By Dayne Gingrich, Senior Pickleball Pro

With the emergence of so many new players entering the game, both young and older, the sentence, “I’m going to become a professional” continues to get thrown around.

We have young 4.0-4.5’s that believe they should be turning pro and older players who are about to turn 50 that think the Senior Pro scene is for them before winning a single tournament at their current level.

The amount of players who believe they should “turn pro” is mind-boggling and quite bluntly, delusional.

The top young pros make the game look so easy, that the new players entering the amateur scene believe all they have to do is drill for a few months and they’ll be winning at that level too. And we now have players who call themselves “pro qualifiers.” Isn’t that just code for, “5.0 amateurs?”

If those qualifiers make the main draw and lose first round, are they now Professional PB players? What’s wrong with calling yourself an amateur? Why are players so fixated on using the Pro word so often?

I qualified for three young pro PPA main draws as a senior pro, but I’d never consider myself a young touring pro. Should I have? Dammit, I missed out on sponsorship opportunities 😂.

The senior pro scene may be even worse.

There’s a belief that simply turning 50 is the prerequisite for turning senior pro. What happened to dominating the lower levels first? What happened to grinding your way up, little by little before thinking the professional tour is where you should be?

I’m truly fascinated by the reason 50+ players need the Pro title next to their name, even when they’re getting bounced 0-2 in senior pro events. Wouldn’t it make more sense to play amateur events, where that they can actually win matches?

Pickleball is the only sport on the planet where you can “pay to play” and then call yourself a pro. Entering professional events doesn’t make you a professional.

Why are players (at all levels) so blind to how difficult the pro level is and delusional in thinking they’re good enough to win at that level before winning multiple tournaments at their own level?

In the system we have, there are no real qualifications to “turning pro,” so my questions are most likely unanswerable. If you can pay, you can play.

In YOUR opinion, what makes somebody deserving of calling themselves a professional PB player?

Dayne Gingrich is an accomplished senior pro and author of the best-selling book, Pickleball Mindset. Pickup a copy here.