The voice for the amateur

One day in early 2017, Pickler founder, Stacie Townsend, was invited by her parents to play pickleball. Stacie was paired with this man named Charlie. As she walked on the court with Charlie, whose white hair peaked out from under his ball cap, she apologized for being a beginner. Charlie peered at Stacie as he was preparing to serve and very matter-of-factly stated, “Happy players here!” He quickly broke out into a smile and yelled, “zero, zero, two!”

Charlie shuffled around the court. He probably was a killer athlete in his prime. However, he did not move very quickly anymore. Nevertheless, Charlie was a great partner—first and foremost, he had patience for Stacie—but he also had an ability to spin and place the pickleball in between their opponents. Fortunately for Stacie, she had been an athlete her entire life. Stacie grew up playing fastpitch softball and was lucky enough to play in college, professionally and internationally. She relied on this athletic background to get through her first pickleball game. Charlie would make the finesse winning shots, and she would run around the court keeping everything out of his reach in play.

Charlie and Stacie won their first game. After tapping paddles, Stacie turned to Charlie, “Great job, Charlie. You had some killer shots!” Charlie smirked back, “Not bad for a 90-year-old man, huh?” Stacie said with shock, “CHARLIE, YOU’RE 90!”

Charlie was the first Pickler that Stacie met (other than her parents). It is people like Charlie that make falling in love with the game of pickleball easy. The game of pickleball is fun, social, competitive, easy to learn, has a low barrier to entry, provides a sense of community, and is an amazing workout with tons of health and wellness benefits. To summarize, pickleball is so much more than a sport, which is exactly why Pickler was created

Our mission at Pickler is to promote the sport of pickleball and inspire others to play pickleball. Pickler promotes the unique and welcoming community of pickleball, as well as pickleball’s great exercise, family-friendly, high-quality play, meaningful relationships, health and wellness benefits, and fun culture. Pickler also strives to help pickleball players improve their game, play their best pickleball, and connect with others in the pickleball community, whether it is (1) through Pickler’s free pickleball newsletter, blogs, and podcast; (2) through Pickler’s pickleball videos and pickleball e-books that focus on every aspect of the sport of pickleball; or (3) by helping pickleball players show off their love of pickleball with some Pickler gear.

Taking a 10,000-foot view, Pickler helps grow the sport of pickleball, teaches others the “ins” and “outs” of the game, and encourages others to share their love of pickleball by harnessing the spirit and culture of pickleball.

If you are passionate about pickleball, want to learn more about pickleball, or want to improve your pickleball game, then you have come to the right place! Welcome to Pickler!

Let’s play pickleball… 0-0-2!