With pickleball gaining traction, it should come as no surprise that a pickleball tournament calendar was established and this happened under the auspices of the APP Tour. In this piece below we look at everything associated with The Association of Pickleball Professionals and its history.
Table of Content
What is the APP Tour for Pickleball?
Men’s tennis is governed by the Association of Tennis Professionals (or the ATP) while WTA or Women’s Tennis Association is in charge of the highest level of women’s tennis.
Similarly, the APP or the Association of Pickleball Professionals is a pickleball body under the stewardship of Ken Herrmann that organizes and runs pickleball tournaments throughout the year.
The USA Pickleball Association, or USA Pickleball as it is called is the governing body for pickleball in the country and the APP is a USA Pickleball-sanctioned pickleball tour. It is the first ever sanctioned pickleball tournament tour.
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The APP pickleball circuit consists of a full season of pickleball tournaments for both men and women. These competitions are played at different venues with the 2022 season being the first in which the tournaments were hosted in the USA and internationally.
Two of these 2022 pickleball events were hosted in Mexico while the first ever edition of the English Open, French Open and Spanish Open were also held this year.
Tournaments have a draw for women’s and men’s pro singles, women’s and men’s pro doubles, mixed pro doubles, and similar events for senior pros and super senior pros. The 2022 APP calendar had 32 tournaments announced.
Based on the points earned out of these tournaments, some of the top players qualify for the year-ending The APP Masters tournament.
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How are the APP Rankings Calculated?
As mentioned above, players participating in the tournaments organized on the APP Tour are ranked and the top players can feature in the APP Masters competition.
Players are awarded points based on their performance on the circuit, and much like the ATP & WTA tennis circuit, are calculated on a 12-month rolling calendar.
What this means is a player accumulates points based on his or her performance in the tournaments played in the preceding 12 months only. So points earned in that window of 12 months are added up for the rankings while those outside of that window are removed from a player’s total.
The APP rankings kick-started after the 2020 Chicago Open finished in September 2020 and the rollover of points comes each year, in the same month (i.e. September).
The World Pickleball Rankings are the official rankings for the APP tour and are also endorsed by the USA Pickleball organization.
Get more information on how the pickleball rankings are calculated here.
How to Watch the APP Tour Pickleball Tournaments Live Streaming Online?
More information on pickleball live streaming will be explained in depth in another piece on this website but for now, pickleball tournaments on the APP Tour can be watched live either on their YouTube channel or their Facebook page.
Final Words on the APP Tour in Pickleball
The APP Tour or the Association of Pickleball Professionals is the first pickleball tour sanctioned by the USA Pickleball organization. Tournaments for both, men and women are organized under it and it is one of the many steps forward for the sport of pickleball as its following grows by the year.