DUPR Names JOOLA HC-40 as Its Official Ball in Move to Standardise Competition Globally
Consistency just got a new name in competitive pickleball.
JOOLA has announced that its HC-40 ball will become the official ball of DUPR, the world’s leading pickleball ratings and rankings platform, effective 1 September 2026. The multi-year partnership makes the JOOLA HC-40 the designated ball across all DUPR-sanctioned events—from local qualifiers to national championships—bringing a single, standardised playing experience to a network that serves over two million registered users across 183 countries and will support 350 events in 2026 alone.
The logic behind the partnership is straightforward and important. DUPR ratings are only as reliable as the conditions under which the underlying matches are played. A rating system that measures performance accurately needs the performance itself to happen on consistent ground—and the ball is a fundamental part of that equation. Different balls fly differently, bounce differently, and wear differently. Introducing a single designated ball across the entire DUPR event ecosystem removes one more variable from the performance measurement process.
JOOLA president and CEO Richard Lee made that case directly.
“DUPR has built the gold standard for measuring a player’s game, and precision starts with the equipment on the court,” Lee said. “We engineered the JOOLA HC-40 to deliver the same ball, every match, so every rating reflects a player’s true performance. Having it named the official ball of DUPR means players at every level are competing on that same standard. This is the kind of partnership that raises the bar for the whole sport.”
The scope of the partnership is broad. The JOOLA HC-40 becomes the required ball for The Dink Minor League Pickleball events operated by DUPR in the United States, international MiLP Nationals and Regional events, and DUPR-operated collegiate and high school competitions including the College World Championship, The Nationals, and the DUPR College Pickleball Tour. Critically, third-party operators hosting DUPR-sanctioned events will also be required to use the HC-40—extending the standardisation requirement across the wider network rather than limiting it to events DUPR runs directly.
DUPR chief executive Tito Machado framed the partnership in terms of what competitive integrity actually requires.
“Consistency is critical to competitive integrity, and that’s exactly what this partnership delivers,” Machado said. “DUPR ratings are built to accurately measure player performance, and that starts with using trusted equipment across competition. By making the JOOLA HC-40 the official ball across our events, we’re ensuring players, clubs and tournament organizers have a shared standard they can count on, whether they’re at a local qualifier or the DUPR College Pickleball Tour.”
For players, the practical implication is straightforward: every DUPR-sanctioned match they play from September onwards will use the same ball, delivering the same flight characteristics, bounce behaviour, and durability standards regardless of where the event is held. That consistency matters whether you are a junior player building your rating for the first time or an elite amateur competing at a national championship.
JOOLA has been among the most assertive companies in establishing its intellectual property claims in the equipment space—its ongoing patent infringement case against eleven paddle brands underscores how seriously the company treats the integrity of its technology. The DUPR partnership extends that same approach to the ball: a precision-engineered product, a structured ecosystem, and a clear standard that the sport’s competitive community can trust.
The two organisations have aligned on the right problem. Consistent conditions produce reliable ratings. Reliable ratings build a credible sport.
September cannot come soon enough.
