Brady Shepherd is a YouTuber and content creator who recently made headlines on social media for creating his own dating show to find a girlfriend.

Instead of hopping on the apps like the rest of us, Shepherd courted several women, filmed the dates, and shared them with his followers to narrow down his options.

For the finale, Shepherd convinced three women to live in a house with him for a weekend and film a reality-style TV documentary complete with hidden cameras, microphones, and challenges to win private dates with him and eventually crown a winner.

He basically DIYed ABC's The Bachelor.

This idea was silly and charming at the same time. And in the middle of the fun, Shepherd even took his eligible girlfriends to a pickleball court at the Airbnb.

This particular court wasn’t one of those gorgeous, pristine creations in the backyard of California cottages and Arizona abodes. In fact, it looked like a sport court with all the holes in the ground, so it probably wasn't that safe - and I imagine the ball bounce was horrible.

The court also ended at the baseline, so there was literally no space to hit or return the serve because you would be standing in the grass. 

Nevertheless, the game went on. 

Like most times pickleball appears on reality TV, it often turns into an example of “how not to play pickleball.” This was no exception.

For example, Shepherd recruited a friend to play three versus two. He claimed that because the three girls were all on one side, they had a clear advantage. 

The problem was that Shepherd and his friend were a lot more comfortable simply swinging at a moving ball with a paddle and making contact. Those poor girls, on the other hand, were certainly not tennis stars in high school. I assume they’d never played ping pong or anything with a racket. It was “Oof. A swing and a miss.”

Worse yet, the girls’ half of the court was surrounded with leafy palm fronds that made it nearly impossible to return a drive, otherwise they’d end up in a bush. No part of this pickleball game was fair or accurate.

However, it was entertaining to watch. If Shepherd valued a racket sport athlete in a girlfriend, I don’t think any of these girls fit the bill. He would be better off going to the court at a nearby college and getting involved with a collegiate pickleball player. She might even be the next Anna Leigh Waters. Better yet, he should just shoot his shot with Anna Leigh. She certainly won’t let him win on the first pickleball date. 

But considering that Shepherd’s final pick to be his girlfriend was the least athletic out of all of them, he obviously wasn’t looking for the sporty type. 

Courtship continues to happen on pickleball courts, no matter the DUPR.