; technical, hardware, or software malfunctions, lost or unavailable network connections, or failed, incorrect, inaccurate, incomplete, garbled, or delayed electronic communications whether caused by the sender or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or used in this sweepstakes; by any human error which may occur in the processing of the entries in this sweepstakes; or any typographical, technological, or other error in the publishing of the offer, administration of the sweepstakes, or announcement of the prize. If, in the Sponsor’s opinion, there is such an error, or there is any suspected evidence of tampering with any portion of the sweepstakes, or if technical difficulties (including viruses and bugs) compromise the integrity of the sweepstakes, Sponsor reserves the right to, in its sole discretion, cancel or modify this sweepstakes in a manner deemed appropriate by the Sponsor. In the event of termination, a winner will be selected from among all eligible entries received as of date of termination. In the event a dispute arises as to the identity of a potentially winning entrant, entries will be declared made by the entrant’s Instagram account handle.
6. PRIZE: Zane Navratil’s signed paddle that he used in the NYC Open. Total prize value: $100. Prize consists of only those items specifically listed as part of the prize. Limit one prize per family or household. No substitution or transfer of prize permitted by winner. Sponsor reserves the right to substitute a prize of equal or greater value. If a potential winner is disqualified for any reason, Sponsor will award the applicable prize to an alternate winner by random drawing from among all remaining eligible entries.
7. CHOICE OF LAW AND FORUM: Entrant agrees that all matters arising out of or relating to this sweepstakes and these Official Rules are governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of Texas, without giving effect to any of its conflict of laws provisions thereof. Entrant further agrees that any legal suit, action, or proceeding arising out of or relating to this sweepstakes and these Official Rules shall be brought exclusively in the applicable federal or state courts located in Texas.
8. ALTERNATIVE MODE OF ENTRY: To enter this sweepstakes without following the above-stated procedures, mail a 3x5 notecard with your personal information (name, age, mailing address, email address, and phone number) to the following address: DUPR, 2770 US-290, Dripping Springs, TX 78620.
9. PRIVACY: Information submitted with an entry is subject to the Privacy Policy stated on [PROMOTION URL]. To read the Privacy Policy, click here.
10. WINNERS LIST: For the name of the prize winner, available after October 13th, 2022, send a self-addressed, stamped #10 envelope to: DUPR, 2770 US-290, Dripping Springs, TX 78620. 11. SPONSOR: DUPR, 2770 US-290, Dripping Springs, TX 78620.
DUPR is excited to announce the launch of Flex Leagues. Grab a teammate, and showcase your game with DUPR Flex Leagues in your community.
Players are placed in a round-robin group and play 4 matches over 5-weeks. Players will be divided into leagues/groups based on their location and DUPR.
What else?
Are you an organizer interested in hosting your own DUPR Flex League in your area? If so, please complete the application form below to get started.
Learn more about pickleball’s most accurate global rating system at mydupr.com.
Think you know who's been on the podium the most this year? Check out our full list below:
Check out the Instagram post here.
Thank you so much to everyone that joined us at the inaugural Newport Beach DUPR Waterfall presented by Takeya. We loved seeing so much passion for the sport and feedback on Pickleball’s first ever “self-run” tournament using the DUPR app, where scores were posted and validated by opponents in real-time.
Congrats to all the winners and to the MVPs as well. These players made some gains on their rating by beating the Expected Value in most or all of their matches. DUPR sees you!
See the full results here, if you're signed into your profile. Simply click the flight and then click "Standings" to see the final tally.
We first met Kimberly when she was identified #3 on our "Biggest Amateur Movers" list from July. Biggest movers are folks that have shown the largest change in their DUPR rating in a given amount of time.
This is an impressive accomplishment on it's own, but we were floored when she reached out to share her story of incredible resilience and perseverance.
Read Kimberly's Story In Her Words:
"I’m such a social media introvert and I rarely post anything but today is a pretty special day for me and I wanted to share it. Today I had my very last physical therapy session after going twice a week for the last 7 years.
In August of 2015 I had my first Open Hip Dislocation/Femoral Derotation surgery in which my hip sockets were reformed and my femurs were cut in half and rotated 20 degrees. We did one hip at a time, the second hip was 15 months later. The surgeries were very long and my spinal cord became pinched during the second hip surgery because of the way I was positioned. This complication greatly delayed my healing and it wasn’t until 18 months later that I had another surgery to decompress my spinal cord. I spent many, many months in a hospital bed in our home, and many years dependent on a wheelchair, walkers, and crutches to get around. I had to use those little motorized carts to shop once I could leave the house. With the change in the position of my femurs along with the spinal cord complication, I had to learn to walk all over again. I looked like Woody in Toy Story with my joints zig zagging in different directions. I couldn’t get my feet to line up with my knees and my knees to line up with my hips. My body had been rearranged and my brain couldn’t figure out how to walk again.
It’s been a very slow and very painful journey. Anyone who knows Dan and me, knows that we like to be active. Hiking, tennis, scuba diving, cycling, you name it…we just love to play. It was a tremendous loss for us to be confined to the house and not know if I would ever walk again, much less get to be active and play again. I was DETERMINED to get back to normal (active lifestyle) and it was so frustrating that my body wouldn’t work anymore. At one point, a couple of years ago, one of my PT’s gently suggested that I try different hobbies that I could do, instead of focusing on what I could no longer do. She suggested that I should just ‘go live my life’ with the limitations I had. Boy, that fired me up big time. I said OMG are you saying I need to take up something like cooking or sewing? I’m sure Dan would love if I was a better cook but seriously kill me now! Okay I’m wrapping it up I promise. A couple of years ago, I was still using a walker for anything outside the house and Jim and Sonya Phillips introduced us to Pickleball. Obviously, I was there just to watch. It looked so fun! Everything in me wanted to be out there playing, so I convinced Dan to let me come out on the court with him. I stayed in one spot and if the ball came right to me, I hit it! Oh my goodness! The spark of life that flooded my soul in that moment…I can’t even describe it. I was still so disabled at that point that if I even transferred my weight on my right hip it was screaming pain…but hey…I was out there and I was feeling alive. Pickleball motivated me to work even harder in PT. We would go out to play and I would just get the balls that came to me. Little by little I could move around the court more…Now…on this my last day of PT…I’m out playing Pickleball against people who have no idea what I’ve been through and I’m beating them Dan and I have been traveling around competing and winning medals together. We feel 20 years younger.I want to thank God for carrying us through those long, painful years, and for healing my body bit by bit. He has been so very good to us. And Dan is my hero, my knight in shining armor. I wouldn’t have made it through this without him! We did it my love! Let’s see…7 surgeries, in 7 years! I’m estimating 88 trips to Stanford, 18 nights in the hospital, $2.89 million in medical bills, and last but not least 498 hours sitting in Bay Area traffic! "
Amazing work Kimberly! Truly an inspiration to us all.
Let's not forget who really drives the sport - the amateurs! You don't have to be a pro to make a splash.
This is one of our favorite, most impactful lists we’ve ever made. We love rewarding players for their improvement. DUPR sees you 👀
Congrats on all your hard work!
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The list is based on players who have:
Julian Arnold had a great month in SoCal medaling in multiple events with partners Hayden Patriquin and Lauren Stratman. Anna Bright ended June with a gold medal in both women’s singles and doubles at the USA Pickleball Consumer Cellular Championships.
Both JW Johnson and Parris Todd stay in the top 5 for singles rankings, both having won gold medals at the PPA OC Cup earlier in June.
With a summer swing of tournaments in SoCal complete, the heat shows no sign of stopping. We look forward to watching some of the best players in the sport compete at the Beer City Open in Grand Rapids next week. The following weekend holds the second MLP event of season 2 in Newport Beach, CA August 5-7, the same weekend as our inaugural DUPR Waterfall tournament.
The registration deadline for The DUPR Waterfall tournament is July 24th, don't sleep on this one!
Learn More About DUPR Waterfall
