What Paddles Do the Pros Use? A Roundup of Brands and Sponsorship Deals [July 2026 | Hub]

"What paddle does that player I look up to actually use?"—once you get serious about pickleball, everyone wonders about this at least once.

I'm Coach Yoshi. Today I'm going to lay out in one place the paddles pro players around the world and here in Japan actually use, and the brands they are signed with. Fair warning, though: this is a surprisingly tricky topic. That's because pro paddle deals change astonishingly often. "He was with that brand last year, and this year he's with a different one" is an everyday occurrence.

So for this article I gathered information as of July 2026, and only what I could verify against primary sources: each brand's official roster, PPA/MLP player pages, the players' own social media, and reliable overseas paddle trackers. There are a lot of players to get through, so the detailed player lists are split into two separate articles.

• 🌏 World Pros Edition (about 40 of the world's top players)
• 🇯🇵 Japan Pros Edition (Japan's top players)

This article is the gateway (the hub) to those two. Let's start with the big picture.

First things first: a pro's "current paddle" is a moving target

Let me lead with the most important point. A pro's paddle deal is nothing more than a snapshot of this exact moment.

The perfect example is women's world No.1 Anna Leigh Waters. She was signed with Paddletek for seven years, but that contract expired on January 6, 2026. Right after that she signed a long-term paddle deal with Franklin, and on top of that an apparel and footwear deal with Nike. In other words, she is now a "Franklin paddle plus Nike gear" combination. All the "ALW = Paddletek" information still floating around online is already out of date.

Which brands are the world's top players clustered around?

Let's start overseas. Broadly speaking, the top tier is concentrated in a small number of brands. The one standing head and shoulders above the rest is JOOLA. There is even data showing that players using JOOLA took roughly a third of all medals on the 2026 PPA Tour, so they really are the lead act right now.

Here is a quick list of the headline players and their brands (I go through every one of them in the World Pros Edition).

What's interesting is that it isn't only signed players who use a given paddle. Catherine Parenteau, one of the greatest women's players of all time, saw her Selkirk contract expire in February 2026, and since then she has chosen a JOOLA paddle of her own accord, without signing with any brand at all (her official site lists no paddle sponsor either). A top player deliberately choosing a paddle with no deal attached says a lot about what that paddle can do, and personally I find that a fascinating detail.

Japan's pros are still getting started—but things are moving

Now for Japan. I'll be straight with you: pickleball here is still in its infancy, and only a handful of people can genuinely be called "pro tour players." On top of that, many players are in a situation where they have corporate sponsors such as Sansan or 17LIVE, but have never made public the brand or model of the paddle they use. The information simply isn't as organized as it is overseas.

Even so, the past year or two has definitely seen things start to move. For example—

• Yuta Funemizu: the first Japanese player in the MLB… sorry, in MLP (Major League Pickleball). A former soft tennis world champion, he plays DIADEM (he is the only Japanese player who has made his model name public).
• Kenta Miyoshi and Aiko Yoshitomi, a married couple: both are former pro tennis players signed with the PPA, and both play JOOLA.
• Nasa Hatakeyama: a left-handed former pro padel player, and one of the names on Selkirk's international team.

I introduce these Japanese players together in the Japan Pros Edition. I think you'll get a feel for the atmosphere of how Japan's pro scene is coming together.

Some pros use the brands we carry

While we're here, let me also touch on players who use the brands that we at Pickleball Lab carry as an authorized distributor.

• Engage: we are Japan's sole authorized distributor. Eric Oncins, who moved over from JOOLA in 2026, competes on the PPA and in MLP with Engage's Alpha Pro. Former WTA player Jessie Irvine is a long-term signing as well.
• Six Zero: we are an authorized distributor in Japan. In 2026 the team added the "Flying Frenchman" Jay Devilliers and Gabe Joseph, who has been ranked as high as world No.4, among others.

To be honest, the true megastars are mostly at JOOLA and Franklin, and neither Engage nor Six Zero leads the world in marquee-player count. That said, genuinely strong players use both brands, and more to the point, our view isn't "the pros use it, so it must be the best." We want you to choose the one paddle that truly fits your level and playing style. For what each brand is actually like, these articles go deeper.

• Engage Paddles All Models Explained: Japan's Sole Authorized Distributor Guides You Through Choosing the Right One
• Six Zero Paddle All Models Explained: A Distributor's Guide to Black Opal and Other Popular Models
• Engage vs. Six Zero | An Authorized Distributor's In-Depth Comparison and How to Choose Based on Play Style

Summary: start by getting a feel for the current landscape

That ran long, but that's the big picture. To recap just the key points—

• Pro paddle deals change often. So always check what date a piece of information is from (this article is current as of July 2026).
• The world's top players are concentrated around JOOLA, Franklin, Selkirk, CRBN, and Paddletek. The big tennis brands are still watching and waiting.
• Japan is in its infancy, but Yuta Funemizu (DIADEM), Miyoshi and Yoshitomi (JOOLA), and Nasa Hatakeyama (Selkirk) have started to lead the way.

"So who exactly is using what?"—that's where the real content begins. Start with whichever one interests you.

🌏 Read the World Pros Edition (about 40 players) →

🇯🇵 Read the Japan Pros Edition →

And if you're thinking "never mind copying the pros, I want the right paddle for me first," I'd suggest starting with The Complete Pickleball Paddle Buyer's Guide. If you're not sure what to choose, feel free to ask me anytime.

References

1. Team JOOLA official roster
2. Team Selkirk official
3. Franklin × Anna Leigh Waters long-term deal (pickleball.com)
4. The Kitchen — 2026 pro paddle tracker
5. The Dink — 2026 paddle deal tracker