Pickleball is changing . Over the past few years , the number of players has jumped from 2 million to more than 9 million . With that boom , the number of paddle manufacturers has also taken a giant leap . While the biggest 10 manufacturers sell over 90 percent of the high-end paddles , the sport ’ s governing body , USA Pickleball , has reported that there are now 500 + companies making paddles for the sport .
Founded prior to the boom in 2015 , Selkirk , Paddletek and Engage still lead the market , along with a few other big brands .
Despite the incoming tide , those three companies have managed to hold the market and produce more than 600,000 paddles per year between them .
As the sports world has turned its head toward pickleball , many major manufacturers have dipped a toe into the pickleball water . First it was the obvious tennis names such as Head , Babolat , Gamma , Wilson and Prince , but now we are seeing the interest of non-tennis giants such as Franklin ( all sports ), Vulcan ( baseball ), Joola ( table tennis ), Ektelon ( racquetball ), Vokyl ( skiing ), Onix / Escalade ( table tennis , indoor games ), and others .
To add to that , many pickleball players and instructors have embraced the entrepreneurial spirit and launched their own successful companies such as Veloz , CRBN , TMPR , Vatic , Pro Kennex , Takeya , and PB Pro .
So how and where are paddles made — and what makes them different ? Well , the first thing to know is that the vast majority of paddles are made in a few factories in China , and the remaining U . S . - based manufacturers hint to us that they are heading that way too , later in 2023 .
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SPRING 2023 | MAGAZINE 15