Zane Navratil - Our biggest guest yet!!! The accountant turned pickleball pro, known for the chainsaw serve and podcasting success. We discuss Zane's journey from spreadsheets to MLP, his experiences at the Melbourne PPA, and his impressions of the Australian pickleball scene. Zane shares insights into his competitive experiences, views on MLP rule changes, and the financial intricacies of pickleball leagues. We discuss the irony of transitioning from tennis to pickleball and Zane reads a Picklers Parchment article your go to for entertaining fake pickleball news. Zane recommends the best Barbecue in Austin and even has time to give Adam and Colin some tips to take them from a 4.5 to 5 DUPR (hopefully!).

00:00 Intro: Zane Navratil

00:33 How we met and first Impressions

02:42 Pickleball in Australia: A New Experience

05:53 Joey Wild's Journey to Pickleball and a clinic with Zane

08:58 Proton Bankruptcy and the stolen flaming flamingo

14:43 MLP Rule Changes

25:34 PWR League and Player Payments

29:16 The Pickle Pod: Evolution and Insights

32:23 Discovering Austin's Best Barbecue

34:39 Pickleball Training and Improvement

43:18 Pickler Parchment Fake News

49:00 Concluding Thoughts and Future Plans

In this episode Adam dives one on one into an inspiring conversation with Aaron Blitz, a pioneer of Australian pickleball. Aaron shares his journey from founding the Southeast Melbourne Pickleball Club to becoming the captain of the Melbourne Mavericks in Major League Pickleball Australia. Despite facing significant health challenges, including a battle with Hodgkin's lymphoma, Aaron's resilience and dedication have made him a leading figure in the sport. The episode covers his early days in pickleball, the growth of the sport in Victoria and his experiences as a pickleball ambassador. Aaron's story is one of resilience, leadership, pain and triumph over adversity.

What's up in Aus Pickleball in January?

Well besides the NPL and MLP Drafts we've got big news about a new group who has formed and will be kicking off with 5 events in 2025 to promote a league format exclusive to the 40, 50 and 60 year old demographic.

In an exciting movement this group will also be guaranteeing round robin format instead of an elimination draw so more Pickleball for all!

We also chat about some other stuff involving DUPR's and an Aussie's tilt recently at The Masters in the US.

MATT CARTER is back to help us unpack the MLP Australia draft with DYLAN KIMLIN, COLIN and ADAM. We cover some of the more interesting picks in this years draft with only 5 Australian's picked in this draft. What was the controversial selection that raised the eye brows in the pickleball world? What does MLP Aus look like in 2026? What is the feeling amongst the Aussie pickleball scene? All these questions answered and more in this one!

MATT CARTER and DYLAN KIMLIN join COLIN and ADAM as special guest to unpack the recent NPL Draft for their first of two seasons in 2025! MATT CARTER brings valuable insights after crossing over from MLP to NPL in 2025 having been the Captain of the New Zealand Hustle he shares stories about what it's like drafting your own team to now being drafted into NPL team the Opals. DYLAN KIMLIN is the voice of Pickleball in Australia and has commentated basically every NPL match since it's inception. Dylan shares all the players to watch in 2025! We also have a SPECIAL GUEST INTERVIEW phone in, none other than JOEY WILD Captain of NPL team the Brumbies to tell us all about his new team from the draft!

Coach Costin takes us through his thoughts leading into the MLP draft for season 2025 which includes 6 events in Australia and New Zealand.

Ben shares some of his key coaching insights and strategies for picking the best NPL players as well as some key players who should be picked.

Coach Costin takes us through his thoughts leading into the first NPL draft of 2025.

Ben shares some of his key coaching insights and strategies for picking the best NPL players as well as some key players who should be picked.

The Most Anticipated Guest of the Year: Vish Masand!

The wait is over—Vishal Masand, aka Vish, aka Vishus, aka Brown Daddy, finally graces Slam Jam The Podcast with his much-anticipated debut! After months of Adam gatekeeping, much to Ty and Colin’s frustration, Vish is here to spill the tea and drop the mic.

In this episode, Vish shares how a chance daycare connection with Ty sparked his pickleball journey and ultimately led to weekly battles on the court with Ty, Colin, and Adam. From that first game, Vish was hooked—pickleball’s most Vishus ambassador was born. We dive into his whirlwind year on the PPA/MLP Australia tour, packed with hilarious stories of tournaments, triumphs, and a few travel misadventures.