Joola's hot paddles & the governing body propping them up

Welcome to the Paddle Wild West

If you read our previous newsletter on the new Joola 3S UPA-A approved paddles that were revealed during the KC Open, you know some of the backstory.  However, these paddles (and a recently released MOD TA-15 model) are now taking center stage during singles day in Bristol.  After ALW withdrew due to a lower body injury, women’s singles blew wide open.  Anna Bright, sporting her new Joola 3S, got a win over Domi Schaefer, and then played Kaitlyn Christian tough before losing 11-2, 8-11, 10-12.  Brooke Buckner rolled through the competition with her MOD TA-15, even taking down Salome Devidze in the semi-finals.  After her loss, Salome went to Facebook to voice her frustration with Brooke’s paddle. 

Zoey Wang, also sporting a MOD TA-15, rolled through to the semis before losing to Kaitlyn Christian.  The men’s side was equally dominated by the new Joolas with Tyson taking a game off Ben before losing in 3.  The two most surprising results was Tyson destroying Pablo 11-1, 11-1 which resulted in a meltdown by Pablo, and then Fed double pickling Quang Duong in the semis.  Quang was so upset he took to Instagram stories to complain about the paddle (since deleted).

A teardown by Pickleball Studio revealed that the MOD TA-15 looks identical to the banned Joola Gen 3 series, even down to the width of the foam around the edge.  We’ve essentially entered the Wild West.  We have legal paddles that are identical to banned paddles, and we have UPA-A paddles that seem to be very similar to banned paddles (no teardowns yet).

Non-Joola players are getting tired of the uneven playing field, and now we’re hearing that paddle manufacturers are getting frustrated with the UPA-A and their overt favoritism towards Joola.  Jason Aspes, CEO of UPA-A, responded with his perspective on what appears to be Joola cheating the system (getting paddles out the door while many other manufacturers had no idea that UPA-A was even accepting paddles for certification).  Jason’s words are included in their entirety for transparency.

This view starkly contrasts what other paddle manufacturers have told us.  No one else on the committee seemed to be aware of the option to get interim approval.  Now these companies are scrambling to generate designs for approval, while managing frustrated pros and a fickle player base that is always looking for the next shiny paddle.  In addition, UPA-A has made it clear that testing results will not be shared even with the manufacturers themselves.  So here we are at a showdown.  One governing body (USAPA) that seems to arbitrarily ban paddles that are identical to previously passing paddles, and ban materials that are ALREADY in use.  Another governing body (UPA-A) that seems to be for sale to the highest bidder.  The players are trapped in the middle getting more bruised from bodybags with each passing generation of paddles.