As the self-appointed pickleball fashion police, there’s one piece of apparel I get asked about more than anything else: arm sleeves. More specifically, those shawl-style sleeves that drape over a player’s shoulders and arms while leaving the chest and armpits uncovered. Think of them as smaller than a half-shirt, designed to keep your arms covered while the front stays open, often revealing a bit of cleavage.

These arm sleeves have become so popular on the pro circuit in recent years that even Pickleball Central has started selling them, much to my dismay.

I, along with many others, am baffled by the popularity of these unattractive sleeves. They completely ruin what would otherwise be a perfectly good outfit. They’re often worn over a racerback top, which turns the whole look into a strappy, overcomplicated mess, more like something you’d wear to a rave than to a pickleball court. And to make matters worse, they rarely match the rest of the outfit.

Pro player and fashion enthusiast Ava Ignatowich even referred to the sleeves as a “parasite” in pro pickleball. Meanwhile, fellow pro Camila Zilveti said on their podcast that they’re the “bane of her existence.”

However, these sleeves do serve a purpose. They’re designed to provide compression, protect players from the sun, and help manage sweat.

“If you want to protect your skin from the sun and you don’t care if you look ugly, then you do you,” said Ignatowich. 

“It doesn’t make sense because if you wear a tank top, then wear the arm sleevea. Your chest is still getting burnt. It defeats the whole claim of sun protection,” added Zilveti. 

“If we were to show a picture of one of the girls in the arm sleeves to anyone on the planet who’s never been to a PPA tournament and asked, ‘Does this look flattering? Does this look attractive?' Does this look like a good outfit?’ They would say ‘No,’” said Ignatowich.

Zilveti also pointed out that these sleeves are a particularly strange phenomenon in pro pickleball. You don’t really see them in tennis, or even in recreational pickleball where players generally skip these unusual add-ons altogether.

Another pro pickleball fashionista, Parris Todd, also weighed in, calling arm sleeves a fashion faux pas when they don’t match the rest of the outfit.

“I think they’re good for sun protection because a lot of us pros are in the sun so much. But when you’re at a tournament and it doesn’t match your outfit, that’s when I’m like ‘Ew I don’t know about that,’” said Todd. “If you’re wearing all white or all black and it matches, I think that it looks good. But it depends on the shirt and how it hides it. If you’re wearing spaghetti straps where you can see it, it’s a bit of an ick for me. It’s a love and a hate for me because I understand the sun protection, but at the same time, there’s got to be a better design.”

As an avid pickleball player who often plays in the Florida sunshine, I understand the importance of sun protection. But why not just wear sunscreen or a normal T-shirt? The fact that these sleeves leave the chest exposed is honestly the most confusing part of the design.

Pickleball players absolutely need to protect their skin, but that doesn’t mean it has to come at the expense of a good outfit.

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