The Pickleball Bros Have Arrived — And They Brought Their Protein Shakes

Just when we thought we had reached peak bro culture—with tech bros, finance bros, and even crypto bros—here comes an invasive new species: the pickleball bro.

In speaking to a fellow player at my local courts in Miami, her expression darkened when mentioning “those pickleball bros.” A new subspecies of bro? I was so intrigued that I decided to ask around.

The Anatomy of a Pickleball Bro: A Field Guide

A quick-spreading species, a pickleball bro is a late 20s, early-to-mid 30-something man who believes a 5.0 DUPR rating is a personality trait. The pickleball bro can easily be found in his natural habitat on the pickleball court, marking his territory with protein shake bottles.

Bros are easily spotted by their tell-tale backwards caps, headbands, $300 paddles, matching outfits, and frequent cries of “Dude!” and “Bro!” They may or may not be wearing polarized sunglasses, perhaps in an attempt to emulate their established beach volleyball counterparts. The pickleball bro often works in finance or tech, and pickleball is his only form of cardio besides pacing the office with Bluetooth engaged. 

Pickleball bros take a lot of pride in their sport, perhaps because they sucked at every other real sport in high school or, per Christopher Barnes, have "no stamina and bad knees," and will often try to recruit other guys to boost their numbers.

Pickleball is a likely target. It's easy to pick up and be just good enough at that you feel superior to others. "Pickleball, mocks Trevor Wallace, "the sport rapidly taking over men in their 30's with zero personalities NATIONWIDE."

A tennis friend of mine was accosted by a particularly zealous group of bros while attempting to leave the urinal. They tried to entice him with pickup lines such as “You play pickleball, bro?” and “Aw, dude, it’s sick! It’s like the best!”

Now, I was wondering, hang on, these "bros" sound like dudes who are just enthusiastic about pickleball and want to share their love of the game, right? I’m a very competitive person myself (I may or may not be prone to passionate grunts during key points) and I can hardly judge anyone else for the same behavior.

Well, there's a key difference between friendly pickleball enthusiasts and pickleball bros: toolbaggery.

Although relatively harmless outside the court, pickleball bros can present a substantial threat to fellow players. They often attack their prey through serial body-bagging and can be intolerant of lesser-skilled players.

Close Encounters of the Hostile Kind

A friend of mine, let's call her Mary, wasn't familiar with the term "pickleball bro," but she definitely knew the type. She told me about one guy who, instead of simply passing her the ball before her serve, rocketed it at her hand. When she flinched, "he tried to laugh it off."

Another man, let's call him Jake, spoke of a guy who is always "yelling and yelling" during recreational play and pushing so much unsolicited advice it makes rec play feel like a boot camp.

I was also told about a local tennis pro who visited the pickleball courts in Tropical Park and was appalled by the sheer number of "bullies" showing up for evening play. Yikes. That doesn't get anyone excited for more pickleball.

Now, everyone who’s been or lived in South Florida knows it’s a simulation and everything here is weird. But I'm realizing that pickleball bros have propagated nationwide, as highlighted by a recent episode from This Pickleball Life hosted by Jill Braverman and Kristen Walla.

What started as a friendly game quickly escalated into a deathmatch. The bro in question began hitting an overly aggressive, cross-court dink during the warmup. After politely being asked to take it down a notch — because, hey, they were just warming up — the bro barely held it together.

Midway through the match, while fuming from being down 2-9 against two chicks (a guaranteed fight or flight response trigger in a bro), he claimed that Kristen (aka K-Dub) should have chased down the earlier dink to which she smartly responded, “Yeah, I could run it down, but that’s not what I’m trying to do here, it’s a warmup.” Suffice to say, there was no rematch. 

Kristen and her partner ended up playing against a pair of older ladies and despite the match not being as competitive, they had a “grand old time.”

In Defense of the Pickleball Bro (Sort Of)

Now, personally, I have never had the misfortune of knocking heads with one of these pickleball bros and I don't want to attack anyone. On that same note, my friend Mary added a more nuanced perspective to the issue, stating "some guys are just competitive" and that as an older, recreational player, "she knows her place" and tries to avoid playing with significantly more competitive partners so as not to stir trouble.

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But after hearing all these stories, I feel it needs to be said:

Pickleball bros, we love you, and at the end of the day, we all just want to have fun and grow the game. So play hard, cheer loud—but don’t be that guy. Or maybe just take it down a notch? The court (and your future mixed doubles partners) will thank you.