Pickleball is known for promoting the community. In fact, the communal allure of the sport is one of the things that makes it so popular. It just thrives on players coming together to enjoy and have fun—all while competing in a game loved by so many.
That is why a now-viral video posted on X (formerly Twitter) by a certain Barstool Jordie has shocked the global pickleball community.
In the said video, a pickler can be seen kicking a fellow player in what appears to be match point, as the players had begun shaking hands. The player who was kick appeared to have knocked the paddle off the kicker’s hands and was attempting to retrieve it. Then, as he bent over the net to pick up the paddle, he was kicked right on the face.
The kicked man’s teammate confronted the aggressor afterwards but cooler heads intervened and prevented things from escalating.
“Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in America. But maybe we should shrink the game a little if we have people kicking each other in the (expletive) face over a loss,” wrote Barstool Jordie in his post.
Details of the incident are scarce as of posting. What is clear, though, is that this act of violence—even if the paddle was knocked intentionally—has no place in pickleball or in any sport.
