{"id":3598,"date":"2026-10-09T10:06:33","date_gmt":"2026-10-09T02:06:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.garyspringer.com\/blog\/?p=3598"},"modified":"2026-10-09T10:06:33","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T02:06:33","slug":"are-there-professional-pickleball-players-44b6-980e15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.garyspringer.com\/blog\/2026\/10\/09\/are-there-professional-pickleball-players-44b6-980e15\/","title":{"rendered":"Are there professional pickleball players?"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019ve spent any time around a public court over the last three years, you\u2019ve probably heard the high, sharp thwack of a pickleball paddle hitting a perforated plastic ball, mixed with the cheers of players who range from teens on spring break to retirees who trade their morning walks for three-set matches. As a pickleball supplier who\u2019s shipped gear to rec centers in 47 U.S. states and three Canadian provinces over the last five years, I get asked this question almost weekly: \u201cAre there actually professional pickleball players, or is this just a casual game for people who like beer and low-stakes fun?\u201d Pickleball<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Before I get into the specifics, let\u2019s ground this in what defines a pro athlete, because that\u2019s where most casual onlookers get stuck. For a long time, pro status was tied to a rigid set of rules: you had to earn a living entirely or primarily from your sport, compete in structured, regulated tours that distributed prize money, and have a clear ranking that separated you from weekend warriors. For pickleball, that line didn\u2019t start to blur until about 2019, when the sport exploded from a niche pastime in the Pacific Northwest to one played by 8.9 million people in North America alone, per the Sports & Fitness Industry Association\u2019s 2024 report. That growth didn\u2019t just mean more people playing\u2014it meant investors and tournament organizers started to see it as something bigger than a backyard activity.<\/p>\n

Now, let\u2019s talk about the core group we\u2019d call professional pickleball players today. The primary tour that leads this is the Association of Pickleball Players (APP) Tour, which launched its first full season of sanctioned, prize-money-eligible events in 2020, and the Major League Pickleball (MLP) league, founded in 2021. Both tours have structured divisions: Men\u2019s, Women\u2019s, and Mixed Doubles, with skill-based tiers that start at 2.5 (recreational players) and go up to 5.0, the pro level. As of 2024, the APP Tour has a full ranking system, with top players like Tyson McGuffin and Anna Leigh Waters holding the number-one spots in their divisions, and MLP has rosters of 12 teams, each with pro players who sign contracts with the league. These aren\u2019t people who play on weekends for fun\u2014they train 30 to 40 hours a week, travel 30+ weekends a year to tournaments, and earn six-figure incomes from prize money, sponsorships, and league salaries.<\/p>\n

But let\u2019s get real: this isn\u2019t a sport where you can quit your day job and play pickleball full-time, not yet. The average prize money for an APP or MLP tournament is around $15,000 for a first-place finish in singles, and only the top 20 players in each division make enough to cover their expenses, let alone live on. Sponsorships are a big part of their income, too, and as a pickleball supplier, I can tell you that most of our top pro players are active partners for our brand\u2014they test new paddles, demo our balls at tournaments, and post on their social media about our gear. For example, Anna Leigh Waters, the 17-year-old phenom who\u2019s won 18 national titles, signed a multi-year deal with a major pickleball brand in 2023, and we\u2019ve worked with her team to ship custom paddles and gear for her training camps. That\u2019s not casual. That\u2019s professional.<\/p>\n

The confusion many casual players feel about pro pickleball comes from how different it is from traditional racket sports. If you watch a pro tennis match, the court is twice as big, the racket is way more powerful, and the ball moves at 100+ mph. Pickleball is a slower game overall, with shorter points, and the rules are simpler\u2014so it\u2019s easy to write it off as \u201ctoo easy\u201d for pros. But anyone who\u2019s played a 5.0 pro in a rec league knows that\u2019s not true. The spin on their serves is so tight it makes the ball dip mid-air, they can hit a third-shot drop that lands 2 inches from the non-volley zone, and they communicate with their partner faster than most people can order coffee at a food truck. I\u2019ve seen our brand\u2019s pro demo team take on a group of senior rec players at a local court last year, and even the top senior players couldn\u2019t return a single third-shot drop. That\u2019s skill. That\u2019s professional level.<\/p>\n

Another point that makes pickleball\u2019s pro scene unique: it\u2019s not just about young, super-athletic players. You\u2019ll see 50-year-old pros who\u2019ve been playing pickleball since it was invented in 1965 (by three dads on a Washington state island who wanted a game for their kids), and they compete at the same level as many 20-year-olds. That\u2019s part of why the sport is so popular, and why the pro scene is growing fast. The APP Tour now has 15 events a year, with prize pools that topped $2 million in 2024, up from $500,000 in 2020. MLP, meanwhile, has a broadcast deal with CBS Sports, which airs their playoffs every year, and attendance at finals events has topped 10,000 people\u2014more than some minor league baseball games in small cities. That\u2019s not a backyard activity. That\u2019s a professional sport with a growing audience.<\/p>\n

But let\u2019s be honest, there\u2019s still a gap between \u201cpro level players\u201d and \u201cfull-time professional athletes.\u201d Most pro pickleball players have side income: some teach private lessons, some work at pickleball clubs, some have other jobs. For example, Tyson McGuffin, the number-one men\u2019s singles player on the APP Tour, used to be a full-time high school math teacher before he turned pro in 2021. Now he still does a few math tutoring sessions a week, because he says it keeps his mind sharp for strategy. That\u2019s a big difference from, say, a pro basketball player who never has another job. But the definition of \u201cprofessional\u201d is evolving for this sport, just like it did for competitive skateboarding or esports, which were once written off as casual hobbies before they got full-time tours and leagues.<\/p>\n

As a pickleball supplier, I\u2019ve seen this growth firsthand. When I started in 2018, I sold mostly cheap paddles to rec centers and individual players who played once a month. Now, 60% of my business goes to tournament organizers, pro players, and rec centers that host weekly pro-am events. Last year, we shipped 10,000 custom gear packages to the APP Tour\u2019s national championship in Phoenix, and worked with MLP\u2019s team to outfit all 12 teams with branded paddles and balls for their season. I also host a monthly pro player clinic at my company\u2019s training facility in Austin, where we have pro players from the APP and MLP teach rec players, and every month, 50+ people show up\u2014many of them asking how they can get good enough to play pro.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a weekend warrior who\u2019s never watched a pro pickleball match, I get why you\u2019re skeptical. I used to think the same thing, until I brought a pro player to a local rec court I play at with my dad two years ago. We were beating him 8-3 in a game to 11, thinking we had it easy, and then he switched into pro mode. He started hitting those tight third-shot drops, switching sides of the court without us noticing, and by the end of the game, he had a 11-1 run that left us standing there with our paddles in our hands, wondering what just happened. That\u2019s when I realized: pro pickleball is real. It\u2019s not as big as tennis or golf yet, but it\u2019s on its way, and it\u2019s full of talented, dedicated players who treat it like a full-time job.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

So, to answer your question: Yes, there are professional pickleball players. They train hard, compete in structured tours, earn prize money and sponsorships, and are just as skilled as athletes in many other niche racket sports. The pro scene is still young, and it\u2019s not for everyone, but it\u2019s growing fast. If you\u2019re interested in learning more about pro play, or need gear for your own training or tournament, don\u2019t hesitate to reach out. We work with players at every level, from recreational beginners to pro tour athletes, and can help you find the right gear to take your game to the next level.<\/p>\n

References<\/h2>\n

Pickleball Balls<\/a> Sports & Fitness Industry Association. (2024). 2024 Pickleball Participation Report<\/em>.
\nAssociation of Pickleball Players. (2024). Official Tour Ranking & Season Summary<\/em>.
\nMajor League Pickleball. (2023). MLP League Contract & Sponsorship Report<\/em>.
\nNational Pickleball Association. (2022). History & Evolution of Competitive Pickleball<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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Hebei Honde Industrial Trade Imp. & Exp. Co., Ltd.<\/a>
As one of the most professional pickleball manufacturers and suppliers in China, we have world-leading production equipment and strong manufacturing capabilities. Please feel free to wholesale high quality pickleball made in China here from our factory. We also accept customized orders.
Address: Room 1904, Yintai International Building, Guang’an Street, Chang’an District, Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province
E-mail: activeballs@hbhonde.com
WebSite: https:\/\/www.activeballs.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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