A sound-dampening pad for a paddle used in a paddle sport that uses a ball, the pad including a cushion material disposed on a first side of the pad; an adhesive disposed on a second side of the pad configured to attach the pad the paddle; wherein the cushion material reduces the sound of the paddle striking the ball.

An apparatus and methods are provided for a sports paddle for pickleball, tennis, smashball, ping pong, or racquetball. The sports paddle comprises a planar portion for striking a ball and a handle portion for grasping in a hand. A skin layer encloses the planar portion and the handle portion. Rounded edges are disposed around the planar portion and the handle portion. The planar portion may comprise an internal string core coupled with structured foam layers and surrounded by carbon fiber layers. The planar portion may comprise a core material surrounded by a rigid portion. The rigid portion may comprise 20-24 lb. foam while the core material is a honeycomb structured material. A synthetic or polymeric grip is wrapped around the handle portion to provide stability and firmness for a player. A binding secures the grip to a neck of the planar portion.

A sports training system can include a target board and a controller configured to control operations of the target board. The target board can be configured to be hit by a ball that is struck by a player, and rebound the ball to the player. The target board can include a plurality of board zones and vibration sensors respectively corresponding to the board zones. Each vibration sensor can sense vibration of a respective board zone. The controller can control illumination of a light source to designate one of the board zones as a target board zone for the player to hit with the ball, and determine whether the ball has hit the target board zone based on whether a vibration signal characteristic of the target board zone being hit by the ball is received from the vibration sensor corresponding to the target board zone.

A pickleball paddle may include a core, a vibration dampening layer coupled to the core, and an outer layer coupled to the vibration dampening layer. A pickleball paddle may include a core assembly including a core, an outer layer, an intermediate layer located between the core and the outer layer, and a vibration dampening layer coupled to at least one of the core, the intermediate layer, and the outer layer. A pickleball paddle may include a core assembly including a core, an outer layer, and a vibration dampening layer coupled to at least one of the core, and the outer layer.

An integrated structure pickleball paddle and a preparation process thereof are provided, where the pickleball paddle includes a paddle body, an edge banding, and a handle, where the edge banding and the paddle body are fused into an integrated structure by hot pressing, where the material of the edge banding is a modified TPU composite material, where the modified TPU composite material includes the following raw materials in parts by mass: 90-100 parts of modified TPU, 9-14 parts of polyvinyl fluoride, 20-30 parts of epoxy resin, 10-20 parts of ABS resin, 5-10 parts of modified nano-silicon dioxide, 0.3-0.6 parts of antioxidant, 0.2-0.5 parts of fluidity aid, 4-9 parts of 4,4-methylene-bis(2-chloroaniline), and 3-7 parts of silicone oil. The edge banding and the paddle body are hot pressed and fused into an integrated structure, the edge banding will not fall off, and the comprehensive performance of the edge banding is better.

This disclosure describes pickleball paddle holders. An example standalone pickleball paddle holding system comprises a movable surface with a plurality of pickleball paddle hold structures. The movable surface is configured to move between two fixed end objects. Example standalone pickleball paddle holding systems may provide a table look-and-feel that is similar to existing pickleball holders. In some examples, the systems are portable.

A racket comprises a handle and a body connected to the handle. The body includes a core layer, a first surface layer, a first inner layer disposed so as to sandwich the first surface layer with the core layer, and a first outer layer disposed so as to sandwich the first inner layer with the first surface layer. The first inner layer is an elastic body. The first outer layer has a higher stiffness than the first inner layer. The core layer has a higher stiffness than the first inner layer.

A base stand for multi-player pickleball has a central post and three elongated members extending from the post substantially perpendicular to post. The elongated members are oriented about 120 degrees apart. Three legs extending from a distal end of the post to support the base stand on a playing surface. Nets are connected to the elongated members positioned about 120 degrees apart to form a circular pickleball court.

A ball may include a spherical shell, and apertures defined in the spherical shell. The apertures may be formed in the spherical shell based at least in part on a N-frequency tessellation of the spherical shell. A method of forming a ball may include molding a first hemisphere, molding a second hemisphere, and coupling the first hemisphere to the second hemisphere to form a spherical shell. The spherical shell may include apertures defined in the spherical shell based at least in part on a N-frequency tessellation of the spherical shell.

An example pickleball paddle may include a handle and a head coupled to the handle. The head portion includes a first plate extending in a first plane, a second plate extending in a second plane parallel to the first plane and a honeycomb arrangement of unit cells between the first plate and the second plate. Each of the unit cells has a centerline extending non-perpendicular to the first plane and the second plane.