Best Pickleball Podcasts

A pickleball podcast is a recurring audio show about the sport. New shows launch every year and older ones go quiet, so there is no fixed count worth quoting. The more useful question is not how many exist, but which lane fits how you plan to listen.

Which podcast should you start with?

Start with the one that matches why you are listening.

If you want to follow the pros, start with a tour news show. If you want to know whether a paddle is worth buying, start with a gear show. If you keep losing matches you feel you should win, start with a coaching or mindset show. If you just want company on the drive to the courts, start with an entertainment show.

Sampling all four lanes at once rarely works. Picking one and sticking with it for a few weeks beats subscribing to a dozen shows and finishing none of them.

What are the pro tour and news podcasts?

PicklePod is a pickleball podcast built around tour coverage, including roster moves, rule debates, and interviews with players who appear on tour broadcasts. The show is active on YouTube under the handle @PicklePoD.

The tradeoff is context. Tour news shows assume you already recognize the players and the storylines. If you cannot name four current pros, some episodes will lose you fast. The explainer on Major League Pickleball and the comparison of the PPA and APP tours fill in that background before you press play.

What about gear and equipment podcasts?

Pickleball Studio focuses on gear: paddle releases, core construction, and the surface materials manufacturers build around. The show publishes on YouTube under the handle @PickleballStudio.

It is useful before a purchase and repetitive once you are happy with the paddle you already own. The honest tradeoff is that listening to gear content on a regular schedule tends to make you want gear you do not actually need. Treat it as pre-purchase research, not a weekly habit.

Which podcasts help you actually improve?

The coaching and mindset lane is smaller and easier to point to.

• Pickleball Therapy focuses on the mental side of competing: nerves, expectations, partner dynamics, and the reset between points. The show states its own mission as helping players build a healthier relationship with the game, not just a better backhand.
• Instructor-led shows break down a single skill per episode, which suits listening on the way to a session and trying one adjustment when you arrive.
• Interview formats often carry more usable tactical detail than dedicated instruction episodes, because players describe what they actually look at mid-point rather than reciting a drill.

Audio has one hard limit. You cannot see a grip or a paddle angle through headphones. Use these shows to understand decisions and patterns, and use video or a coach for the technique itself. If you are building the physical side of your game too, pair the listening habit with the warm-up routine that helps prevent injury so your body keeps up with what you are learning.

What if you just want to be entertained?

Bad Calls, hosted by Graham D’Amico and Travis Rettenmaier, is built around unfiltered takes and trash talk mixed with actual pickleball discussion. Both hosts are co-owners of the Florida Smash, a Major League Pickleball franchise, and the show is recorded in St. Petersburg, Florida, according to its YouTube channel. Rettenmaier also plays on the PPA Tour, which gives the banter some inside detail.

Entertainment shows age fastest of the four lanes. Hosts move on, franchises change, and casual shows go quiet without warning. Check the most recent upload date before you commit to a backlog.

How do you find good ones on your own?

Check three things before subscribing to anything. Look at the last publish date, since a large share of pickleball podcasts eventually stop uploading. Look at episode length, because a 20 minute show and a 90 minute show suit different routines, whether that is a quick post-match stretch or a long drive to a tournament. Then listen to the most recent episode instead of the first one, since early episodes rarely represent where a show ended up.

Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube all show ratings, review counts, and publishing history for every show. That data is a reasonable starting filter. It is a poor substitute for listening to one recent episode before you subscribe.

Frequently asked questions

What is the most popular pickleball podcast? There is no single official ranking. PicklePod, Bad Calls, and Pickleball Studio are three of the more frequently mentioned shows, covering tour news, entertainment, and gear.

Are pickleball podcasts good for beginners? The mindset and coaching shows generally work well for beginners. Tour news shows assume context that new players have not built up yet.

Are there podcasts about pickleball gear specifically? Yes. Pickleball Studio focuses on paddle releases and equipment testing, and several paddle review channels run companion audio or video feeds.

Where can you listen? The shows named here publish on YouTube, and most pickleball podcasts also distribute to Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Video versions help for any episode that demonstrates a shot or a paddle.

How many pickleball podcasts are there? There is no official count. New shows start and older ones go quiet every year, which is why checking the last publish date matters more than checking a directory ranking.

Do pros host their own podcasts? Some do. Travis Rettenmaier, a PPA Tour player, co-hosts Bad Calls, and player-hosted shows tend to have easier access to guests who already know the host.

Is there anything for watching instead of listening? Yes. The roundup of movies about pickleball covers the video side of the sport.

Do any podcasts cover the amateur and club side? A few do, usually on a regional or local basis. Club newsletters and local league communications tend to cover that ground more consistently than the national shows do.

Podcasts fill the drive to the courts, and the coaching lane is the one most likely to change how you actually play. If you would rather have someone watch you hit than talk in your ear, browse the coaches listed in the Pickler Junction directory for instruction near you.

Written by the Pickler Junction Team.