Houston We Have a Problem Part 2: The Pickleball vs Tennis Debate You Didn’t Know You Needed
Dinks On Tap: The Happy Hour Pickleball PodcastShow Notes
What happens when you mix pickleball vs tennis debates, spicy pickleball TV ratings, and a 9-month pregnant woman dinking like a champ? You get an episode that’s equal parts spicy, sweaty, and a little bit unhinged in the best way.
In this episode, we kick things off with our resident spice specialist, Andrew Kole, who casually compares Anna Leigh Waters to Serena Williams and questions if Pickleball TV Ratings are even a thing. (They are. Sort of.)
Then we meet Hugh Zhang, owner of the Houston Hammers in the National Pickleball League. He’s building something bigger, and he’s using pickleball to support veterans, 50+ athletes, and anyone who thinks their best playing days are behind them. Spoiler: they’re not.
And just when you think we’ve covered it all, we introduce you to Sarah, who was competing until four days before giving birth. Yes, really. Dinking for two, and dominating.
We talk about:
The difference between dominating and growing a sport
Whether Serena could crush it on a pickleball court (answer: obviously)
The strange psychology of pickleball player ratings
How the National Pickleball League is rewriting the playbook
And the speakeasy in Houston that may or may not have changed us forever
This one’s big. It’s warm. It’s a little unhinged.
And it’s everything we love about this wild, weird sport.
So grab your drink, hit play, and meet the people who are shaping the future of pickleball, whether they meant to or not.
Cheers,
Casie & Lauren
Dinks on Tap
Craving a speakeasy moment with less controversy and more carbs?
Enoteca Rossa is where we wrapped up our Houston weekend. A glass of Lambrusco in hand, pizza on the way, and zero talk of who’s more dominant on the court.
📍Bel Air, Houston. Come for the carbs, stay for the secret door.
Let’s keep the conversation going! Connect with us:
Instagram: @dinksontap
Facebook: @DinksonTap
Website: dinksontap.com
More from Dinks On Tap: The Happy Hour Pickleball Podcast
How did a game three grown men made up on a badminton court, because a 13-year-old was bored, turn into the thing your group text runs on? We found the kid who complained, and he still can’t believe it either. In this episode, we get into our summer vault, full of conversations, stories, and a little pickleball drama we never got around to airing. We sat down with Frank Pritchard, the bored kid himself, who can answer “When was pickleball invented?” because he was there when his dad, Bill Bell, and Barney McCallum made up the game on Bainbridge Island. We also cover Picklr’s Chapter 11 filing and the “is pickleball dying” headlines that followed, Genie Bouchard’s paddle-tap walkout and what it says about pickleball etiquette, and why the drinks after play keep the pickleball community together. You’ll learn: Why it's called pickleball, and the Pritchard family member who came up with the name A firsthand account of who invented pickleball, from the teenager whose complaining started it What the original pickleball paddle was made of, and which founder designed it The pickleball history most players don’t know, including how scoring and serving used to work Why Frank took a 30-year break from the game, and what brought him back What Picklr’s Chapter 11 filing means for your local club, according to the general manager of the Picklr in DFW How the pickleball business can struggle while the number of people playing keeps growing Why Genie Bouchard skipped the paddle tap, and whether we think she was justified How we won a tournament this summer by giving a screaming team a taste of its own medicine
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Have you ever made it to the front of the paddle line at pickleball open play, only to have your partner dis you because she didn't want to play with "a beginner"?
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