March 5, 2025
A popular pickleball instructor in Southern California says he was “A knucklehead and a half” when he was a kid, and, “A poorly watched middle child that was constantly finding trouble.”
His name is Javier Djeu. His last name is pronounced “Jeu,” like “Au Jus,” or, he says, “Like you’re trying to say the word ‘shoe’, but you’ve had too much to drink.”
The 33-year-old native of Duarte says his youthful immaturity led to a realization that would change his life. “While I was looking for trouble I always found solutions to things. Had a hard time in school and was always told I was bossy as a kid.”
Javier was a terrific tennis player and began giving lessons when he was just 16. “Turns out I just loved to teach and luckily for me, I had people later in life tell me I was good at it and [that] helped me realize my potential.”
Javier is now one of the most sought after pickleball instructors in and around his community of Sierra Madre, 13 miles southwest of Los Angeles. He is also an ambassador for the sport’s growth. So many of his first-time pickleball students have grown to love the sport and have become regular players that new courts were built in the area.
“One of my biggest passions is to create community and get people active,” Javier says. “Pickleball has allowed me to do both by teaching and helping build infrastructure in the community.
“What started with 10-15 people one time per week quickly exploded. I gave the playing bug to so many [nearby] cities, we began to encourage the surrounding cities to start to build courts. As of today, I’d humbly say I’ve helped build directly and indirectly 35 to 40 courts in my area. On a weekly basis I get a call or text asking me my opinion on a new build for a city, HOA, private home, you name it. I get criticized a lot for not charging for the calls, but I do it for the love of the game.”
Djeu (standing in red jacket) with his La Salle boys tennis team, says the job is a small part of his pay and a labor of love
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Javier also loves his fulltime day job, coaching boys and girls tennis at La Salle College Preparatory High School in Pasadena. The boys team went 10-0 in the regular season last year and is the California Interscholastic League’s defending champ. The school is just a block from Javier’s home, where he lives with his wife, Tiffani, and their children, a three-year-old boy and one-year-old daughter. He met Tiffani through her mother, who was one of his tennis students.
Javier played tennis in high school and at a community college. He was a tennis pro and instructor for many years at a private country club and city parks. In 2019 a Duarte parks and recreation department official asked him to teach pickleball. His first reaction was typical of some tennis players. He said, “What? That sport for old people?” He thought there was no way he could make a living teaching pickleball, but decided to look into it. He drove straight to a park where he knew a group of seniors would be playing.
“I expected to play for 15 minutes and leave. “I stayed for an hour and a half and I was hooked. I bought a 40 dollar paddle and continued to join them on a weekly basis for the next few weeks and I got a hang of the game.”
Javier now has a 4.5 DUPR (Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating). When not coaching high school tennis or home with the family he’s giving pickleball lessons. Asked how he pays the bills, he says, “That’s always a funny question I get asked and never really knew how to answer. Heck, I have no idea how I pay the bills to honest. I went from working at a corporate owned country club to teaching at the parks. But I tell people I honestly do a bit of everything. Yes I coach high school tennis, but that is a small percentage of my pay and it’s a labor of love. Everything else I do supports my efforts to be able to [coach in high school]. On average I teach between 60 and 100 pickleball players per week. I own most of my paddle sales to my community, run leagues and anything else I do to give my clients the feeling of being a part of a club.”
Javier makes some money selling paddles, both regular ones and trainers. “With my background in club management and running pro shops, I kept a lot of relationships when I left my last club,” he says. “Then, as I dove deeper into the pickleball world, I opened up wholesale accounts as well as ambassador partnerships with any brand that my students/ client base was interested in.”
It’s estimated that 75 to 80 percent of all rec players are rated 3.5, so I asked Javier what he’d say are their biggest weaknesses. “Easy, jack of all trades, master of none,” he replied in an email. “They want to work on everything at one time. Let’s be real, no one takes the time to drill and they just play 10 rec games a day. I teach all of my students the simple idea of practice while you play. Pick one thing (drive to the middle, drive it at the right side, whatever) and stick to it the whole game, even if it’s a bad idea. People care too much about the scoreline and not enough about improving.”
Javier also spreads the pickleball love by being an administrator for 11 Facebook groups. The two largest are the Pickleball Paddle Reviews group, which has nearly 29,000 members, and the Competitive Pickleball Players and Coaches group, with 12,300 members.
Asked what he hopes to be doing in 10 years, Javier says, “Still doing this. I've really enjoyed being in the pickleball space and what I've been able to do for the sport. But I would like to find my way into a space where I could have a larger influence. USAPA, PPA, DUPR, UTR, whatever. I've followed the growth for the past five years, I've studied the history of them all, and I think there's so many ways to take the sport to the next level with the grassroots in mind while still elevating the pro game to the international spotlight.”
And the guy who by his own admission was a “knucklehead and a half” as a kid says he can still be a knucklehead when he plays or teaches. But now, in a good way.
“It’s my shtick,” Javier says. “I have a blast having fun with my students. Whether it’s puns, dad jokes, whatever. I love having fun and not taking things too seriously.”
Thoughts of the week, not all pickleball
· RIP Gene Hackman. One of the greatest actors ever was found dead at 95 on February 26th at his home in Santa Fe along with his wife, pianist Betsy Arakawa, and one of their dogs (results of autopsies and toxicology reports are pending). The two-time Academy Award winner played good guys and bad guys in a style that made his characters incredibly believable. Hackman was also one of his generation’s busiest actors, having appeared in more than 80 films.
· I don’t think pickleball paddle reviewers should accept free apparel from paddle companies, much less wear them in their videos. I understand that it would be too expensive to pay for the hundreds of paddles they receive. But if you wear a cap or T-shirt on camera, it seems like you’re a fan or supporter of the company. I think it’s a conflict of interest and bush league. Reviewers who receive free clothes from paddle companies should tell them to stop sending any freebies other than paddles.
· People who leave shopping carts near their cars instead of walking a few feet to put them in the cart holding space, or better yet return them to the store, are inconsiderate or lazy or both. Unless you have an infant with you or a disability, it would help the store worker who has to deal with all kinds of weather not to have to retrieve carts from all over the parking lot.
· In rec play I’m sure I’ve played countless balls that have been barely out. I don’t call it out unless I’m 100 percent certain. If I’m 99 percent sure it’s out I play it. Hey, it’s only rec play and it keeps the rally going.
· You couldn’t pay me enough to watch “The Bachelor”. However I’m embarrassed to say I did watch every episode of “The Golden Bachelor.”
· When I read a post on Facebook that I think is both ridiculous and has an angry undercurrent, I don’t argue with the poster. I block him or her. Life is too short to try to convince someone who you just know will never admit they’re wrong.
· Arguing with stubborn folks online is a little like trying to convince a pickleball player who stays back the entire game to play near the NVZ.
Hudef is giving away a new paddle to the first person who emails the correct answer to one question at the end of my first blog of every month. This month’s winner will receive the Kevlar/carbon fiber Hudef Viva Pro Gen 3 paddle, valued at $169.99.
The question: In my February 18th blog, I used a catch-phrase from Seinfeld. What was the exact phrase?
Email your answer to sales2@hudefsport.com. The winner will be contacted by email.
Remember, if you buy any Hudef paddle that costs $169.99, use my discount code MS30 to knock down the price by 30%, to $119.99. Any less expensive paddle, the code is MS15, giving you 15% off.
