Pickleball Magazine 2-2 Courtesy of The Pickleball Guru | Page 58

Portable
Pickleball
Nets:
The Inside
Story
W
hat do you need to play pickle-
ball? A flat surface. A partner.
A paddle. A ball. And, a net. The ques-
tion for this article is how to decide
which portable net to purchase; does
it matter? Do you value your playing
time and your lower back and knees?
Would you rather spend one minute
bending down to set up your net as
compared to nearly three times that
long? If you answered yes to both
these questions, read on.
Today, there are options when
deciding which portable net to
purchase. It wasn’t always that way.
Eight years ago Bill Booth, former
President of the USAPA, and Joe
Dinoffer, President of OnCourt
OffCourt, spent nearly two years
collaborating on the best design for
a portable pickleball net. This design
set the standard at that time and is
still more or less the standard today,
56
having solved the 34-inch center net
height challenge with a fixed height
inserted center strap rod that met
USAPA guidelines.
First manufactured under the
trademarked name “PickleNet” by
OnCourt OffCourt, a 23-year-old
tennis and (now) pickleball manu-
facturing and distribution company
based in Dallas, Texas, this is the
same net that is private labeled for
organizations such as USAPA, Pick-
leball Spain, and Pickleball England.
Plus, OnCourt OffCourt manu-
factures these same nets for other
companies such as Pickleball Central
and Gopher Sport.
The original net system was
constructed with a round center
strap rod and round metal tubes, but
today’s PickleNet has evolved. The
new and improved version is the first
pickleball net to receive a U.S. Utility
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Patent that protects the many unique
new features including a rectangular
center strap insert for better net
support and appearance, a partly
elastic net for easier assembly and
less stress on the net frame, and oval
tubes for seamless frame alignment
and much faster set-up than ever be-
fore. “You’ve come a long way, baby!”
said the pickleball paddle to the net.
But while the improved versions
of the original PickleNet are being
released, it is a compliment to the
original design that “knock-offs”
from copycat companies have ap-
peared on the scene. The purpose of
this product review is to talk about
the various features of different
portable pickleball nets and what to
look for in making this important
investment decision. We will review
two areas to consider: set-up time
and durability.