5 Ball Machines Drills to Fix Your Game

Plus: new APP women signings, the best pickleball bags for 2026, and the player helping grow the game in Hong Kong.

Author

Empower Pickleball
March 05, 2026

The APP dropped a pretty notable announcement this week, signing a wave of women’s talent as part of what they’re calling a “new era” for the tour.

Big names like Simone Jardim, Megan Fudge, and Sofia Sewing headline the group, along with several rising international players helping expand the tour’s global reach. The full details of the contracts haven’t been made public, but the message is clear: the women’s side of the game is getting serious investment.

With International Women’s Day coming up on Sunday, it feels like good timing to highlight the players continuing to push the sport forward.

Let’s get into it.

TIPS & TRICKS

Just You and the Machine: 5 Ball Machine Drills That Actually Fix Your Game

Ball machines can be one of the fastest ways to improve your game—or one of the biggest wastes of time.

Senior Pro Gina Cilento breaks down five structured drills that help you train with purpose, including:

  • Reset mechanics and clean contact

  • Soft hands and dink control

  • Third shot drop vs. drive decision-making

  • Transition zone stability

  • Speed-up and counterattack reactions

Thirty minutes of intentional reps can move your game forward faster than hours of casual play.

💡 Why It Matters: Because repetition only works when you’re practicing the right mechanics.

👉 See the five ball machine drills that actually improve your game.

PICKLEBALL GEAR

Best Pickleball Bags for 2026: Backpacks, Sling Bags, and Tour-Style Picks

At some point your pickleball bag stops working. Shoes are jammed next to snacks, paddles are bouncing around, and you’re digging through everything just to find your grips.

We look at six bags designed specifically for how players actually move through a day at the courts. Standouts include the ultra-organized CRBN Pro Team Backpack for everyday play and the JOOLA Tour Elite Pro for players carrying multiple paddles and full tournament gear.

💡 Why It Matters: Because the right bag makes getting to and from the courts a lot easier.

COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT

How Venise Chan Is Helping Lead Pickleball’s Rise in Hong Kong

Most athletes don’t discover a new sport at their own wedding. Venise Chan did.

The former Hong Kong No. 1 tennis player was introduced to pickleball by pro Irina Tereschenko during her wedding in 2019. Within a year, Chan wasn’t just playing. She was helping build the sport across Hong Kong through tournaments, coaching, and her Asia Aces Pickleball Academy.

Now she’s one of the key figures helping establish pickleball’s infrastructure across the region as the sport gains traction throughout Asia.

💡 Why It Matters: Because pickleball’s global growth depends on local leaders building courts, coaching systems, and communities in new markets.

👉 Meet the woman helping grow pickleball in Hong Kong.

Stop Sliding Inside Your Shoes

Pickleball demands quick movement. Hard stops, lateral cuts, fast push-offs.

But there’s a small problem many players overlook: your foot sliding inside your shoe.

Even with good court shoes, internal movement can lead to toe jams, blisters, slower reactions, and wasted energy during push-off. A lot of players assume it’s the shoe, when the missing piece is often the sock.

Squid Socks are designed with grip zones that stabilize your foot inside the shoe so your movement stays more connected to the court.

More stability.
More control.
Less sliding around mid-rally.

  • A Former Dairy Barn Is Now a Pickleball Haven 🐄 A barn that once stored feed and manure on a 1,000-cow dairy farm in Lynden, WA, has been converted into a three-court pickleball space where locals gather weekly to play and socialize.

  • Pickleball Is Reshaping Real Estate 🏢 Developers are increasingly converting empty big-box stores and mall spaces into indoor pickleball facilities, creating steady traffic through leagues, lessons, and open play. The sport is also influencing residential communities as HOAs rethink tennis courts and shared amenity space.

  • Even Olympians Are Planning a Pickleball Summer 🏅 When Olympic medalists CJ Curran, Chris Lillis, and Kaila Kuhn were asked what hobbies they might pick up next, Lillis had a quick answer: more pickleball.

  • Women Are Becoming the Most Valuable Players in MLP 🏓 Major League Pickleball roster strategy is shifting as teams realize elite women can swing entire matchups. Because team contests include women’s doubles and two mixed doubles matches, players like Anna Leigh Waters and Anna Bright influence three of the four events played. That dynamic helped drive Bright’s recent $1M deal with the St. Louis Shock.

These State Paddles Are Almost Too Cute to Play With

There’s something about seeing your home state on your gear that just hits different. ARTI’s State Collection turns that idea into paddle designs that feel personal without being over-the-top.

They’ve released designs for Texas, California, Florida, and New York, each using colors and graphics inspired by the state itself. The Texas paddle is really speaking to me. Western-style graphics, bold colors… I basically just need to grab my Tecovas and head to the court (dangerous, but I’ll look the part).

The good news: these paddles are USA Pickleball approved and built with a T700 carbon face, hot-pressed edgeless construction, and a balanced feel for control, spin, and resets.

Even better: ARTI is currently offering $60 off the State Collection.

Interested in having your event listed? Reach out to us and let’s chat!