Dennis Dacey, USAPA Board Member in charge of rules, was a speaker at the USAPA Ambassador Retreat in Lake Tahoe, CA. Mr. Dacey shared the pickleball paddle approval process. Here are some facts from my notes… very interesting.
Every new paddle that is submitted to the USAPA for approved play goes to both:
1. Dennis Dacey for his review:
– Follows all rules (Proper dimensions, etc.)
– Surface face review
– Basic deflection test
2. 3rd party testing company out of Seattle, WA for the official deflection test.
Once a paddle passes both of these steps it is accepted for sanctioned USAPA tournament play and listed as such on the USAPA website.
There is no weight limits to paddles, but all fall into the range of 6.5 to 10 ounces.
As of June 2015, there are 42 paddle manufactures with 5-6 pending so the sport is quickly approaching 50 pickleball paddle manufactures! Of those, there are roughly 250 paddle models. So, with 250 models and then toss in the 10 or so color options that some manufacturers offer and players have quite a selection to choose from. 🙂
Dennis Dacey speaking and a pile of approved and not approved paddles for show and tell.