The 30-second version
- What happened: The JOOLA Pops Summer Tour, the brand’s first tour of its kind, finished its run this summer – an ice cream truck traveling to courts and community events with paddle demos, games and giveaways.
- The numbers: 34 activations across 15 cities, 4,700-plus attendees, 400-plus paddle demos, and 3,147 popsicles handed out. It started in Dallas.
- Why it matters: Demos solve the one problem specs cannot – paddles are a feel purchase, and almost nobody can tell power from pop off a product page.
- The New England catch: JOOLA’s own recap does not name a New England stop. That is a familiar pattern for players up here.
- What to do about it: You can still demo before you buy – several New England clubs keep demo paddles, and most keep loaners.
The JOOLA Pops Summer Tour has wrapped, and the final tally is a genuinely impressive piece of grassroots marketing: by the time the truck parked for good, JOOLA reported 34 activations across 15 cities, more than 4,700 attendees, over 400 paddle demos and 3,147 free popsicles. The concept was simple – put the brand on wheels, roll an ice cream truck up to courts and community events, and let people swing a paddle they had never heard of while eating something cold.
What was the JOOLA Pops Summer Tour?
It was JOOLA’s first traveling tour, built around the Rally Rocket paddle collection and styled after a summer ice cream run. Each stop combined:
- Paddle demos – the actual point of the exercise, with Rally Rocket paddles in players’ hands.
- Carnival-style games and giveaways to pull in foot traffic beyond the regulars.
- Free popsicles – over three thousand of them, which is how you get non-players to stop and look.
The tour kicked off in Dallas and worked its way across the country. According to JOOLA, a meaningful chunk of the audience had never picked up a paddle before, which was explicitly part of the design – this was as much about recruiting new players as selling to existing ones. Full details are in the recap published on the PPA Tour site.
Why do paddle demos matter more than spec sheets?
Here is the part worth paying attention to, whatever you think of ice cream trucks.
We maintain a database of more than 700 paddles on this site, with core thickness, face material, weight, swing length and third-party power and spin numbers. That data is useful – it will narrow 700 paddles down to five. It will not tell you which of those five feels right in your hand.
- Feel is not on the spec sheet. Two paddles with identical specs can feel completely different depending on balance and handle shape.
- Weight tolerance is personal. A 7.9-ounce paddle that feels planted to one player feels like a brick to another, especially in fast hands battles.
- Grip length decides more than people think. If you hit a two-handed backhand, a 5.5-inch handle is not optional.
- Returns are a hassle. Ten minutes of demo beats a 30-day return window.
That is why a demo tour is more than a marketing stunt. Four hundred demos is four hundred people who got to answer the only question that matters before spending 200 dollars.
Did the tour come to New England?
Not as far as JOOLA’s own recap tells it. The published summary highlights stops beginning in Dallas and running through markets including Chicago and New York, and it does not name a New England city.
I do not say that as a complaint so much as an observation New England players will recognize. We are a real pickleball market – six states, a long indoor season, and clubs opening constantly – but we sit outside the Sun Belt corridor where most brand tours, demo days and pro events concentrate. When the tour buses roll, they usually roll somewhere warmer.
How can New England players demo a paddle anyway?
You do not need a truck. You need a club with a demo bin. A few practical routes:
- Clubs that keep demo paddles. Clock Tower Pickleball in Ashland, MA is one we have listed specifically because they keep demo paddles on hand. Ask at the desk.
- Loaner paddles at open play. Nearly every dedicated indoor club keeps loaners for newcomers. They are usually entry-level, but they will tell you whether you want a heavier or lighter paddle before you spend real money.
- Borrow from your open-play group. The cheapest demo program in the sport. Most players will happily hand you their paddle for a game – and most enjoy being asked about it.
- Tournament and club vendor tables. Larger New England tournaments often have a brand rep with a demo rack. Check our New England tournament calendar for what is coming up.
- Brand demo programs. Several manufacturers ship demo paddles directly for a small fee credited toward a purchase. Worth an email before you buy blind.
What should you actually test in a ten-minute demo?
If you do get a paddle in your hands, do not just bang drives. Test the things you cannot read on a spec sheet:
- Dinks and resets first. Soft-game feel is where cheap paddles expose themselves. Can you take pace off?
- A few hands battles. Does it get through a fast exchange, or is it late?
- Serve and drive last. Nearly every modern paddle hits a fine drive. This is the least useful test.
- Check the grip circumference against what you already use. It changes everything and it is easy to overlook in the excitement.
If you want to narrow the field before you demo anything, our Paddle Finder filters by budget and playing style, and the full paddle database has the specs and third-party ratings behind each model. For the shortlist versions, see the best pickleball paddles for 2026 or the best control paddles.
Frequently asked questions
What was the JOOLA Pops Summer Tour?
It was JOOLA’s first traveling brand tour, built around an ice cream truck that visited courts and community events across the country with paddle demos, carnival games, giveaways and free popsicles, promoting the Rally Rocket paddle collection.
How big was the tour?
JOOLA reported 34 activations across 15 cities, more than 4,700 attendees, over 400 paddle demos and 3,147 popsicles handed out over the course of the summer.
Did the JOOLA Pops Summer Tour visit New England?
JOOLA’s published recap does not name a New England stop. The tour began in Dallas and the recap highlights markets including Chicago and New York.
Where can I demo a pickleball paddle in New England?
Some indoor clubs keep demo paddles – Clock Tower Pickleball in Ashland, MA is one example. Most dedicated clubs also keep loaner paddles for open play, and larger tournaments often host brand vendor tables with demo racks.
Is a paddle demo really necessary?
It is the single best way to avoid an expensive mistake. Specs will narrow your options to a handful, but balance, grip size and soft-game feel differ between paddles with nearly identical spec sheets, and those are what you notice after a month of play.
The bottom line
The JOOLA Pops Summer Tour was a smart piece of marketing, and 400-plus demos is a real number of people who got to try before they bought. The lesson for New England players is not to wait for a truck. Ask your club whether they have a demo bin, borrow a paddle from the guy who will not stop talking about his, and hit twenty dinks with it before you spend two hundred dollars.
Source: PPA Tour, “A Summer to Remember: Recapping the 2026 JOOLA Pops Summer Tour.” Jason Regan runs Regan Family Pickleball, a New England court directory and paddle-review site based in Leominster, MA.