Pickleball Pros Pose in New Professions for Hilarious 'Don't Trust a Fake' Campaign

Counterfeit paddles are a growing issue impacting player safety and the growth of the sport. A new campaign taps some top pros for a lighthearted look at a serious problem.

Leading industry organizations across pro and amateur pickleball today released a joint statement condemning the proliferation and widespread use of counterfeit paddles.

"This issue has aligned every organization," it reads. "There is no room for counterfeit paddles in the sport."

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Groups involved include:

• APP Tour
• DUPR
• Major League Pickleball (MLP)
• PPA Tour
• The United Pickleball Association of America
• USA Pickleball
• World Pickleball Federation (WPF)

The goal is largely education, conveying the scope of the problem and the real costs to brands and players if left unchecked.

Through this initiative, the pickleball community is working together to educate players, support legitimate manufacturers, strengthen equipment standards, and discourage the sale and use of fraudulent paddles.

Jason Aspes, president of the UPA-A, took to X to put the issue into perspective:

It’s a Billion dollar problem for golf. But for pickleball, we stand 14 feet away from each other. Counterfeits are not tested or certified and can be wildly out of spec. Fake paddles are a serious threat to not just the game, but the safety of the players that love it.

Pros Join In: "Don't Trust a Fake" Campaign

In parallel to this joint awareness campaign, a separate campaign spearheaded by the UPA-A looks to leverage active pros – some of the biggest names in the sport – in a way that's sure to grab some attention.

The campaign – "Don't Trust a Fake" – takes AI composites of top UPA and PPA Tour pros like Andrei Daescu, Kate Fahey, Hayden Patriquin, Tyra Black, and Jack Munro, and reimagines them in professions far, far from the pickleball court.

• Kate Fahey is not a tattoo artist
• JW Johnson is not a certified gemologist
• Hayden Patriquin is not a pyschic
• Tyra Black is not an airline pilot
• Zane Navratil is not an Everest summit leader

Here are just a few of our favorites: