Pickleballers

Tama Shimabukuro: Pickleball's Newest Superstar on the Atlanta Run That Changed Everything

Tama Shimabukuro is a 15-year-old professional pickleball player who became an overnight sensation after reaching the singles final at the Atlanta Slam, finishing fourth in men's doubles, and earning the full-throated backing of an entire crowd that couldn't stop chanting his name. In this episode, Tama calls in with Roscoe and Jared just days after his historic Atlanta run to break down what that week actually felt like from inside the storm. They cover the crowd moments, the mental game, and how a kid from Hawaii ends up on the sport's biggest stage. 🧢 Pickleballers Hat: https://shop.thekitchenpickle.com/products/pickleballer-snapback?variant=58191198781521 Add us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pickleballers https://instagram.com/thekitchenpickleball https://instagram.com/roscoebellamy https://instagram.com/jpaulthechef Timestamps: 1:00 — Tama on life after Atlanta 1:34 — Was it an out-of-body experience? 2:09 — The crowd, the chants, and the chaos 4:03 — The MJ shrug explained 6:25 — Messages flooding in after the run 6:56 — Breaking down the Fed match 8:48 — Is he actually that calm, or just built different? 10:14 — Was the breakout a surprise? 11:15 — Background: skateboarder to pickleball 12:36 — Self-taught: 10 hours of rec a day 14:16 — Life on the road with Mama Tama 17:08 — Sponsorship and partnership questions 18:19 — Pros he studies, dream doubles partners 20:41 — Fan Q&A 22:19 — Advice for young players 23:48 — Toughest opponent so far 24:26 — Message to new fans

Anna Bright: Saying No to Anna Leigh, Girlies Breakup, and Pickleball's Biggest Personality | S3 E10

Anna Bright is the #2 ranked women's pickleball player in the world, an MLP champion, and one of the sport's most magnetic personalities — a Cal Berkeley graduate who went from Pacific Crest Trail solo hiker to professional athlete in under a year. In this episode, Anna sits down with Roscoe and Jared to pull back the curtain on her journey from junior tennis to the top of pickleball, the business decisions that defined her career, and the personal dynamics that come with competing at the highest level. The conversation is candid, funny, and surprisingly raw — exactly what you'd expect from someone who's never been afraid to say what she thinks. Anna breaks down the story behind "The Girlies" — her viral brand partnership with Rachel Rachel Rohrabacher — and what it was like to walk away from one of pickleball's most beloved duos. She opens up about the game-theory moment that led her to reach out to Anna Lee Waters, including the part nobody knew: she'd already said no once before. Anna also gets into the tension between her fiery on-court persona and the content creator she's becoming off it, why yoga and breath work have quietly transformed the last six months of her life, and what she actually thinks about the yelling controversy that made this podcast feel like it might never happen. Delivered by @DoorDash! 🚗 Pickleballers Hat: 🧢 https://shop.thekitchenpickle.com/products/pickleballer-snapback?variant=58191198781521 Add us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pickleballers https://instagram.com/thekitchenpickleball https://instagram.com/roscoebellamy https://instagram.com/jpaulthechef Timestamps: 0:00 - Start 1:02 — Welcome Anna Bright 1:46 — Clearing the Air: The Kate Twitter Moment 4:01 — Growing Up in Fort Worth & Junior Tennis 8:42 — Fractured Back at 13 & High School Reset 12:50 — The College Recruiting Process & Choosing Cal Berkeley 17:42 — The Pacific Crest Trail: Solo, 2,500 Miles, 113 Days 24:19 — How Pickleball Found Her 30:49 — Meeting James Ignatowich 36:25 — Building a Brand: The Rise of The Girlies 46:19 — How Playing Full-Time Changes Your Relationship With the Sport 52:04 — The Game Theory Decision: Leaving Rachel for Anna Lee 1:01:27 — What It's Like Playing With the Greatest of All Time 1:07:02 — Biggest Threats on Tour 1:09:24 — Pickleball in Asia & the Sport's Global Future 1:13:53 — Most Entertaining Players to Watch 1:15:47 — What She Wants From the Sport Long-Term 1:22:57 — Fan Q&A: Box Breathing, Yoga & Staying Injury-Free 1:25:56 — The Power 50 Ranking Reaction

Roscoe Bellamy: His Dream Was Gone. His Identity Was Lost. Then Pickleball Changed Everything | S3E9

Roscoe Bellamy is the co-host of The Pickleballers and a professional pickleball singles player currently ranked #6 in the world. A product of a tennis dynasty — his father founded Tennis Channel and his mother was a pro player — Roscoe rose to become the number one nationally ranked junior in the United States before a series of devastating injuries derailed his path to the pro tour. In this episode, Roscoe sits down with Jared and longtime friend Wesley Burroughs for a rare look at the man behind the mic. The conversation covers Roscoe's full journey from tennis prodigy to pro pickleball player, the mental shift that unlocked his best pickleball, and what it actually takes to compete at the top of the sport while running one of the game's biggest media brands. Roscoe opens up about the two years he lost to a stress fracture at fifteen — a period that stripped him of his identity as a top junior and sent him through a grueling rehab circuit alongside the likes of Anthony Davis and Mike Trout. Two hip surgeries in college effectively ended his pro dream, and it wasn't until a Hawaii trip with Hunter and Yates Johnson that pickleball entered the picture — leading to a sandbagged Pickleball Slam alongside Matt Manassie just two weeks into the sport. Roscoe also gets into the mental transformation that fueled his breakout 2025 run — winning his first PPA gold in Lakeland, reaching finals in Vegas, and finally finding the "dog" in his game that singles pickleball demands. He shares details on his new paddle deal with Luzz, his plans to launch the Pickleball Collective instructional platform, and his goal of finishing 2026 in the top three in the world. Pickleballers Hat: 🧢 https://shop.thekitchenpickle.com/products/pickleballer-snapback?variant=58191198781521 Add us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pickleballers https://instagram.com/thekitchenpickleball https://instagram.com/roscoebellamy https://instagram.com/jpaulthechef Timestamps: 1:10 — Introducing Roscoe & Wes 2:20 — Growing Up in a Tennis Family 5:00 — Becoming #1 in the Nation at 12 9:12 — Competing Internationally & the Pro Dream 12:01 — The Back Injury That Changed Everything 14:24 — Scholarship to UCLA & Hip Surgeries 17:22 — Mom Discovers Pickleball 20:34 — Going All In on Pickleball 22:35 — Beating Agassi and Roddick for $10k 25:15 — First Pro Tournament in Cincinnati 27:46 — Signing During Tour Wars 29:50 — The Mental Shift That Unlocked His Best Pickleball 32:35 — Finding the Dog: Singles Is a War 35:19 — Goals for 2026 38:32 — Balancing Pro Play, Content & The Podcast 45:46 — Breaking Down the Competition 53:13 — New Paddle Deal with Luzz 54:53 — Life at Home, Family & Girlfriend

James Ignatowich: The PPA Termination, Building RPM from China, and the Future of Paddle Tech

James Ignatowich is a former top professional pickleball player turned paddle company founder, best known for creating RPM — one of the fastest-growing and most talked-about paddle brands in the sport. In this episode, James joins Roscoe and Jared virtually from Shenzhen, China, where he's living full-time and running RPM's operations on the ground. They get into why James has zero regrets about leaving the tour, what it actually takes to build a paddle company from scratch, and why being in China is the biggest competitive advantage in the game right now. James opens up about his PPA termination, calling it suspicious given RPM's early success, and shares a telling detail — he was already mentally checked out of pro play before it happened, more excited about the company than any upcoming tournament. He also reacts to Ben Johns calling him the most talented player he's ever faced, and why that compliment doesn't quite land the way you'd expect. James also gets into the RPM playbook — how they sold 35,000 paddles without enough covers, why dropping the Q2 and V2 simultaneously was a calculated bet, and where he thinks paddle technology is headed. Pickleballers Hat: 🧢 https://shop.thekitchenpickle.com/products/pickleballer-snapback?variant=58191198781521 Add us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pickleballers https://instagram.com/thekitchenpickleball https://instagram.com/roscoebellamy https://instagram.com/jpaulthechef

Alix Truong: How a Teenage Prodigy Became the #1 Vietnamese Pickleball Player | S3 E8

Alix Truong is the number one Vietnamese pickleball player in the world and currently ranked eighth on the PPA Tour. She's one of the sport's most compelling rising voices — a player who came up through every level of the game and is now helping grow pickleball across an entire continent. In this episode, Alix sits down with Roscoe and Jared to talk about her journey from a hyper-competitive Vietnamese-American household in Northern Virginia to the PPA Tour. They get into what it's like being a trailblazer for Asian representation in pickleball, the realities of grinding for points without a consistent partner, and why she sees herself playing well into her senior pro years. Alix breaks down what it was actually like going to Vietnam for the first time — working 13-hour days with no time to explore — and how returning on her own terms completely changed her relationship with her heritage. She describes being treated like a princess at tournaments, playing in front of a world-record crowd of 7,900 people in Đà Nẵng, and why she believes the Asian pickleball scene will eventually surpass the US in sheer scale. Alix also opens up about the burnout she hit during MLP last season, getting traded down to Challenger right after one of her best runs with Eric Johnson, and the heartbreak of losing her committed partner Lane to hip surgery just as they'd committed to building something real together. She's candid about what it means to be the only top-10 player without a consistent doubles partner — and what it's going to take to break through. 🧢 Pickleballers Hat: https://shop.thekitchenpickle.com/products/pickleballer-snapback?variant=58191198781521 Add us on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pickleballers https://instagram.com/thekitchenpickleball https://instagram.com/roscoebellamy https://instagram.com/jpaulthechef Timestamps: 1:04 — Introducing Alix Truong 2:46 — Growing Up Vietnamese-American in DC 5:36 — How She Found Pickleball Through Her Parents' Friend Group 10:18 — First Big Tournaments and the Simone Foundation 11:30 — Coming Up With Anna Leigh, Hayden, and Gabe 13:22 — When Pickleball Stopped Being a Hobby 16:23 — The Hard Conversation With Her Parents About Dropping Out 18:17 — Building Her Brand From Day One 20:09 — Going to Vietnam for the First Time 21:17 — Being a Star in Asia and the 7,900-Person World Record Crowd 23:46 — Sponsor Conversations and the Vietnamese Market Opportunity 27:15 — How Asian Conditions Compare to the US 30:19 — Playing With Her Brother LJ and the Sibling Dynamic 34:05 — Her Ceiling and Competing in Anna Leigh's Era 35:32 — Burnout, Getting Traded Down in MLP, and the Mental Toll 40:42 — Losing Partner Lane to Hip Surgery Mid-Season 43:00 — The Next Generation of Junior Players 46:31 — The Future of Asian Pickleball in 5 Years 51:44 — Learning Vietnamese and Falling in Love With the Culture 54:59 — What Makes Anna Leigh Waters So Hard to Beat 58:41 — 2026 Pickleball Predictions 1:01:05 — The Olympics, Vietnamese Citizenship, and What's Next