Hello, everyone! This is Picklewho, the #1 website for pickleball news and entrepreneurial advice. Today’s quote is: “if your company receives a bad review, remember: it could be worse. At least you’re not the latest Ant-Man movie”, Boris Johnson.

Aaaaaand here is today’s news!

• Is this paddle getting banned from pickleball?

• From tennis prodigy to pickleball pro

• USA Pickleball to launch a referee training Boot Camp.

The most controversial paddle in pickleball history

After last week’s controversy regarding the potential use of performance-enhancing drugs in professional pickleball, one might think that we're done with the whole conversation about cheating in the sport, right?

Well, like my ex used to say: “Not so fast!”. Turns out we’re not. Last week, DJ Young was allegedly banned from using a CRBN paddle in a PPA tournament, setting off alarms for all pickleball players. Apparently, 60% of the paddles manufactured by CBRN fail deflection tests, which gives players an unfair advantage.

I’m using words “apparently” and “allegedly” not because I enjoy speaking like a first-year law student, but because the PPA has yet to make an official statement on the subject. So far, DJ Young broke the news on his podcast and CBRN issued a statement contradicting Young’s story.

All I can say is, can the PPA stop giving us the silent treatment? It brings back too many memories.

I miss you, Caroline.

A tennis prodigy turned pickleball professional

Christian Alshton was not a regular tennis player: he was a U.S. junior top 10 as a 16 year-old and 18 year-old. He won a college championship with the University of Chicago, and pursued a serious career in professional tennis.

But it all changed when he met Anna Leigh Waters, who introduced him to a real sport: pickleball. To Christian, it was love at first sight.

Last week, he got a bronze medal in the Austin Onix Showdown after beating players like Jay Devilliers and Collin Shick. His only loss was against Ben Johns, though that’s just like Thanos’ snap: inevitable.

Is Alsthon pickleball’s next promise? It seems likely.

More referees to enter the game!

Referees are 100% necessary to the sport as they 1) enforce rules and 2) they are the ones we can blame when we lose a game we definitely deserved to lose.

Now, thanks to an USA Pickleball Boot Camp, we’ll see more referees in local courts as Level 1 referees will be trained to eventually become registered referee trainers. Later, after finishing the Camp, these referees have to return home and start their own referee training program.

In other words, it’s a Russian doll of referees. And it works.

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