On community courts and suburban driveways across the country, the first paddle many new players pick up will never see a professional tournament. It will not be built for elite spin rates or baseline drives. But for the Professional Pickleball Association (PPA) and the broader competitive community, those early moments still matter deeply.

“Every great player starts in a completely ordinary place,” Big Dill Pickleball Co. Founder and CEO Katy Luxem said. “Usually with a borrowed paddle, a few friends, and absolutely no idea how much the game is about to matter to them.”

For the PPA circuit, that recreational base is the pipeline. It is where tomorrow’s competitive players begin. Big Dill Pickleball Co. has shaped its business around capturing that next generation with gear that is approachable, durable, and serious enough to grow with new players as their skill develops.

Big Dill Pickleball Co. launched in 2020 in Salt Lake City as pickleball courts multiplied across church gyms, neighborhood parks, and outdoor courts during the pandemic. Luxem, who grew up in the Pacific Northwest where pickleball was invented, watched the sport surge again and saw a wide gap in the gear being offered to first-time players.

“When I looked at what was available, most of it was clearly built with experienced players in mind,” she said. “I wanted to create something that felt more welcoming for someone walking onto the court for the first time, but that was still high quality and built to last.”

Big Dill Pickleball Co.’s answer was unapologetically playful. Bright colors. Oversized pickles. Starter paddles, sets, and accessories designed for families, cabins, lake houses, and new players who simply wanted to try the game without feeling intimidated. The visual identity made people smile. The high-quality construction made them stay.

That vision took root quickly in the Amazon store, where Big Dill Pickleball Co. launched with a small initial lineup. From the beginning, the business leaned into Amazon’s seller tools to understand how customers were discovering pickleball and what they wanted next.

“We could see what people were searching for and what they were asking for in reviews,” Luxem said. “That data helped us know when to build sets, when to add accessories, and how to talk about the brand.”

A+ Content allowed Big Dill Pickleball Co. to visually tell its story to shoppers, emphasizing that the paddles were playful but built with dependable materials. Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) made fast, reliable shipping possible without Luxem needing to build warehouse infrastructure as demand grew. With FBA, Amazon provides the storage, picking, packing, fulfillment, and customer service for their orders, so Luxem could focus on other parts of her business.

Within three years, the company crossed into seven-figure revenue. Editorial recognition followed, with Big Dill Pickleball Co. appearing in national gift guides and being named one of America’s top small businesses by the US Chamber of Commerce. Even as competition in the category intensified, the Amazon store remains the company’s primary growth engine.

“I tried a lot of different channels,” Luxem said. “But at the end of the day, Amazon is where people are already going when they decide they want to try pickleball. That has always been our core audience.”

While many paddle brands compete for adoption at the highest levels of the sport, Big Dill Pickleball Co. has remained intentionally positioned at the front door of pickleball. Luxem plays three to four times a week herself. Some days are competitive open play. Other nights are casual neighborhood games.

“There is no other sport I would accidentally play for three hours,” she said. “You can play with a 70-year-old one game and a 15-year-old the next. It really is a great equalizer.”

Big Dill Pickleball Co.’s role in the sport’s growth is defined by strengthening the on-ramp to the game itself. The company builds paddles that feel fun and unintimidating to pick up, but that are also durable enough to let players stay on the court long enough to decide if pickleball truly becomes part of their lives.

New players are not learning on disposable gear. They are learning on paddles built to endure hours of play, missed shots, and the trial-and-error that comes with every new sport.

“For the PPA audience, I just want people to remember that recreational players are the foundation of everything,” Luxem said. “That is where the beginners and families are. That is where the future players come from.”

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