Pickleball Magazine 3-4 Courtesy of Pickleball Guru | Page 79

BIZZ BUZZ
Players Pickleball Offers DIY Paddles
Pickleball MAGAZINE sat down with Josh Bechtel,
Co-founder-Director of Product Development and
Manufacturing for Players Pickleball, LLC, to talk about
the company’s Mix & Match, Create-Your-Own approach
to designing paddles.
How did you guys get your start?
JB: For several years, I worked in product development.
Michael Bennett, Co-founder, and I had worked on a
few projects previously and he approached me a few
years ago about consulting for a pickleball company. It
sounded intriguing so we met and I came on board. We
started out making traditional paddles and, over the last
few years, have made more than 55,000 paddles.
What’s your approach to development?
JB: Before we decided to launch our brand, we started
testing paddles to see if we could prove other paddles
were doing what their marketing claimed. From there,
we kept working to try to figure out what factors most
affected the perceived performance of the paddle
and, before long, we felt we had something that could
transcend the hype and traditional paddle constructions.
However, as we talked with more and more players
throughout the process, we learned there wasn’t a
strong correlation between the mechanical
properties data we were measuring
and player feedback—it was all over
the map! That’s really what set
us down the path of our Mix
& Match, Create-Your-Own
approach to paddle making.
What’s different about the
Players Pickleball paddle?
JB: Aside from the honeycomb
core and wrapped grip, pretty
much every other component is unique to our paddles.
Instead of using the traditional flexible rubber edge
guard and foam or balsa wood pieces to build out the
handle, we integrated both elements into a single,
structural and protective unit that’s really at the
heart of our paddle design. We’re allowing players
to select the core that best suits their preferences,
then customize the cosmetics to best fit their style.
There’s no single best paddle to be made, simply
because players vary so much. You’ve got your dinkers,
smashers, lobbers and everyone in between. We were
sitting on a lot of data and our “a-ha” moment came
when we realized the only way to make the best paddle
for a customer was to put data into their hands and let
them choose!
How can players create their own paddles?
JB: It’s a simple two-step process. Step one is about
paddle performance—or selecting a core for your
paddle—and step two is customizing the remaining
paddle components any way you’d like.
How does the process work?
JB: Via our website. We have a 3D virtual paddle that
you can view and edit with just a few clicks. It’s really a
matter of comparing cores, selecting the one
you’d like, editing the color choices, then
clicking “Add to Cart.”
What’s the long-term plan?
JB: For now, we’re just focused
on the short term and making
the best paddles we can for our
customers while making smart
decisions for our business. We’ll
see how things unfold beyond that! •
JULY/AUGUST 2018 |
MAGAZINE
77