May 18, 2026
In the crowded field of paddle reviewers, many seem to cater to higher-level players. That’s strange, because it has been widely estimated that 80 percent of all rec players are around the 3.5 level.
There is a paddle reviewer going after that intermediate audience and hopes that separates him from the field.
“This was an area in which I thought I could really make a difference for players like me,” says Andrew Clarke, a 39-year-old with a 3.62 DUPR (Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating). Clarke, a self-professed “gear junkie,” has a YouTube channel called “The Pickleball Dad.” It’s gaining in popularity. In eight months he has nearly 4000 subscribers and has churned out about 185 videos. Clarke does his reviews from his home in Tega Cay, South Carolina, where he lives with his wife Nicola and their two young daughters.
“You don’t need to be a pro to enjoy the best pickleball paddles on the market,” Clarke says. “At the same time, a 5.0 player can handle a lot more than I can and brings a difference perspective to their review. I also tend to be more price sensitive. If something is more than $150, it better stand out from the crowd.”
He has a good sense of humor. One video, titled, “Your Wife Asks You to Warm Up the Oven,” shows Clark dinking against the oven.
Unlike many younger reviewers, Clarke says he’s unafraid to give a paddle a negative review if he thinks it isn’t good.
“But as a content creator it is a lot more fun and exciting for an audience to hear about a great paddle,” Clarke says. “So I tend to focus on what is fun and exciting to me.”
Regarding Selkirk’s recent purchase of Bread and Butter Pickleball, Clarke thinks Selkirk realized that the smaller company had a good thing going. He recently compiled a list of the main paddles used by 20 reviewers, and only one was using a Selkirk or JOOLA as their main paddle.
“People (and reviewers) are continuing to realize they have a choice. And they are choosing not only performance, but also value, at least at the enthusiast level,” Clarke says.
Clarke grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs. “I had small pockets of friends in every group since I liked everything from playing sports to competing on our robotics team,” he says. He played many sports recreationally. “I was always the jack of all trades, master of none.” He was especially into what he calls “aggressive rollerblading. Think halfpipes and grinding on rails.”
Clarke has a marketing degree from West Chester University and has worked in the tech industry most of his career. He now manages a customer success team. His job allows him to be a stay-at-home dad and find the time to do paddle reviews. He played a lot of ping-pong before first playing pickleball in the summer of 2024.
“I loved that [pickleball] was, in my mind, a version of ping-pong on a larger scale,” Clarke says. “I had tried tennis in the past, but it was tough to find the right partner in terms of skill level. The pickleball community is the main reason I keep coming back. I have met so many wonderful and supportive players along my journey in the sport. You can always find a competitive match and the vast majority of people are open and willing to just jump into a game with you. I think this is tougher to do in sports like tennis.”
He says he’s always been a gear junkie. “I think part of the fun of any sport is getting to have some cool equipment to use while playing. Pickleball is great because the paddles aren’t too expensive. So even a recreational player can have a small army of paddles for under $500. This barely gets you a Walmart set of golf clubs,” Clarke says.
He sees the large number of new paddle companies coming into the space. “They are bringing affordable options and high-quality products,” Clarke says. “There seems to be something about Gen 4 foam materials that makes it easy to manufacture a paddle that plays well. This makes it harder to stand out in the market.
“Players are demanding long-lasting grit technology, and companies are racing to get a seat at the table. Since UPA-A allows for grittier textures while only looking at the actual spin a paddle produces to certify (outcome-based) and some early adopters of the technology could certify with them, we are reaching a point where USAP may be forced to modernize its testing protocols, or we’ll see UPA-A emerge as the true gold standard for manufacturers who want to push the limits of grit technology,” Clarke says.
He’s not expecting to get rich doing paddle reviews, but that’s not why he does it. “At my level it’s tougher,” Clarke says. “I am hoping to grow the channel and to be able to help support our family goals, but for now I am focused on keeping it fun and engaging. I’ve earned enough to reinvest in paddles and have upgraded my tripod and camera. It all goes back into the channel.
“As the channel grows, I want to keep a pulse on my viewers and continue to be able to engage with as many people as possible. In terms of content, I will focus on what is fun and exciting to me. Right now, I am loving doing paddle reviews and I think there is an opportunity to reshape how those are made. I’m also willing to pivot to other types of pickleball content if I think it would be fun to watch. I have already started getting tips from much better players than myself to try to improve. Collaborations that help me level up my game benefit me twice over.”
The Pickleball Dad isn’t it this for any other reason than he likes gear and loves talking about it, with the hope of helping fellow players, especially the typical intermediate rec player. But it wouldn’t bother him if he also eventually proves that “Father Knows Best.”
Thoughts of the week, not all pickleball
· It remains to be seen how if at all the typical pickleball player will be impacted by Selkirk’s recent acquisition of Bread and Butter Pickleball. Selkirk obviously saw that the smaller company had a good thing going. The one thing that would hurt consumers is if many of the big paddle companies bought smaller ones, as fewer choices are never a good thing for buyers. I asked JOOLA spokesman Corey Bockhaus for his reaction to the Selkirk deal and if JOOLA is thinking about buying a smaller company. He told me, “We see continued investment across the pickleball industry as a positive sign for the sport overall. At JOOLA, our focus remains on innovation, supporting athletes and communities, and continuing to grow the game globally. Right now, our priority is continuing to build the JOOLA brand and invest in the long-term growth of pickleball.” I asked the owner of 11624 Pickleball, David Groechel, for his thoughts. “I am happy for Doug and the Bread and Butter team. I don't think much will change for consumers after reading the press release outside they may not get the "special" feeling of working with a family-owned company now,” Groechel said.
· Speaking of Selkirk’s purchase of Bread and Butter, I bet if I asked 100 players at my pickleball club if they know about it, 90 to 95 would say no. Most rec players I know are just not paddle nerds. They never watch a paddle review or do deep research. They couldn’t tell Chris Olson from Jimmy Olson. They demo a paddle or borrow a friend’s, buy it, play with it for a long time, and never think about it again until it becomes seriously scraped up.
· The other day one of my sons sent me an audio clip of my voice being used briefly in the current Netflix documentary on former professional wrestling impresario Vince McMahon. I had no clue I was in it. In 2020 while watching a Netflix doc called “Trial by Media,” I saw myself in 1987 chasing down an angry prosecutor outside New York State Supreme Court after he lost the famous case of the subway vigilante, Bernhard Goetz. I reported thousands of stories during my 20 years on TV news in New York and don’t remember many of them. I do remember that there was never a dull moment, from interviewing the “Son of Sam” serial killer David Berkowitz to at least a half dozen interviews in the 80’s and 90’s with a real estate developer named Donald Trump.
· RIP John Sterling. The longtime Yankees radio voice died on May 4th at 87. Although I am not and never was a Yankees fan, Sterling was always entertaining and his home run calls made me laugh. People of a certain age may remember that before he took the Yankees job he was a very good sports talk show host in New York.
· I get asked regularly about my favorite pickleball court shoes and after trying about 10 brands I recently discovered Montis. I wear a size 14 2E and Montis fit perfectly. Full transparency: if you have a very wide foot they will be too narrow. You’ll be fine if you have a standard width or 2E. I like the sock-like inner midfoot covering, the great ankle support, the cushioning and the looks. Montis is owned by two brothers who love pickleball and the shoes were designed with input from pro players. I bought two pairs before agreeing to be an ambassador. Use code MS10 and a pair of Montis will cost $107.10 including shipping.
Need a solid new foam paddle at a great price? Check out Hudef’s Supercritical foam series. Use code MS10 to knock the price down by 10 percent. This is a company that does not charge more than $169.99 for any paddle, and that’s before the discount. The specs are the same as some competitors’ paddles that cost $250 and more.
