99% Pickleball

If you play pickleball, there’s a good chance you’ve checked your DUPR after a match and either celebrated, questioned the algorithm, or wondered how the heck your rating just went down after a win. For the Season 1 finale of 99% Pickleball , Mari and Nikki sit down with DUPR CEO Tito Machado to talk about what your rating is actually supposed to tell you and why players may be putting way too muc...

What separates a good pickleball player from someone who sees the game completely differently? This week on 99% Pickleball, Mari Humberg and Nikki Maldonado are joined by Kyle Koszuta, professional pickleball player and the creator behind That Pickleball Guy and That Pickleball School . Kyle shares how four years of college basketball shaped the way he sees a pickleball court, from anticipating wh...

What does working full-time in pickleball really look like? This week on 99% Pickleball, Mari Humberg and Nikki Maldonado pull back the curtain on the very different careers they've built around the sport. Mari breaks down what life as a professional player requires beyond tournament weekends, from daily drilling and gym sessions to coaching, clinics, travel, sponsorships, content creation, a...

What does it take to help build one of pickleball's greatest careers while making sure the game stays fun? This week on 99% Pickleball, Mari Humberg and Nikki Maldonado sit down with Leigh Waters , former professional pickleball player, coach, and mother of Anna Leigh Waters, for a conversation about the remarkable journey that put their family at the center of professional pickleball. Leigh...

What does it take for pickleball to become a truly mainstream sport? This week, Mari Humberg and Nikki Maldonado are joined by entertainment publicist, producer, and strategist Ngoc Nguyen, whose work spans Hollywood, philanthropy, and the Global Pickleball Federation. Together, they discuss how media, celebrity involvement, grassroots community, and international growth are shaping the future of...

What if pickleball could be more than just open play and tournaments? This week, Mari Humberg and Nikki Maldonado are joined by Sydney Steinaker, founder of Bassline Sports, to discuss how she's blending music, entertainment, and community to create an entirely new kind of pickleball experience. Sydney shares her journey from law to social media to event production, the story behind the first...

What does it take to raise one of the top young players in professional pickleball? This week, Mari Humberg and Nikki Maldonado are joined by Darrin Klinger, coach, mentor, and father of professional pickleball player CJ Klinger, for one of the most thoughtful conversations we've had on 99% Pickleball. Darrin shares his philosophy on parenting, coaching, and building an environment where comp...

There's never a dull moment in professional pickleball. This week, Mari Humberg and Nikki Maldonado break down one of the craziest weekends in professional pickleball from two very different perspectives. As a recently traded MLP player, Mari shares what it's like competing inside the league, while Nikki reflects on the same weekend through the eyes of a commentator, creator, and fan. Ma...

What does it actually take to grow a sport? This week, Mari Humberg and Nikki Maldonado are joined by Adam Behnke, COO of the Brooklyn Pickleball Team, to discuss the work happening beyond the professional level to help grow pickleball in meaningful and lasting ways. The conversation covers everything from Major League Pickleball and fan engagement to junior development, minor league competition,...

If you've spent any time on pickleball social media, you've probably come across Zane Navratil and Nico the Lefty. In one of the funniest conversations we've had so far on 99% Pickleball, Zane and Nico join Mari Humberg and Nikki Maldonado to discuss how content creation has evolved alongside the sport, what it takes to build genuine connections with players, and why authenticity ma...

Sarah Ansboury has spent years helping shape pickleball both on and off the court. In this week's episode of 99% Pickleball, Sarah joins Mari Humberg and Nikki Maldonado to discuss the sport's rapid growth, her work building coaching education programs, and the opportunities and challenges that come with pickleball's expanding global reach. The conversation covers everything from in...

Why does pickleball feel so different now than it did a few years ago? In the first episode of 99% Pickleball, hosts Mari Humberg and Nikki Maldonado break down how they found the sport, what pulled them into it, and why they felt the pickleball world needed a different kind of conversation. From Mari's journey from Brazil to professional pickleball to Nikki's perspective as a creator de...