September 8, 2026
Viewers of Professional Pickleball Association matches see his work regularly on-screen. His statistics make the matches even more entertaining.
Jim Ramsey is the PPA’s numbers man.
Jim gives the broadcasters the statistics that become the graphics you see. Every stat from how many shots were in a rally, the most unforced errors in a match, most career gold medals, most triple crowns, anything Jim finds interesting. He passes along statistics that he knows from his vast experience in sports producing that will enhance the broadcast.
The 65-year-old watches matches while sitting in a recliner in his den in Charlotte, NC. Not bad work if you can get it, especially when you love stats and pickleball.
“I’ve done more than one thousand games this way, and I can keep up with several categories in real time,” Jim tells me. “When I get a significant stat like a 100-shot rally, I'll text it to Michelle McMahon and Dave Fleming in the booth, and they work it into their commentary. I really enjoy contributing to the broadcasts.”
The announcers are appreciative.
Dave said, “Jim finds nuggets that bring numerology to life in the broadcast.”
“Jim is awesome,” Michelle told me. “He’s so helpful in letting us know who’s done what. For a while we didn’t have any information on the players. Jim is such a great resource for us.”
Jim clearly loves the gig.
“I am dedicated to shining a light on an underserved area in Pro Pickleball: Statistics,” he says. “I like being able to support or refute a perception or piece of conventional wisdom by using the specificity of statistics. Sometimes I will write an article (for his Facebook group) to help recreational players play better, using pro statistics to illustrate a general point.”
Jim didn’t apply for the job. The PPA sought him out.
“I was watching a tape-delayed broadcast of the US Open from Naples [in 2022] on CBS Sports Network. I noticed there were no stats in the broadcast, like we see across the bottom of the screen in football, basketball and baseball. As a pickleball player I was curious, so I chose some stats such as length of rallies, third shot drops and drives, and clean winners, and logged a couple of matches to see what was really happening. I posted those findings in two very popular groups on Facebook, and somehow it caught [PPA CEO] Connor Pardoe's attention. Hannah Johns [the PPA’s Senior Chief Editor and a reporter for the PPA Tour] contacted me and hired me right after that; she is my supervisor. I was surprised and excited when the PPA contacted me. I was happy I'd be able to stay involved in sports broadcasting.”
Jim joined the PPA four months after retiring from TV sports producing. He spent 25 years in the TV business, including stints at stations in Sacramento, Dallas, and the NBC News Channel.
“Spending most of my career as a TV Sports Producer flowed easily into becoming the PPA Tour's statistician and broadcast researcher,” Jim says. “Watching and taking notes (logging games) to edit highlights involves keeping the ‘stats and facts,’ knowing what is interesting and important, and presenting that info in a clear and concise way for broadcast. My background made it easier for me to provide various stats, records and notes for the PPA Tour's announcers, writers, social media, marketing, and other staff.”
Jim works 20 to 25 tournaments a year. He prepares a preview a week before each one. It is emailed to about 30 PPA staffers, including the broadcasters, graphics department and upper level staff. On Fridays during tournaments, he prepares a weekend preview. During any day of a tournament, he is on call for stat inquiries, usually from the broadcasters. On Championship Sunday, Jim texts the broadcasters notes on the fly. On Mondays he writes a “Significant Stats” post for the Tour’s website. On Fridays following tournaments, all the gold medal stats appear in Jim’s Facebook group, “Pro Pickleball Stats.”
Asked for some of his favorite stats, Jim says, “Tyra Black and Eric Oncins having no errors on serves, returns and third shots (i.e., keeping those shots "in play") in the 2026 Mixed Doubles Final in Sacramento that went five games.”
Think about that. Black and Oncins did not commit one error on those shots in five games.
Other stats Jim especially likes: “Federico Staksrud earning at least one medal in all 23 tournaments in 2024, and 26 consecutive tournaments overall.
“Dekel Bar's 33 clean winners (no let cord or opponent's paddle) in the 2025 Red Rock Open is the most by any player in a Mixed Doubles or Gender Doubles final since the start of 2022.”
Although the cliché is that “Records are meant to be broken,” Jim thinks some pickleball records may never be broken.
“Anna Leigh Waters’ 2023 season could become the all-time landmark,” he said. “Fifty gold menals (15 in singles, 18 in doubles, 17 in mixed) out of a possible 54. She had 14 Triple Crowns in 18 tournaments. Pure domination.”
Jim says Staksrud medaling in 26 consecutive tournaments is “Ripken-esque,” because very few players play every tournament, much less reach the podium in all of them.
The PPA’s stat guy grew up in Greenwich, CT.
“I grew up a baseball fan first,” the lifelong Mets fan tells me. “Stats, records and history are embedded into baseball more than any other sport. You learn the relevance of numbers like 60, .300 and 714 right away.”
He first played pickleball in 2017 at a YMCA.
“I was shooting baskets in the gym and people were playing on the other side of the partition,” Jim says. “I heard three number scores, laughter, and the pop of balls hitting paddles so I checked it out. It looked fun and I was intrigued.”
He and his wife, Nancy, play pickleball three or four times a week. Both are 3.75 players.
Jim says he knows that someday a computer-based company will “swoop in with the ability to provide instant, up-to-the-moment stats.
“When that happens, I will happily hand off the baton and be proud that I served a useful role in the growth of the PPA Tour.”
He certainly has done that, while making the matches even more entertaining.
In case you are wondering, when Jim is playing pickleball, he does not count the number of shots during rallies or keep any other stats in his head.
Thoughts of the week, not all pickleball
· I realize there is much debate these days about which pickleball to use, between the Franklin X-40, Lifetime, Selkirk among others, but as a rec player I couldn’t care less as long as the damn thing bounces high enough.
· In a rec match this week I hit four or five lobs, all but one resulting in winners, including the final point, and my opponents were not happy. They grudgingly tapped paddles at the net and their smiles seemed forced. Early into playing pickleball I wondered if there is such a thing about excessive lobbing. So I asked several top players and instructors and they all said no and that players should learn how how defend lobs. They said lobs don’t work against players at the 4.0 level and higher. Of course, use common sense if one of your opponents is immobile due to age or injury or your team is ahead like 10-2 and it’s rec play, I’m not talking tournaments here. But if your opponents are healthy, and the game is close, as ours was (we trailed 7-2 at one point), lobs are part of pickleball. They don’t even work most of the time, they either go out deep or are too low and are smashed back. I know some players who despise being lobbed on and don’t play against frequent lobbers. That’s their choice and fine in my opinion.
· Michigan beating heavy underdog Western Michigan on a last-second Hail Mary caused a major controversy. I feel bad for Western Michigan fans but I think they got the final call right. The NBC-TV clock showed time expired on the previous play, in which a pass was touched by a defender after he stepped out of bounds. However, the video review crew watched the play from an angle not shown during the broadcast. That angle appeared to back up the decision to give Michigan one more play. It resulted in a 47-yard touchdown and gave Michigan a 13-12 win in Kyle Whittingham’s debut as the Wolverines head coach.
· The two-quarterback system might be good for some use in the regular season, but have you ever seen a team win a National Championship while consistently rotating QB’s? I am not talking about bringing in a running type QB in certain situations, but rather switching QB’s every series or every other series. It does not work in the long run. Quarterbacks don’t get into the rhythm and flow of the game. Iowa rotated two QB’s in Saturday’s 40-0 romp over Northern Illinois by playing them multiple series at a time. It worked, but they were playing against an inferior team. I don’t think it would work against a strong defense.
· I chuckle when I see a college football player on the home team do the “hush” sign to the crowd after scoring a touchdown. He is telling his own team’s cheering fans to be quiet. Don’t players know that the hush sign is meant to be used on the road when the crowd is against you? Do these guys know where they are playing?
· I love courtroom dramas, real or fictional, and 1982’s The Verdict is still my favorite and I paid a few bucks to stream it the other night. Paul Newman stars as a struggling alcoholic lawyer who takes on the powerful Boston Archdiocese in a medical malpractice case. Newman is brilliant, as are co-stars James Mason and Jack Warden, one of the greatest character actors ever. Lindsay Crouse nearly steals the key scene in her five minutes of testimony as the surprise witness. Best courtroom movie ever.
· If you like comedian Jeff Ross you will love his Netflix special. It is hilarious and poignant. Known for being the roastmaster on Comedy Central roasts, he is nothing like that in this 90-minute standup show in a Broadway theatre. Ross takes a deep look at his family and is an open book about his career and personal life, including his bout with cancer.
· After sustaining a rotator cuff impingement while hitting an overhead five weeks ago, I had a cortisone shot and took a month off. I returned to playing 10 days ago and stupidly played eight consecutive days (I couldn’t help it) and aggravated it while following through on serves this past Saturday. The pain was bad enough that I had to quit in the middle of a match. Now I’ve shut it down completely until the pain is 100% gone, not 80 or 90% as it had been.
· While I am not going to play, I just have to dink against my garage wall.
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