PicklePod: Hot Paddles, Hotter Mics, and Pickleball's Wildest Fault

If you can't tell by the multiple commas above, it's been a helluva few weeks in pickleball.

From JOOLA filing a lawsuit to Sticker Gate 2024, hosts Zane Navratil and Thomas Shields got together to talk about it all on this week's entertaining PicklePod episode.

Class action lawsuit

In case you missed it, JOOLA officially filed a class-action lawsuit against USA Pickleball for its delisting of their Gen3 paddles. The suit is for upwards of $200 million.

But, that's not the only lawsuit. Another one has been filed against ... JOOLA. It's to the tune of $5M seeking "to recover damages incurred as the result of a deceptive and fraudulent scheme."

You can catch up on the latest JOOLA drama here:

Should rec players use illegal paddles?

Pickleball players from around the country weighed in on our recent Instagram question about whether it's fair to use illegal paddles in recreational play.

The answers definitely skewed toward no, but our audience had some interesting takes that the guys read on the podcast.

You can also read about it here:

The 'hot mic' moment in Sacramento

If you watch pro pickleball or follow Hurricane Tyra Black on Twitter, then you have heard all about Ben Johns and the latest hot mic moment.

Essentially, in a moment where the broadcast switched over to hear strategic insights between him and Anna Leigh Waters, they instead caught an earful of Ben trash-talking Hurricane Tyra Black – who wasn't even on the court.

According to Zane and Thomas, it shouldn't be a big deal. But, plenty in the pickleball world disagree.

The guys go on to discuss other recent hot mic moments worth reliving.

Are Ben and Collin Johns still No. 1?

The world's No. 1 men's doubles team seems to be on the struggle bus as of late. They're losing to teams – especially those that feature Gabe Tardio – they shouldn't lose to, and, quite frankly, it's weird to see.

But, one team's loss is another team's gain. Dylan Frazier and JW Johnson seem to be ready to take over that number one spot.

The guys agree that Ben and Collin Johns are no longer as feared as they once were.

Papa Jimmy's sticker fault

The craziest fault in all of the pickleball happened last week in PPA Sacramento.

After a putaway slam, James "Big Pappa Jimmy" Ignatowich had a small sticker fly off of his paddle and flutter into the non-volley zone.

A fault was called because the rule is that nothing on your person can land in the non-volley zone after a volley. Then, it was upheld by head referee Don Stanley.

But, the sticker in question wasn't a Megadeath decal placed as flare by Jimmy. It was the "Yeah, it's okay to use this paddle in the event" sticker.

Should it have been a fault? The guys don't think so.

But, rules are rules.

Must win on your serve ... again

MLP Washington, D.C. is in full swing, and one rule change the guys discussed was that teams must win on their serve. While this isn't a new rule, it is new for this season.

Will it work and make games more competitive? Tune into the MLP all weekend long on Pickleball TV.