MLP pressure, Asia breakthroughs and pro pickleball workload

Connor Garnett: Investment Banking, Twoey Nation and Why Pickleball Never Stops Evolving

In this week's World Pickleball Podcast, Chris Beaumont sits down with one of the game's most analytical and innovative players, Connor Garnett. Connor's route into professional pickleball is anything but conventional. Before becoming one of the PPA Tour's leading competitors, he worked in investment banking, carefully weighing up the financial realities before deciding to pursue pickleball full-time. The conversation goes far beyond his playing career. Connor explains why every professional player is effectively running a small business, how he built the Twoey Nation brand around his trademark two-handed backhand, and why balancing business opportunities with elite performance is one of the sport's biggest modern challenges. The pair also explore how professional pickleball continues to evolve at remarkable speed, from the rise of young stars such as Tamashiro "Tama" Kaburaki to the tactical arms race that sees new shots constantly appear before opponents find ways to counter them. Along the way, Connor shares stories from hitting with Novak Djokovic at the US Open, discusses why Asia, Europe and North America are beginning to develop distinct playing styles, and explains why pickleball's different balls could eventually become the equivalent of tennis playing on different surfaces. IN THIS EPISODE: * Why Connor left investment banking for professional pickleball * The business reality of being a modern professional player * Building the Twoey Nation brand * The origins of his famous two-handed backhand * What hitting with Novak Djokovic taught him * Why junior players are changing the sport * The tactical evolution of professional pickleball * How different balls and regions are creating different styles of play * Why creativity is becoming pickleball's greatest competitive advantage Whether you're a competitive player, coach or simply fascinated by where the sport is heading, this is an insightful conversation with one of pickleball's sharpest minds. Subscribe to the World Pickleball Podcast for weekly conversations with the people shaping the global game.

The Baseball Training Secret That Could Transform Your Pickleball | Billy Cooke (Max PB)

Former Seattle Mariners draft pick, NCAA National Champion and 5.0+ pickleball player Billy Cooke joins the World Pickleball Podcast to explore one of the most overlooked areas of player development: reaction training. Billy explains how elite baseball has spent decades developing vision, hand-eye coordination and decision-making through small-ball training, and why those same principles could help pickleball players improve their speed at the kitchen line, react faster under pressure and become more consistent in fast hands battles. We also discuss: * Billy's journey from professional baseball to competitive pickleball * Why baseball is often described as a "game of failure" and what pickleball players can learn from that mindset * How reaction time can be trained rather than simply inherited * The science behind small-ball training and visual processing * Why most players don't practise at game speed * How Max PB is adapting proven baseball training methods for pickleball * Whether technology can give players a genuine competitive edge Whether you're trying to move from 3.5 to 4.0 or chasing professional competition, this episode offers practical insights into how better training can lead to better performance. 🎧 Subscribe to the World Pickleball Podcast for weekly conversations with the players, coaches, innovators and personalities shaping the global game. 🌍 Read more at: https://worldpickleballmagazine.com [https://worldpickleballmagazine.com]

The Search for Pickleball's Moneyball Moment | Scott Ross (PEWPEW Analytics)

Most pickleball analytics today can tell you what happened. Very few can explain why. In this episode of the World Pickleball Podcast, Chris Beaumont sits down with Scott Ross, founder of PEWPEW Analytics, to explore one of the biggest unanswered questions in the sport. Has pickleball actually identified the things that matter most when it comes to winning? Football has expected goals. Baseball has on-base percentage. Golf has strokes gained. American football has EPA. What is pickleball's equivalent? Together, Chris and Scott discuss: • Why traditional pickleball statistics often fail to explain results • Whether DUPR's biggest weakness is not the rating itself, but the lack of explanation behind it • How smart courts, AI and player tracking could change the sport • Why most recreational players simply want to know: "How did I actually play today?" • Whether pressure, neutralisation and rally control might prove more important than winners and errors • The search for pickleball's potential Moneyball moment This is a conversation for players, coaches, club owners, sports data enthusiasts and anyone curious about where the next layer of pickleball may come from. Warning: Two sports analytics nerds may occasionally disappear down rabbit holes. Listen now.

MLP pressure, Asia breakthroughs and pro pickleball workload

This week on the World Pickleball Podcast, Chris Beaumont and Gordon Watson break down one of the busiest weeks in global pickleball. They discuss the Panas PPA Asia event in Kuala Lumpur, including standout performances from Xiao Yi Wang, Eu Long, Jamie Wei and teenage sensation Tama Shimabukuro, while also looking at what Nasa Hatakeyama’s remarkable run says about Japan’s emerging depth. The conversation then shifts to Major League Pickleball ahead of the 2026 opener in Dallas, where St. Louis Shock enter as favourites and front-office decisions are becoming almost as important as on-court talent. Chris and Gordo also explore Anna Bright’s revealing behind-the-scenes vlog and what it says about the growing off-court demands facing professional pickleball players, from sponsor obligations to constant travel and content creation. Elsewhere, they discuss: * the competitive balance emerging in Canada’s CNPL * Selkirk’s acquisition of Bread & Butter * the growth of pickleball infrastructure in Australia and the UK * and why the sport increasingly feels like a fully professional ecosystem rather than a fast-growing hobby. Plus: Gordo wins gold in Townsville, Chris questions his own game again, and Lee Whitwell delivers one of the best lines about pickleball psychology you will hear all year.

Caribbean MiLP, MLP Australia, PPA Finals and the Line-Calling Debate

Chris Beaumont and Gordon Watson return for another World Pickleball Podcast roundup, covering the stories shaping the sport across the globe. This week’s episode starts in Trinidad and Tobago, where the Caribbean’s first Minor League Pickleball event is set to launch on May 29, before heading to Australia for a look at the newly announced MLP Australia captains and what a reduced eight-team league could mean for the standard of competition. Chris and Gordo also break down the PPA Finals, the continuing dominance of Ben Johns and Anna Leigh Waters, the rise of players such as Kiora Kunimoto, Sahra Dennehy, Danni-Elle Townsend, Rachel Rohrabacher and Tama Shimabukuro, plus the latest debate around line calling and whether professional pickleball can continue to rely on player self-officiating. The episode also looks at the PPA’s new documentary series, the importance of preserving pickleball’s early history, and WPM’s upcoming Road to the English Open project. A wide-ranging episode on where pickleball is heading, who is rising, and what the sport still needs to fix.