PicklePod: Breaking Down the Worst Attempt at Cheating, Fixing Line Calls and More

PicklePod co-host and pro player Zane Navratil is back from his honeymoon, and while he was gone all hell broke loose (for like the fourteenth time this year) in the pickleball world.

Thomas Shields and Zane catch up on all the happenings and welcome Kyle Selinko to the show, who might just have a solution for hooking in pickleball.

The Aloha Pickleball Showdown

The Dink and OluKai are partnering together to bring the "Aloha Pickleball Showdown," an exclusive tournament and party, to the Austin Pickle Ranch on Saturday, July 13th.

If you're in the area and want to catch the island vibes — and maybe play some pickleball — sign-ups are available until July 6th.

Mean tweets for Pros vs 5.0s

Did you see Thomas Shields, CEO of The Dink and host of the PicklePod, on a recent episode of Pros vs. 5.0s? If not, you didn't miss much (we're kidding Thomas).

Zane surprises Thomas with a collection of mean tweets from those lucky (or unlucky) enough to see it.

Andrei's response to his punishment

If you follow pro pickleball at all, then you know the story of Andrei Daescu and his sticky paddle situation.

Well, the punishment came down just a week ago and the big man took it with grace. The guys of PicklePod discuss and Zane gives his take on the punishment.

JOOLA Gen 3 de-listed

JOOLA Gen 3 paddles were de-listed by USA Pickleball a few weeks ago. In the latest news, USA Pickleball denied JOOLA's attempt at re-listing. You can catch up on all things Paddle Gate here:

Kyle Selinko joins the pod

Kyle Selinko has been in pickleball for a long time and even played in some early tournaments with Zane. These days, he's running companies that bring pro pickleball to the masses (with streaming) and building technology to solve the massive problem of line calls.

The 240 frames per second revolution

How fast is 240 frames per second? Imagine taking 24o pictures per second. That's essentially what Kyle's cameras can do. Which would nearly solve the line call problems that current pro pickleball tours face.

Yet, when he approached the APP and the PPA at the beginning of the year, they both said, "Nah, we're good." Why? Hear from Kyle as to why he thinks it's a priority issue.

Using AI to make calls

If 240 frames per second isn't impressive enough, then what about using artificial intelligence (AI) to help referees make better line calls? That's precisely what Kyle's latest venture is attempting to create.

Where broadcasts can improve

Besides the line call issue, what are some other ways pro pickleball broadcasts can improve?

According to Kyle, it's all about continuing to innovate to elevate the broadcast – and more cameras could help, too.