Pickleball · Newsletter guide

The best pickleball newsletters of 2026

: Hark’s ranked list

The Dink is the best pickleball newsletter overall, the sport's biggest read covering pro tours, gear, and culture. For sharpening your game, Pickleball Union leans into tips and drills, while Pickleball.com Newsletter delivers a five-minute weekly wire from the sport's central hub. Hark's full ranking of 16 pickleball newsletters is below, hand-verified for cadence, pricing, and publisher.

Best overall

The Dink

The sport's biggest newsletter: pro tours, gear, tips, and culture in a five-minute read.

Best for improving your game

Pickleball Union

A free weekly built around tips, drills, and strategy alongside pro-game news.

Best weekly news wire

Pickleball.com Newsletter

A free five-minute weekly from the sport's central hub, which claims over 200,000 subscribers.

Best official source

USA Pickleball Newsletter

Monthly tips, stories, and updates from the sport's US governing body, free with its Casual membership.

Hark’s top 10 pickleball newsletters

Hand-ranked by the Hark News editorial team on breadth of coverage, original reporting, publisher authority, publishing frequency, and track record. Every one is free to read, or has a real free tier.

  1. The Dink

    The Dink is the biggest pickleball newsletter, covering the pro tours, gear, tips, and the culture of the fastest-growing sport with a fun, community-minded voice. Its signup page claims hundreds of thousands of readers, and it functions as the sport's town square. Best for anyone who plays pickleball and wants to keep up with the game.

    Best for Anyone who plays pickleball and wants to keep up with the game, via the sport's biggest newsletter covering pro tours, gear, tips, and culture with a fun, community-minded voice.

    • Pro Tour
    • Gear
    • Community
    • Tips
  2. Pickleball.com Newsletter

    A quick weekly digest of pickleball news drawn from the sport's central platform, which also runs tournament software, rankings, club directories, and Pickleball TV. The site claims over 200,000 newsletter subscribers, and signup boxes appear throughout the homepage.

  3. Pickleball Union

    Pickleball Union is a free five-minute newsletter for pickleball fanatics, mixing tips, drills, and strategy with news from the pro game and the sport's growth. Its signup page reports more than 40,000 subscribers. Best for players who want to improve while keeping up with the sport.

    Best for Players who want to improve while keeping up with the sport, via a free five-minute mix of tips, drills, and strategy alongside pro-game news.

    • Drills & Strategy
    • Pro News
    • Skill Building
    • Weekly
  4. USA Pickleball Newsletter

    USA Pickleball has governed the sport in the US since 1984, maintaining the official rulebook and sanctioning tournaments. Signing up for the free Casual membership tier gets you the monthly newsletter plus event updates; paid Challenger ($12/yr) and Champion ($60/yr) tiers add tournament eligibility and discounts.

  5. PPA Tour Newsletter

    The PPA Tour runs about 20 pro tournament stops a year culminating in the PPA Finals, and its email list keeps fans posted on upcoming events, ticket promotions, giveaways, and tour news. Signup is a simple form near the footer of ppatour.com.

  6. APP Tour Newsletter

    The APP runs its own slate of professional and amateur pickleball tournaments with rankings and regular news coverage. Its 'Subscribe to get The Latest Pickleball News' signup promises tour updates, registration alerts, and player stories, via a form linked from theapp.global.

  7. MLP Insider

    MLP is the team-format professional pickleball league — its 2026 season spans 13 regular-season events from May through August plus playoffs and a Nations Cup. The MLP Insider signup on the homepage delivers league news, schedule updates, and promotions.

  8. Pickleball Studio Newsletter

    Chris Olson tests paddles on court and publishes measured specs with a stated zero pay-for-play policy, alongside a paddle database and comparison tools. The free email list sends new paddle reviews plus discount codes, via a form embedded on the homepage and footer.

  9. ThatPickleballGuy Newsletter

    Each Thursday subscribers get one actionable improvement tip, one video, and a dispatch from Kyle Koszuta's journey toward pro pickleball. Koszuta is best known as ThatPickleballGuy on YouTube, where he posts drills and match breakdowns. The Substack is free and reports over 2,000 subscribers.

  10. Pickleball Effect Newsletter

    Founder Braydon has been play-testing paddles since 2020 and runs a paddle database, comparison tool, and YouTube channel. The free email list promises reviews, data drops, and gear insights before they hit the public site. The signup section claims 60,000+ players learning with him monthly.

More pickleball newsletters

The rest of our ranked pickleball newsletters, #11 through #16.

  1. Inside the Den

    Branded as a publication of the US Open Pickleball Championships in Naples, Florida, it blends how-to instruction (beginner fundamentals through advanced strategy, rules, etiquette) with tournament news and insider stories. Subscribing is free and comes with a set of free instructional eBooks.

  2. Pickleball Marketing News

    Laura Gainor, founder of the Pickleball in the Sun agency under sports-marketing firm Vossberg Gainor, writes a weekly roundup of pro-tour moves, sponsorships, and brand campaigns in pickleball. It runs free on Substack with a parallel LinkedIn newsletter edition, and reports over 2,000 subscribers.

  3. The Pickleball Lab Newsletter

    The Pickleball Lab is founder Joshua Mackens' coaching business built around online courses, live coaching, and virtual video-review lessons. The site advertises an email newsletter at pickleballlab.co/newsletter alongside its instruction products. The site blocks automated access, so cadence and content details could not be confirmed.

  4. Matt's Pickleball Newsletter

    In-depth paddle reviews, honest playtesting breakdowns, and performance tips, anchored by a recurring 'The Weekly' roundup issue. The author runs the Matt's Pickleball YouTube channel, including a Paddle of the Week series, and the newsletter extends that gear-review work. Free tier available, with a paid Substack tier for exclusive content and full archive access.

  5. Bite Size Pickleball's Newsletter

    Rick Cipes, who has written for over 50 publications including the L.A. Times, ESPN Magazine, and Pickleball Magazine, has run Bite Size Pickleball since 2020 under the tagline 'Keeping pickleball interesting.' The Substack pairs with his Bite Size Pickleball podcast and delivers posts and archive access by email.

  6. The Business of Pickleball Newsletter

    A monthly paid briefing written by David Johnson, co-founder of retailer Pickleball Central, with guest analysts, published mid-month. Coverage sticks to industry matters — mergers and acquisitions, facility operations, marketing, legal/IP, and economic indicators — and explicitly excludes tournament results and play tips. Pricing is $299/year individual or $799/year corporate, with a money-back guarantee.

Hark’s Picks for Pickleball newsletters

The Hark editorial team researched each pickleball newsletter to recommend the strongest pick for every kind of reader, from a quick daily overview to deeper reporting and analysis. These picks reflect Hark’s independent editorial judgment: publishers cannot pay for placement. Updated September 2026.

Best pickleball newsletter in each category, hand-picked by Hark News.
PickNewsletter
Best overallThe Dink
Best weekly news wirePickleball.com Newsletter
Best for improving your gamePickleball Union
Best official sourceUSA Pickleball Newsletter
Best for pro tour fansPPA Tour Newsletter
Best for the APP circuitAPP Tour Newsletter
Best for team-league followersMLP Insider
Best for paddle reviewsPickleball Studio Newsletter
Best for weekly coaching tipsThatPickleballGuy Newsletter
Best for gear testing dataPickleball Effect Newsletter
Best tournament insiderInside the Den
Best for the business of pickleballPickleball Marketing News
Best paid industry briefingThe Business of Pickleball Newsletter
Best for pickleball cultureBite Size Pickleball's Newsletter

Recommended bundles for pickleball newsletters

Hark’s bundles make it easier to follow the news that matters to you without sorting through dozens of newsletters or hearing the same stories repeatedly. Each bundle brings together complementary pickleball publications, selected by Hark’s editors to provide a useful mix of breaking news, original reporting, expert analysis and important perspectives. Whether you are looking to get ahead in your job or a curious student looking ahead for your career, our bundles are an efficient productivity hack to stay up to date and constantly learn.

Every morning, Hark takes the most important stories from all the newsletters in a bundle, removes the duplicates, and turns them into one short audio briefing: all the top stories in about five minutes. Tap a bundle and its newsletters come pre-selected when you start your free trial; add, drop, and compare until the mix fits.

New to pickleball

Beginners who want to learn the game and follow the sport at once

The DinkPickleball UnionUSA Pickleball Newsletter

Start with this bundle

Level up your game

Recreational players drilling to improve their skills

Pickleball UnionThatPickleballGuy NewsletterInside the Den

Start with this bundle

Pro tour superfans

Fans following the PPA, APP, and MLP seasons event by event

The DinkPPA Tour NewsletterMLP Insider

Start with this bundle

Gear heads

Players choosing their next paddle on measured data, not marketing

Pickleball Studio NewsletterPickleball Effect NewsletterMatt's Pickleball Newsletter

Start with this bundle

Frequently asked questions

What is the best pickleball newsletter overall?
The Dink is the best overall pick. It is the sport's largest and most established newsletter, covering the pro tour, gear, tips, and community culture in a fun, skimmable read a few times a week.
What is the best free pickleball newsletter?
Nearly every pickleball newsletter here is free, including The Dink, Pickleball.com Newsletter, and Pickleball Union. The only fully paid pick is The Business of Pickleball Newsletter, a monthly industry briefing.
Which pickleball newsletter helps me actually improve?
Pickleball Union is the most practice-focused option, built around tips, drills, and strategy alongside pro-game news. ThatPickleballGuy Newsletter adds one actionable tip and one video from coach Kyle Koszuta every Thursday.
Which pickleball newsletter is best for paddle and gear reviews?
Pickleball Studio Newsletter shares Chris Olson's on-court paddle tests with measured specs and a stated zero pay-for-play policy, Pickleball Effect Newsletter delivers hands-on reviews and testing data, and Matt's Pickleball Newsletter rounds out the reviewer set.
Is there an official pickleball newsletter?
Yes. USA Pickleball Newsletter comes from the sport's US governing body with its free Casual membership, and the tours run their own lists: PPA Tour Newsletter, APP Tour Newsletter, and MLP Insider.
How often do pickleball newsletters send?
The Dink sends a few times a week, Pickleball.com Newsletter and Pickleball Union land weekly, and USA Pickleball Newsletter is monthly, so you can mix a frequent read with lighter ones.
Which pickleball newsletter is best for keeping up with the pro tours?
The Dink offers the deepest pro coverage of any pickleball newsletter, and the tours themselves keep fans posted directly: PPA Tour Newsletter for events and promotions, APP Tour Newsletter for its circuit, and MLP Insider for the team-format league.
Is there a newsletter about the business of pickleball?
Pickleball Marketing News is Laura Gainor's free weekly on pro-tour developments, sponsorships, and brand campaigns, while The Business of Pickleball Newsletter is a paid monthly briefing on M&A, facility economics, and market benchmarks.
Should I subscribe to more than one pickleball newsletter?
Yes. Because most send weekly and each has a distinct focus, pairing The Dink for news with Pickleball Union for skills gives broad coverage without much inbox clutter.
What is the most efficient way to keep up with pickleball news?
Reading every pickleball newsletter takes real time, and the biggest stories repeat across them. The efficient approach is a small set of complementary sources, summarized. That is what Hark News does: choose your newsletters inside Hark (the bundles above are one-tap starting points), and each morning it distills what they published into a concise audio newscast you can play while you get ready, commute, or walk. You get the substance of the whole list without the inbox pile, free to try at hark.news.
How does Hark rank these pickleball newsletters?
Hark’s editors hand-rank every newsletter in this guide on breadth of coverage, publishing frequency, publisher authority, original reporting, free availability, and track record; audience reach informs the research, but raw subscriber counts never decide the ranking. The picks and bundles above are curated the same way, with the reader in mind. Placement cannot be bought: publishers cannot pay to appear or to rank higher. The list is re-verified monthly and updated as the category changes.

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