Episode
There's a Nine-Year-Old Elephant on Your Tennis Courts
- Podcast
- GoTennis! Podcast
- Published
- Jun 25, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 2335
- Processing state
not_requested
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Summary
Season 26, Episode 17 There's a Nine-Year-Old Elephant on Your Tennis Courts Shaun Boyce & Bobby Schindler with Dr. Rommie Maxey Summary Dr. Rommie Maxey didn't set out to become a pickleball entrepreneur. The sport found him — and he ran with it. Six-time national champion, co-owner of the Houston Hammers, trainer to 14,000 players across five continents, and now a member of the ARA National Advisory Board, Dr. Maxey joins Shaun and Bobby to talk about where pickleball actually is right now: the demographics shift nobody expected, why Houston went from 1 to 42 indoor facilities in four years, what the VAIR rating system changes, and why pickleball is basically a nine-year-old who just walked into a room full of adults and refused to leave. Dr. Maxey recently joined the National Advisory Board of the American Racket Sports Association — the national organization uniting tennis, pickleball, and padel professionals. Learn more at americanracketsportsassociation.com. Key Topics Dr. Maxey's path from collegiate athlete to pickleball influencer and entrepreneur The demographic surprise: average pickleball player age is now 34 and dropping Global expansion — Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, and why badminton culture fuels it Houston's indoor pickleball boom: 1 facility to 42 in four years Club conversions, court-sharing, and the monetization reality for facilities The VAIR rating system: recreational vs. certified ratings and why it matters Pickleball as "a nine-year-old" — what that means for the industry's future Keywords Pickleball, Dr. Rommie Maxey, Houston Hammers, VAIR Rating System, Pickleball Growth, Indoor Pickleball, Tennis to Pickleball, Racket Sports Industry, Entrepreneurship, Global Pickleball, ARA, American Racket Sports Association Sound Bites "Pickleb…