The Carvana PPA Tour and Life Time, the nation’s premier healthy lifestyle brand and a leading provider of pickleball courts in North America, announced on Friday the LT Pro 48 Pickleball will become the exclusive ball of the Professional Pickleball Association (PPA) and all of its tournaments and events.

Designed by Life Time Founder, Chairman and CEO, Bahram Akradi, and his engineering team, the ball will first be used during the Veolia Bristol Open in Bristol, TN next week.

The news comes as Life Time expands its relationship with the PPA to host more tournaments across its athletic country clubs.

The LT Pro 48 Pickleball addresses common frustrations with existing pickleballs with the goals of consistent bounce and durability by featuring holes that are symmetrically spaced, along with chamfered edges to reduce cracking and improve flight.

“Pickleball is more than a sport – it’s a global movement that has brought together people of all abilities, ages and backgrounds,” said Akradi. “Since 2021, we’ve committed to elevating and growing this sport and, with the LT Pro 48, we identified a problem and addressed it by engineering a ball that bounces truer and lasts longer, holding up under the stress of professional play.”

“The LT Pro 48 has been used at two previous PPA Tour events and has received great feedback from both our professional players and amateurs,” said Connor Pardoe, Founder and CEO of the PPA Tour. “With the ever-changing standards in pickleball equipment, the LT Pro 48 has really elevated the quality of what a pro-level ball can be, so we are thrilled our relationship with Life Time allows us to utilize this ball at the highest levels of competition.”

Earlier this month, Life Time announced its pickleball tournament, the LT Open, with the goal of expanding competitive singles play and increasing the top-tier events it hosts at its locations across North America.

Life Time has long been a key venue for the PPA, hosting tournaments at iconic locations such as Peachtree Corners, GA, and Rancho San Clemente, CA. The appointment of tennis legend Andre Agassi as the inaugural chair of the Life Time Pickleball and Tennis Board further underscores the company’s dedication to expanding access, enhancing programming and building vibrant communities around pickleball.

The LT Pro 48 pickleball is available for pre-order now on PickleballCentral.com and will ship to purchasers and be available in Pickleball Central stores by September 15^th.

Click here to learn more about Life Time Pickleball and find available courts near you.