The breakup lasted for six months. Now, they’re back together.
In case you’re wondering, we’re talking about superstar pickleball pro Federico Staksrud and global pickleball brand JOOLA, who are getting back together after the former’s brief dalliance with another athletic apparel brand.
Just to refresh you real quick, Staksrud jumped ship from JOOLA to adidas Pickleball back in January, with plans purportedly in the works for the latter to release a signature paddle for the former. The partnership seemed like a coup for both Staksrud and adidas Pickleball—until it wasn’t.
Just about a week ago, Staksrud announced it was leaving adidas Pickleball, posting on Instagram that he and the Three Stripes “decided to mutually conclude our partnership.” The Argentine gave adidas Pickleball their flowers, nothing how their team “put in incredible effort” in making the partnership as beneficial as possible.
Evidently, that effort wasn’t enough for one of the world’s top pro picklers. And now he is turning back to his old flame, JOOLA. They wasted no time announcing their reunion, doing so via a social media post on Tuesday afternoon, 1 July 2025.
Staksrud had previously spent two and a half years representing JOOLA before abruptly leaving them for adidas Pickleball. However, Staksrud went back to using JOOLA paddles after only one event, though he continued to wearing adidas apparel. But by last month’s Orange County Cup, Staksrud eschewed adidas Pickleball completely as he kept using JOOLA paddles and wore their apparel, too.
Those moves were evidently a harbinger of things to come, with Staksrud going back to JOOLA officially.
Getting Staksrud back is certainly a big move for JOOLA as he is one of only two players—the other being Ben Johns—who is ranked inside the top 5 in the PPA rankings in men’s singles, men’s doubles, and mixed doubles. He will return to action with the Orlando Squeeze this week at MLP New York.
