The PPA Tour Is Instituting Stricter Cheating Penalties for Repeat Offenders

The new policy involves in-match penalties, post-match video review, and a running tally of offenses that can culminate in league-level consequences such as greater fines and even suspensions

Beginning this week at PPA Newport Beach, pro pickleball players on the PPA Tour will be held to higher standards when it comes to calling their own lines during live play.

An email went out to contracted players over the weekend detailing the new rules. And UPA Pro Player Committee (PPC) President Zane Navratil took to social media to spread the news.

"We just put a huge dent in the cheating problem in pro pickleball," Zane said in a video.

The new anti-cheating policy was put in place to increase player accountability during games and deter continued bad calls by repeat offenders – an open issue in pro pickleball.

The new rules involve in-match penalties, post-match video review, and a running tally of offenses that can culminate in league-level penalties such as greater fines and even suspensions.

For now, this remains a temporary solution while the league continues to explore additional solutions on a larger scale. The policy pertains only to courts where challenges are not available and is not applicable to Major League Pickleball matches, only those that are part of the PPA Tour.

In-Match Penalties

Utilizing on-court referees and video replay systems, players can call for a point review during a game, a proven model the PPC has adapted from the Point Penalty System used professional tennis.

• 1st Offense: Warning
• 2nd Offense: Point penalty
• 3rd Offense: Game penalty
• 4th Offense: Match penalty

If a player is found to make multiple bad calls during a game, it will result in escalating penalties, including a possible forfeiture of the match.

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Post-Match Video Review

For more egregious calls, players can now appeal via email to the UPA's recently instated Fining Committee for a post-match review, relying on the streamed video recording taken from each match.

According to the league email circulated to players:

It will cost $100 for the fining committee to review the call, and if the call is unanimously agreed upon to have been inaccurate, the playing making the call will be fined $250 (first offense) and the player initiating the challenge will be refunded the $100.

The new policy is designed to do more than catch the odd bad call or two.

Beginning at PPA Newport Beach next week, the Fining Committee will keep a rolling record of bad calls by individual players.

It's unclear what the threshold is at this time, but those players found to be repeat offenders may be placed on probation. Additional offenses will trigger league-level consequences including additional fines and possible suspensions.

"While outcomes will not be reversed," the email read, "offenders will be penalized, and reviews will build a record of misconduct that informs future penalties."

Watch Zane break it down: