Don Guillette
Andrea Molberg
SPA member Don Guillette has managed the club’s demo day/intro lessons program over the last 4.5 years, sold 450 plus pickleball paddles and knows a lot about pickleball paddle grips. The grip on a paddle, which deteriorates with normal play, distracts a player if it does not feel right. Eventually the paddle will be unplayable.
To Don’s knowledge there are no stores in Tucson that will re-grip pickleball paddles. He fills that void. When the grip on his own paddles deteriorated, he checked local sporting goods stores and found only one, which is no longer in business, which would re-grip pickleball paddles. Their service cost $20 to $25 and was inconsistent because employees skilled in re-gripping were not always in their employ. Having re-gripped many tennis rackets, Don thought the process for a pickleball paddle would be similar and his review of a YouTube pickleball paddle re-gripping tutorial confirmed he was correct. Now Don provides the service.
Guillette has re-gripped over 125 pickleball paddles for SPA members. His grip of choice is the Gamma Competition Gel Grip. The gel grip is designed to absorb the shock of the pickleball hitting the face of the paddle and to prevent that shock from transferring from the handle to the player’s wrist and eventually elbow. According to Don most paddle manufacturers, in an effort to keep production costs low, use a cheap grip as thin as electrical tape. Unfortunately cheap grips deteriorate rapidly and don’t absorb shock.
Don charges $15 to re-grip a pickleball paddle. His service provides pick up and delivery and, in most cases, same day service! In addition, if the paddle edging is loose and repairable, he makes that repair free. If a player continues to play with a loose edging, the core will eventually break down and the paddle will be unusable.
Pickleball players interested in returning deteriorated grip and loose edged paddles to like new condition can contact Don at 818-2891 or [email protected].