Some people poo-poo Pickleball, saying shitty things. Well, at least it ain’t Hyrox. Sorry, couldn’t resist the (s)wipe. 👀 One more…coz we take our Drops seriously. There’s an old saying that if you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself (just not ON yourself - heh!). And that’s the theme of this issue as we showcase people who believe in doing it by themselves.

Starting with Gabe Tardio, PPA Tour’s #2 ranked player who was in SG to launch the Facolos Elite X V2 paddle which he co-designed. (In da Hood) Gabe is only 19! If he was here, he’d be serving NS… and judging by the way he moves on court, he might be in SAF’s Music & Drama Company.

PickleSprout is one-third of the tournaments that PickleGo organises. We spoke to the two ladies behind it + some participants. We also spoke to some folks who were at the Pickleball World Cup at Da Nang (self-funded participation btw) for eye-witness accounts of the experience and the hype. (In da Hood)

Pickleball, like every sport, needs money to grow and money comes from the value created for both brands and the community. We spoke to S’poreans who are committed to this belief and have designed paddles, who believe in dressing up players and who see events as community builders. (In da Club)

Our Kind of a Big Dill are the three boys of That Pickleball Academy who seem to be at the centre of many things Pickleball in SG. What’s in their heads, hearts and long-term plans? We sat down to find out.

With so many Pickleball competitions on the horizon, we asked folks if they had any self-subscribed superstitions and they did not disappoint. (Re-serve)

On that note, we’d like to congratulate Cheng Tai Tiang for hitting an ATP in competition – The Pickle Showdown – and winning a cash prize from us at ATP! (Note: Dear folks who are organising competitions, contact us if you’d like us to sponsor cash prizes for the ATPs hit in your tournaments.)

Last but not least, our photo features which get 94% click-throughs (guess everyone likes to bio 👀 )...we have a bumper spread of hotties/cuties in Holding Court. Along with a good showcase of teachers who play Pickleball (Whaddaya dink?) so bio away. Did you forget it’s Teacher’s Day-month?

After you’ve checked out the photos and skimmed (or horrors of horror, actually read), share-share lah. Subscription is FREE and helps to grow the community.

As always, If you have a Pickleball story, event or person that you’d like us to feature, email us at [email protected] or Whatsapp us at 9633 6586. Also don’t forget we, at ATP, are open to sponsoring ATPs in competitions.

Happy Pickling now! ✌🏼

You may not know them personally or by name but you’d have definitely seen Richie Ong, Aron Ong (brothers btw) and Ho Wei Khai coaching Pickleball at various venues like Expo, Jln Kayu, SRC etc They are the 3 bosses of That Pickleball Academy which is the leading name in Pickleball coaching in SG, synonymous with standards, process, certification and most recently, training Team SG for the Pickleball World Cup at Danang. We chatted with them and the boys are indeed Kind of a Big Dill.

Aron: I’ll admit I'm a hot-headed person. Richie is more chilled and laid back. And Wei Khai is between me and Richie. He's the more PR guy (pointing to Richie) while I'm more the technical guy. Wei Khai, who came in mid-last year, gives us structure with his corporate background. So each of us has a different role.

Wei Khai: The key for us has been constant communication and we speak on the phone or meet up whenever needed, sometimes multiple times a day when issues need to be sorted out quickly. We do disagree and have differing opinions on how to handle certain issues. It’s inevitable so we compromise or take a position knowing we will review and pivot as needed.

Richie: We have different strengths that we combine together. There’s nothing that's difficult to get along with. Everyone can bounce off each other and no one gets offended. Aron has his own strengths. WK has his own strengths. When we combine together, it just works. And we are always trying to grow the sport in SG.

R: I think for now Pickleball is still young. Everybody still enjoys it and the fun side comes naturally. The competitive side will come from other sports. Like a lot of Pickleball players are from tennis, table-tennis, badminton etc…the mixing of these people will bring out their competitive side in Pickleball. Most people start Pickleball for fun and when they want to take it to the next level, they come to us.

A: The decision to go to COEBRA was made within a month. I got the information and within a month I had to throw in the money which was a little daunting especially, when I have a family. My wife wasn't very happy about me being away for 10 weeks. But it had to be done. I felt SG needed to have that proper level of coaching. We (Richie and myself) were already coaching tennis and a lot of our knowledge came from us being tennis coaches. Knowing Collin Johns will be there meant I could learn as much as possible…and he gave me an insight into how Pickleball should be played and how it should be taught.

Collin’s knowledge is immense and even after spending 10 weeks with him, I know the surface of like 5% of his knowledge. It's insane how deep something can be in terms of even fundamentals. It can go wide but it can also go deep. And right now I think we are only at the surface level where everything at the bottom is still unknown to people in Asia. That's why the Americans are dominating us.

I hope we can spend more time with them, even get them into Asia to spend time with all the coaches to properly develop the game within Asia. It’d be good to blend their knowledge with our racquet sports background. Asia has a mix of badminton, table-tennis, squash so all these guys coming from different backgrounds will have different skill sets. Like Tama who has so many different strokes that just confuses opponents. We just watched a 15-year old and a 13-year old play Jack Sock! Things are constantly evolving and it’s fun to watch and hopefully, be part of.

As for how I bring my personality into my coaching…I make it fun. My first priority is to make everything a little more lively, like joke around with the students. Not everyone is ultra competitive so yeah, while the content is important, it’s the vibes I guess that students enjoy that keep them coming back.

WK: My Corporate experience has helped me take a closer look at the end to end of what we do at TPA, the areas where we want the Academy to be best-in-class at, understanding what our clients’ needs are and how we should reposition ourselves to better address those needs. One of the areas that I gravitate towards and am most proud of, is our coaches. We invest a significant amount of our time in our coaches. As a SME, investing in people is probably one of the smartest decisions you can make. Our coaches are our ambassadors, a huge reason why students stay with us. This allows TPA the opportunity to scale up the business.

WK: One of the pivotal moments occurred when I attended a Pickleball clinic in 2022 conducted by Daniel Moore. Daniel is a 9-time USA National Champion in Pickleball who is currently residing in Japan. I had just started playing Pickleball a few months earlier and it was the first time I had attended any form of Pickleball coaching. I was blown away by how good a player Daniel was and how a good coach could make the game so much easier to understand and so much more enjoyable to play. 

The other pivotal moment was this year when we decided to send a team in the U14 category and the Open category for the Pickleball World Cup. That was the biggest and most ambitious project that we’ve attempted as an Academy to date. We’re committed to getting more of SG’s youths to play Pickleball and help establish youth pathways for them to grow and maybe someday even turn pro.

A: I think in terms of business, the first thing that came to mind was paddles, like how difficult it was to get paddles locally in SG then. That's where I kind of went, “Hey, do you want to do this?” (to Richie). So, we brought in a small batch of Legacy paddles and emailed people to get more brands.

R: Pickleball was something new to us as tennis coaches. One day it rained and our parents brought us down to play Pickleball and…we got hooked. Then we saw the whole market. First paddles then coaching. We coached once a week and started with friends and family. They were like, “You’re playing? Teach me”.

A: Pickleball is a weatherproof sport so when people started, everyone played in school halls. We started coaching on Saturdays and Sundays and soon, we decided to get a class going. That's where we took the PPR certs and IPTA etc to make sure we don’t teach anything crazy. From there, we got a lil more confident but I personally wasn’t sure I could teach high performance players which is one of the reasons why I went for COEBRA.

R: Some of our first few students are still taking lessons with us btw. It’s good to see them still playing Pickleball (proud smile).

R: On a day-to-day basis, we coach like 6 hours a day. But when you run a business, there’s a lot to do in the background. Like programming, scheduling classes, organizing coaches, planning events etc. That takes up a lot of time as well. So you can end your day at like 10-11 pm, go back super shagged and you still have to do Admin stuff. That is the tough part about running an Academy.

A: We come from tennis and we just did it ourselves. Once work ends, sport ends. We go back and just switch off and do whatever. But now, it’s about thinking how to feed the coaches, how to programme lessons and how we can structure classes etc. We are working on one that is geared more towards the juniors so that we can see progression. We want them competitive enough to keep up with the other countries after the World Cup. It’s tough and I don’t particularly enjoy it but it has to be done.

Like I had this idea for a June Holiday Camp but I went away for additional coaching lessons and Richie and WK had to hold the fort down which must have been damn tiring. After that, think both of them were pretty burnt out. But they still couldn’t take a break. We are definitely looking to hire another person to do admin and operations.

R: Yeah, to make everything a lil more cohesive coz we know what we are good at, but we need someone to fill in the gaps. There's still a big section of the market that we are missing right now despite us being in this industry for so long. We are not the default go-to especially for high performance. There’s always a lot of things to do but very lil time (sighs).

A: I think it's a little bit of both. We’ve been in this industry for not very long but in SG’s context, it’s long. So fortunately, people like us…we haven’t stepped on anyone's toes and in terms of networking, I think we put ourselves out there in attending events and getting to know the community. It takes a lot of effort to get to that one really helpful person…like Joola.

Joola coming into the picture opened up a whole different network to us. Like Len Yang came in and Collin Johns. Collin is very open and very willing to share. I get first dibs on dates/timings when he comes here but I usually say, “don’t worry, no work”. Just come here and enjoy (of coz, I asked him why do you want to spend a weekend in SG, there’s nothing to do here! Laughs). I just bring him around, have dinner and whatnot. I guess this kind of connection is very hard to get and people would want to take advantage of a super star but I see them as normal people. It’s just being good to people and hopefully, people are good.

R: We have a lot of ideas. It's just…we don't have the time to get it done. Take Joola. Joola is a big player in the market. We are very fortunate to work with them and we can see how they also have a lot of ideas on what they want to do for the community…which we are very grateful for but things are just getting started in SG. There are a lot of things we can do but there are limitations i.e. facilities. I can have an idea that I want to execute next week but I need to make sure there’s a venue for me to book and…bookings are done way in advance, right?

I think if you don’t own a venue, it’s difficult. You cannot host a tournament just like that. All international tournaments are moving towards playing on outdoor surface (like you see in JB). I think SG should move away from playing indoor i.e. on parquet, hardwood. Right now, only TSA has proper facilities…but if the Government doesn’t come in to back the sport, then people will take it upon themselves to make things happen, which makes the Govt/Federation look bad.

A: I mean without giving away plans…that should be the end goal to some extent to have your own facility. WK and I brought up this idea like 2 years back. We wanted to open up a facility but it wasn't feasible. The P&L didn't make sense and there are many limitations in the use of space (sheltered, non-sheltered etc). Plus we don't have the financial backing. You need financial backing and you need connections. Without one or the other, you can’t get anything done.

R: Honestly I think it's about getting the Academy recognized. Like when people think of Pickleball, we are the first name or academy they think of. It's also about grooming players in SG, especially the youth. If we can groom someone from SG and he/she wins a PPA junior tournament…that will be Success for me for sure.

WK: Success for us would be having some of our students come back as Academy coaches because they had so much fun learning how to play Pickleball with us and they believe in the way we do things that they would come back to the Academy to teach the next “generation” of students. In fact, we’re in the midst of training 2 ex-students to be TPA coaches. I’m really excited to have them on board with us as we continue to expand our Academy.

A: For me, selfishly it’s to NOT work. Which means the Academy has to reach a certain point of success where everything is set up right and can deliver solid lessons every time. Then we 3 individuals can have our own little passion projects. Personally, I want to pick and choose students that I coach, students I feel I can work well with…students that I can groom to achieve something.

A: Head coach of a PPA Champion.

R: Pioneer in performance coaching.

WK: I hope the introduction will say that our contributions to Pickleball go far beyond the game itself. That we have been a part of the community in SG that brought people together, encouraged others to pick up a paddle, played a meaningful role in the growth of Pickleball in our community and inspired others to do the same.

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We are happy to see more Pickleball players looking good on court. (Keep it up, folks.) Here’s a selection of players who caught our eye in Sep. 😏

What do you do when you’re 19, the PPA Tour’s World #2 and just co-designed a kickass paddle? Well, you KICK ASS with said paddle which is exactly what Gabe Tardio did at the launch of the at Pickle & Bones on 17 Sep.

Playing everyone from top SG pros, advanced players, two of our Young Lions, media folks and the ever-entertaining Ang brothers (Adrian and Aazon), Gabe did not give an inch and played like a title was at stake, throwing in neat flicks, lightning quick drives, tweeners and even a couple of bodybags (ask Adrian). It was a treat watching Gabe, knowing we were witnessing a future World #1.

In-between photos and paddle signings, we had just about enough time to squeeze in ONE question.

ATP: With the rise of social media, many people think that they ‘know’ you. What is one thing that most people don’t know about you?

Gabe: That I’m very family-oriented…family is one of my main motivations so I try to do better for them. I just got my parents a house! (flashes a big smile)

PickleSprout is one of 3 competitions organised annually by PickleGo (the other two being PickleSlam and PickleBean which just opened for registration btw - register here). We caught the two ladies of PickleGo, Charlotte and Gina, and spoke to some participants on their experience at this year’s PickleSprout.

Charlotte & Gina: I think what we got right from the start was the intention behind PickleSprout.

We actually started with PickleSlam, and through running it, we realised there was quite a big gap in playing levels. There were newer players who wanted to experience competing in a tournament, but might not have felt ready or comfortable entering some of the more competitive events.

That was really why PickleSprout was born – we wanted to create a more welcoming entry point into competition, where newer players could have the chance to compete against people closer to their level, gain tournament experience and hopefully build the confidence to progress further.

What we needed to tweak was how we defined those levels. In the first edition, there were still a lot of NR (Not Rated) players because DUPR was relatively new for many players here. We had to start somewhere, and tournaments like ours also helped get more people playing rated matches so that their ratings could become more established and accurate over time.

After the first edition, though, we realised there was another group that needed its own space. Rather than trying to squeeze everyone into one tournament, Sprout evolved into more of our intermediate-level tournament, and that eventually led to the birth of PickleBean, which caters to the more beginner-level competitive player.

We’re still learning and tweaking every edition. As the Pickleball community grows and playing levels become clearer, our tournaments have to evolve with it too.

Gina: Anything marketing-related, I can pretty much leave in Charlotte’s hands! From the creatives and social media to how we communicate and position the event, I know Charlotte and the team will get it sorted. Everyone works incredibly hard behind the scenes, and because we’ve done so many events together now, there are certain areas where we don’t even really need to discuss every little detail anymore. That trust definitely makes running something of this scale a lot easier.

Charlotte: To be honest, after registration closes, I can pretty much switch off and know that Gina has it covered 😂 A lot of people only see what happens on tournament day, but the amount of planning behind the scenes is crazy. The draws, seeding and match-ups are all carefully thought through. We don’t just randomly generate a draw and call it a day. Gina and our tournament team look at how players are seeded and matched so that the competition stays fair, while still giving everyone an exciting tournament experience.

Then there’s the scheduling. We don’t have the luxury of unlimited courts, so every court and every minute has to be maximised. If a court suddenly becomes available, matches are shifted around so we can keep things moving. During the tournament, you’ll barely see a court sitting empty. That efficiency comes from a lot of planning beforehand.

Outdoor tournaments make things even harder because you can plan everything perfectly and then… it rains. 😂 Suddenly the entire schedule gets thrown off and hundreds of players are waiting for answers. There are always hiccups at an event this size, but most participants probably never realise how many problems are being solved behind the scenes. Gina deals with them quietly and calmly so that, from the outside, everything still feels seamless.

“The standard of play at PickleSprout was definitely higher than I expected, with rallies showing how quickly the Pickleball scene is growing and becoming more competitive. One rally that still replays in my head was when we forced opponents into playing out balls, which gained us six straight points and brought the game to 20‑20, a sudden‑death situation that tested our composure and teamwork. My partner and I plan to pair up again for future competitions, and from here we’ll be focusing on building consistency under pressure, making sure our resets and transitions hold up against stronger opponents.’

– Coco

“The standard of play at PickleSprout was good! I was impressed that people coming from different sports backgrounds or even someone who isn’t very sporty plays the game well! The level of play just gets better and better as the games progressed in the tournament.

I’ve been replaying the game we had in Round 16 for the Men’s doubles. We were trailing by a few points. So my partner and I found a strategy that might work. We implemented the strategy but somehow realised that it was a little too late for it. If we had done it from the start maybe the outcome might’ve been different. In the end we managed to close down the margin but we lost 21-18 in the Round of 16. Overall I would say that we gave our best and we will be stronger the next time!”

– Joshua

“This is our first competition together. Ever ever. Absolute beginners. Madeleine signed us both and here we are. We are beginners so we wanted a space that was safe to explore competitive Pickleball. We learnt about this from IG and, it is professionally-run…the level of play is better than expected. We didn’t do too well but we had a lot of fun. It was good exposure which is all that matters at this point in our Pickleball ‘careers’...it was nerve-wrecking but good practice.”

– David & Madeleine

“We partnered up for this tournament (first time). We met through social games and our playing styles are quite similar. We have great chemistry. We tried out our partnership at PickleSprout and wanted to see where it goes…turned out pretty good. We became Champions in the Women’s Doubles. The event is nice, with people of different ages coming together…it’s not just the joy of winning but sharing the vibes. Competitive but fun.”

– Avery & Celine

“We wanted to try out one of the PickleGo tournaments and PickleSprout is a mid-level/intermediate level so we thought we’d challenge ourselves. It’s pretty well-organised with many sponsors like 100Plus and Gatsby…it’s great!”

– Shannon & Ivan 

“This is our first local event together. A lot of couples say that the emotions get in the way but we try to support each other. Just communicate. We both come from athletic backgrounds…he is from golf and I’m from tennis so we know mindset-wise, we can face frustrations as a pair and know how to calm each other down. We don’t have expectations. We put in the training and hard work and let the results talk. The event is very lively…turnout, good. The organisers did a good job.”

– Danielle & Jeryl

SG made history by being one of 60+ nations that took part in the Pickleball World Cup held at Da Nang, Vietnam from 30 Aug to 6 Sep. While naysayers may say that this isn’t an ‘official’ world cup, having so many nations gather and compete was definitely a boost for Pickleball. SG was represented by the Young Lions (U14), advanced players (Open category) and seniors (+50 & +60) and…we didn’t do too shabbily. We spoke to a few individuals who lived the experience.

“Stepping out onto the courts as Captain of Team SG was an immense privilege. From the pristine courts to the seamless event operations, the standard was world-class in every sense. At that scale, wearing the flag on your chest carries real weight, a mixture of deep pride, sharp focus, and gratitude for how far our sport has come.

What made the tournament unforgettable wasn’t just the level of play, but the atmosphere surrounding it. The arena was electric. Every nation brought a formidable presence, but the SG contingent made sure our presence was felt on every single point. To our cheering squad and supporters in the stands: your voices carried us through tough rallies, long matches, and high-pressure moments. You set the tone for the entire week.

Inside the team, something even more meaningful unfolded. Back home, we often represent different clubs, training groups, and backgrounds. Yet in Da Nang, any individual differences dissolved immediately. What replaced them was genuine team spirit, teammates coaching each other through tight third games, carrying bags, celebrating every winner, and rallying around tough losses. It showed what SG Pickleball can look like when our focus shifts from defending turf to elevating the collective standard.

My biggest takeaway from this tournament is that Da Nang cannot just be a memorable one-off trip. It needs to be the blueprint. If SG wants to consistently challenge the world’s best, we need to bridge the gaps between clubs and prioritize a unified high-performance pathway. Competing, training, and pushing each other on home soil shouldn't be constrained by silos or exclusivity.

This campaign proved what happens when we pull in the same direction. Now, the real work begins back on our local courts. Thank you to everyone who supported us from near and far. Let’s keep building something bigger than any single club.”

– Darryl

“I felt the atmosphere was different as I could see all the top juniors playing for their countries. Obviously, we didn't win any matches…they were just on a different level. However, I want to definitely improve and hopefully, I’d be able to represent SG for the World Cup again.”

– Isaac

“Playing in the team event at the Pickleball World Cup is about much more than competing. It is about the camaraderie we built as teammates, putting the pride of representing our country ahead of individual goals, and learning from the experience of playing alongside and against some of the best players in our age group from around the world. At our age, every tournament is also a reminder that improvement never stops. There is always something new to learn, refine and strive for. We hope our journey shows the younger generation that age should never be a barrier to pursuing excellence, staying active and challenging yourself. If we can inspire even a few youths and juniors to keep playing, keep improving and play with heart for their team and country, that would be a victory in itself.”

– Su Li

“The Pickleball World Cup is one of the largest events I’ve attended. Just witnessing how big it was, how things kept moving and how the people cheered the teams on…it was amazing! Like this youth match between Japan and Korea. Korea was heavily favoured but the Japanese fought all the way and forced a Dreambreaker. The whole stadium was behind the Japanese team and erupted when they won! It was such a memorable moment for me. I came home with a new found passion and motivation to do more for the youths/juniors in SG. I’ve started talking to other academies on having a syllabus, on raising the standards…I’m talking to secondary schools and tournament organisers to have events purely for the youth. Even APP Asia. I’m asking them to create a category for youth when they come to SG. We can do more. And we should.”

– Melvin

“Starting Project Lions and bringing some of the best Pickleball players in SG to the Pickleball World Cup has honestly been one of the most meaningful experiences for me personally. 

When we first started this project, my intention was really very simple. I love this game, and I want to see Pickleball succeed in SG for many, many years to come. And I believe that if we want to make that happen, we need to start creating opportunities for our top players to train, compete and gain valuable experience on the global stage.

Watching our U14 Lions put up such an incredible fight against powerhouses like Australia and Vietnam, and seeing our Open team successfully make it into the knockout stages, really made me feel that all the hard work was worth it.

But beyond the results, what makes me even prouder is knowing that we've taken that first step towards building something bigger than ourselves. We've laid a foundation that I hope future generations of SG Pickleball players can continue to build on, and that one day, representing SG on the world stage will become a dream that more and more young players can work towards.

To our coaches and players, thank you for believing in this project and giving it your all. I'm so incredibly proud of every single one of you. 

And to everyone in the Pickleball community, our donors and sponsors who believed in us and supported Project Lions from day one, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Looking back, it has been so heartening to see how this project has brought so many people together, all because of our shared love for this beautiful game.

This is only the beginning for Project Lions, and I genuinely cannot wait to see how far our Lions can go. MAJULAH SINGAPURA!!”

– Adrian

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To mark Teacher’s Day, we spoke to teachers who play Pickleball and asked them about their passion(s). They passed with flying colours.

1) What's the best Teacher's Day present you've ever received? 

2) How has teaching influenced your Pickleball game?

3) What's a Pickleball memory of yours that you'd be glad to share with your students/others as motivation?

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Pickleball may have started as a game, but for a growing number of people, it has also become an idea worth betting on. Across SG, players are turning their love for the sport into products, events, experiences and businesses of their own. We met a few of these Pickleball entrepreneurs to find out what they see that maybe others don’t. 

When you first meet Jae, he comes across as a soft-spoken person BUT he is someone who is particular about things. For instance, he ‘vets’ people who play his Reclub games to ensure a high standard of play. Imagine our surprise then when we found out, purely by accident, that the man has designed a USAPA-approved paddle AND Pickle ball. Our curiosity was stoked.

PickleMall transformed some of the biggest mall atriums in SG into high-energy Pickleball destinations, where sport, lifestyle, entertainment, and community can come together. How did the idea start and how was it pulled off? We spoke to Jason of StratGeist, the man behind PickleMall.

We chanced upon Picklé Joy Club earlier this year. They offer colorful and expressive Pickleball lifestyle gear (apparel, bags, socks, and accessories) crafted by players in SG. We bought some of their stuff and…decided we should chat.

Hello ATP subscribers, the ladies of PickleJoy have a treat for you: 20% off Picklé Joy Club merch with code ATP20.

Shop here: https://picklejoyclub.co/discount/ATP20

With the slew of Pickleball competitions coming our way (Franklin, OCBC, PickleBean etc), we asked folks if they had any self-subscribed superstitions and they did not disappoint. 🤭

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You’ve reached the end of our newsletter. Share it with a Pickleball friend/loved one/kaypoh. And if you have a Pickleball story or event you’d like us to feature, email us at [email protected] or Whatsapp us at 9633 6586.

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