Some of the best finds at PickleCon? Not even paddles.
I know, I know. That's like going to a pizza festival and being impressed by the salad. But hear me out.
Drop Shot. That's the name you need to remember. Because if you've ever played a game of pickleball, and I mean ever, you've experienced the universal confusion that makes everyone on the court look like they've just seen a ghost.
"What's the score?"
"Are we first or second server?"
"Wait... whose serve is it, again?"
Four adults standing on a 20x44 court, completely clueless. It's like trying to solve a Rubik's cube in the dark.
Enter DropShot. An electronic scoreboard genius enough to keep track of the score, server number, and serving side. Update it after the rally, and voilà. Scorekeeping without the headache. They even threw in an iPhone and Apple Watch app for good measure. And no, this isn't one of those 'there's an app for that' jokes. It's real.
Look, sometimes at these events, you're swamped by products pretending to solve non-existent problems. This? This is the real deal. I posted about this on Instagram — go watch it —see the interview
The founder, Josh Brown, whipped this up after one too many games where everyone was guessing. And instead of shrugging it off like the rest of us, he made a whole thing out of it. Mechanical engineer turned pickleball savior. Meanwhile, I'm here still thinking we might be on 6.
Meeting these creators is the best part of events like PickleCon. You get to see real people solving actual problems — not just looking for ways to get on ESPN.
Smart product. Great people. And one less thing my 45-year-old brain has to keep track of. Now, if only they'd invent something that tells me why I just walked into the kitchen... then we're really cooking.
Anyway, who knew the best pickleball gear at PickleCon wasn't even a paddle? Not me. Not until DropShot showed up and made us all realize we'd been suffering from score amnesia for way too long. Game on, my friends. Just...keep an eye on your opponent's serve for me, will ya?