Racquet Sports Innovation

RADL Wire | This Week in Racquet Sports Innovation

From tech breakthroughs to fashion-forward design, this week’s lineup showcases how style, data, and digital innovation continue to drive racquet sports forward. Glove It leads the way with its 2026 Tennis & Pickleball Collection—reimagining women’s court accessories with a touch of luxury and a focus on performance. The Pickleball GameChanger debuts as the world’s first wearable training aid, giving players real-time feedback to sharpen consistency and control. And in a major industry move, Agassi Sports Entertainment and IBM have teamed up to launch an AI-powered platform set to redefine player analytics and coaching—ushering in what they call “Agassi Intelligence,” the next frontier in smart racquet sports.

• Adidas, Glove It hit the courts with new collections

• Worlds First Wearable Pickleball Training Aid

• Agassi Sports Entertainment Announce AI-Powered Platform

APPAREL IN PLAY

Adidas Originals and Brain Dead Reimagine on-court Performance With the Barricade 13 Sneaker

This Fall, adidas and Brain Dead are set to link up once again – this time presenting two collaborative takes on one of the Three Stripes’ most advanced tennis silhouettes: the Barricade 13. Building on a continued effort to reimagine classic tennis-inspired style, this collaboration blends heritage elements with disruptive design.

Bringing off-kilter lifestyle aesthetics to the court, the Brain Dead Barricade 13 sees the label reimagine the look and feel of performance tennis gear. Harnessing Brain Dead’s distinct aesthetic rebellion, the Barricade 13 is reinterpreted with two experimental executions that fuse the brand’s disruptive design language with adidas Barricade’s foundational features: a supportive torsion system, Adiwear outsole, and engineered fit. This collaboration overlays Brain Dead’s interpretation onto high-performance design.

Glove It Unveils 2026 Tennis & Pickleball Collection and Luxe New Bags

Glove It, a premier brand in women’s sport accessories, unveils its 2026 Tennis & Pickleball Collection—featuring fully redesigned women’s racquet bags, premium court accessories, and a major innovation in visor construction. This new lineup reflects Glove It’s continued evolution across racquet sports, offering stylish functionality from the court to the clubhouse. This collection will be available in November 2025. 

The collection introduces its hero pieces, the fully redesigned Tennis Backpacks & Pickleball Totes. Crafted with new materials and elevated fabrics, every piece delivers a refined feel with lasting performance. Their key features include quilted nylon construction with reinforced bottoms, hidden fence hooks, and racquet/paddle compartments that make these bags versatile for both travel & play.   LEARN MORE

ACCESSORIES

Worlds First Wearable Pickleball Training Aid

Meet the Pickleball GameChanger — the first wearable device designed to transform your pickleball game from the ground up. Built to help you master consistency, control, and precision, this innovative training tool gives players of all levels the feel and feedback needed to perfect their technique.

Stabilize Your Wrist
A floppy wrist is the #1 source of inconsistency in pickleball. With the GameChanger, you’ll train your wrist to stay stable through every shot — ensuring a consistent angle, solid contact, and the foundation for perfect footwork. Over time, your muscles and mind will memorize the ideal position automatically.

Master Grip Pressure
Control starts with the right grip. The GameChanger’s patent-pending design helps you develop light, confident grip pressure — key for controlling hard shots at the baseline or soft dinks at the kitchen line. Feel the difference as your touch, accuracy, and confidence skyrocket.

Perfect Spin & Trajectory
By maintaining the proper wrist angle, the GameChanger allows you to generate and control spin and trajectory like never before. It isolates forearm rotation — the secret behind pro-level topspin shots — so you can attack from both forehand and backhand sides with precision. LEARN MORE

INDUSTRY NEWS

Golfing Magazine Spreads its wings into the Pickleball World

“It only makes sense when you look at the demographics of the 2 sports and with Pickleball sweeping the nation and since the pandemic Golf has had an amazing resurgence” stated Tom Landers, Publisher of Golfing Magazine. “Paddles and Putters” is born and will be an ongoing feature in all 5 Issues of Golfing Magazine.  Issue number 2 introduced the inaugural Putters & Paddles Classic, a golf and pickleball vacation, by one of North America’s premier golf tour operators, Golf Zoo, destination, the iconic Saddlebrook Resort just north of Tampa, Florida, more product reviews and industry news. Paddles & Putters | Golfing Magazine

PickleRage Signs New Franchise Deal to Bring Indoor Pickleball Club to Raleigh, NC

PickleRage, a premier indoor pickleball club franchise, is thrilled to announce its newest location coming soon to Raleigh, NC, marking another milestone in the brand’s continued national growth and commitment to delivering premium indoor pickleball experiences across the country. With a club already coming to Jacksonville, the Raleigh location will bring PickleRage’s signature state-of-the-art indoor courts, professional-grade amenities, and welcoming social atmosphere to one of the Southeast’s most vibrant communities.

IBM and Agassi Sports Entertainment Announce AI-Powered Platform to Advance Global Racquet Sports

Agassi Sports Entertainment (ASE) Corp. and IBM announced a multi-year collaboration aimed to transform the global racquet sports landscape through next generation artificial intelligence and digital innovation. They have signed a partnership agreement to bring together IBM’s technology and expertise with ASE’s vision for an innovative digital community across racquet sports. Leveraging IBM’s watsonx.ai and computer vision technology, ASE and IBM will create tools that analyze athletic movement using everyday video footage. The platform will feature AI technology and advanced video analytics – referred to as “Agassi Intelligence” – to deliver professional-grade coaching directly to players’ mobile devices.