About The UPA-A
The UPA-A Mission
CHAMPION, REGULATE, and GROW the sport of pickleball all around the world.
UPA believes pickleball has all the qualities to bring communities together, teach new skills, and allow everyone to participate in a more active lifestyle. Pickleball truly has something for everybody, from beginners having some fun, all the way to the highest levels with professional leagues, Olympic aspirations, and everything in between.
As pickleball grows, new players are introduced and countries around the world begin to build out the infrastructure necessary to fuel this sport, proper guidance and regulation is imperative.
UPA is committed to the development and growth of the sport by funding and partnering with organizations all over the world to provide the necessary guidance, support, and regulations for pickleball to be a competitive, fun, and inclusive sport.
The UPA has established our own guidelines and identified best in class partners to apply UPA standards to tournaments, tournament directors, teaching professionals, and referees. UPA also provides tournament management software, rating systems, and provide guidance for building courts, facilities, leagues, and communities.
In the collaborative spirit of the game, UPA is always open to partnerships and collaborations that will help grow pickleball.
Frequently Asked Questions
Back in 2022, we began to see issues with paddles behaving differently over time. Manufacturing issues like break-in periods where paddles changed characteristics and behavior were occurring, or delamination and core crush, or even paddle manipulation by players were identified. At the time, there were no processes in place to protect the game against such issues. MLP hired PPL to do paddle testing on site for each of their events, and with the success of their testing and protocols, PPA also contracted them for each stop on the PPA Tour.
But on site testing is not enough to ensure paddles behave properly, do not provide an unfair advantage, will last longer, and be more consistent. UPA-A developed a certification process in collaboration with PPL and University of Massachusetts Lowell to design and implement a certification process we can trust.
UPA-A Certification will be enforced for the professional ranks of UPA events in 2025. Doing comprehensive testing is labor intensive and ensuring paddles made for play at the highest, most competitive levels of the sport requires incredible attention to detail. We have moved from the traditional materials based testing methods to an output based, performance testing.
UPA-A will test and measure exit velocity and RPM (spin). Exit velocity essentially puts a speed limit on how hard balls can be hit to ensure power does not go unchecked. Spin will be measured directly as opposed to using grit or friction as a proxy, as there are different surfaces that can create spin that are not identified by current testing methods.
No, UPA-A certification is only required for professional players competing in pro divisions at UPA events for the 2025 season. UPA Certified paddles are eligible for play at all UPA events for both pro and amateur levels. USAP approved paddles, even those without UPA-A certification, are still permitted at all UPA amateur events.
