In this episode of The Joy of Pickle Ball, host Caitlin Kerr (Pickleball Chick) visits Paddle N Par in Beverly Hills, Michigan, to showcase one of the most visually striking and technologically advanced pickleball venues. The tour begins with a walk‑through of the mid‑century modern lounge, highlighting warm wood tones, acoustic panels, and a sound‑proofed ceiling that creates a comfortable, upscale atmosphere. The core of the facility’s appeal is its integration of Pod Play technology on every court: digital scoreboards, instant replay, downloadable match videos, and an all‑inclusive iPad‑controlled system that tracks scores, opponents, and sides. Kerr and staff discuss how the replay feature fuels social sharing via an in‑app chat channel, allowing players to post highlights and receive feedback. The episode then shifts to the culinary side, describing a scratch‑made menu featuring pizza, salads, whipped ricotta/feta with fire‑roasted beets, and signature mocktails like Blueberry Basil, emphasizing health‑conscious options. Director of programming Chad explains the venue’s community‑building strategy, which blends pickleball with golf simulators (five PGA‑Tour‑endorsed full‑swing bays), a putting green, and multi‑sport capabilities, all designed to attract diverse audiences and encourage repeat visits. Throughout, players and staff share enthusiastic reactions, demonstrating how the combination of design, technology, food, and programming creates a vibrant social club centered on pickleball.
Chapters
Yeah! Dang, baby! Replay! What's up, guys? It's Caitlin Kerr, AKA Pickleball Chick, and I am here in Beverly Hills. No, not the Beverly Hills you're familiar with. I am here in Beverly Hills, Michigan, at the one and only Paddle N Par, one of the most beautiful pickleball facilities, entertainment concepts in the world. Let's go check it out. Ben, the places we've been and the places we are going are unbelievable. You don't see this type of chair at a pickleball facility. Very luxe. As soon as I walk in, I am just blown away. The use of wood and just the aesthetic is amazing.
This is our entry lounge. We've got lounges really everywhere. By design, we wanted to make sure that it felt like a place people could hang out.
This really came out to be one of the most beautiful entertainment concepts I've ever seen.
We leaned heavily into mid-century modern design. We have a lot of warm wood tones, a lot of natural tones, some really beautiful fabrics. The color palette leans mid-century modern. So we really wanted it to feel kind of approachable, comfortable, warm. So we have acoustic panels on the walls and a soundproofing system ceiling clouds, which really helps when you've got 11 courts with full dink going on. You know, it is really nice.
What I love most is you seem to have thought about the distance from the back of the baseline to some sort of structure, as well as you gave a lot of distance for ATP. You also have pro setup monitors for Pod Play on every single court. Absolutely unbelievable.
Yeah, so it's awesome. We adopted, uh, Pod Play early on. It was an easy choice for us. The tech is amazing. And everybody loves it. You know, from the digital scoreboards to the instant replay to being able to download your matches after the fact. It's really sweet.
I mean, you could take a look here. We have hot play screens on every single court. You have the iPads down below that kind of operate each system. And then on each end of the baseline is your little button. It's very all-inclusive. It keeps track of the score, who you're playing, what side you're on.
So it's awesome.
Very easy.
Oh, come on.
Oh my God, Henry! Woo! That's my partner. Come on. That was dirty. All you. Give me the feedback.
You can hit a few more backhand punches at the volley, but I don't have the shot.
You're 100% right. Look at you, Tommy.
Yeah!
Dang, baby! Replay! Hey, T.T.! So, Tommy, you've been in the sport for a very long time, and you're seeing the new technology come into the sport. How is that changing the game?
Most of the new technology is video-based. You know, it started with smartphones and tripods, and now they've got these permanent installations where the video's going all the time and you can go back and watch something, but in real time, immediately after it's happened. And the more people can look at what they're doing, the more they will understand what the teacher is trying to tell them. You know, and you're getting more of that now. The more technology gets involved with the game, the more people will be able to see not only what a demo is from the teacher, but from their own self.
Have you seen anybody use the replay feature and post it on socials yet?
A ton. Yeah, a ton. And we just put our in-app chat into play, so we have a whole channel dedicated now to people sharing the replay so we can share their reshares, which is pretty awesome.
I love the scorekeeping, and then the replays are fun. Yeah. And now there's a way to share them on the app. And so people are sending out like, hey, check out this awesome shot so-and-so had, and study your game and see what you— what you messed up or what you need to work on. Replay! So talk to me a little bit about the food and bev options here. It looks incredible.
Everything's made from scratch, so pizza is the cornerstone of the menu.
Yeah.
We've got some fantastic salads, appetizers, our sandwiches are killer. Everything is baked in-house, all of our bread's made in-house. It really is wonderful. You know, we're a health-conscious social club, so the food leans that way as well.
This is incredible. Let me just say that I have never been to a pickleball facility with food and the detail. Like this salad, what is the salad?
So this is our whipped ricotta with, uh, no, it's not. That's a lie. This is whipped ricotta. This is our whipped feta and fire-roasted beets. Oh, we have an amazing chef. We have an amazing pastry chef. Everything here is made from scratch. Yeah, we're super fortunate to have the team that we do.
It doesn't look like it's thrown in the microwave. No, ma'am.
A huge part of it is, you know, people being able to come in and play and get a workout in and work up a sweat and then come over here and have something fresh and healthy, a cocktail or a mocktail. You know, we have amazing mocktails.
I'm so pumped on this. One sip, everyone knows the rules.
That's our Blueberry Basil.
So good.
Very, very good.
Love.
Right? So we have a lot A lot of people that will come in just for lunch or dinner and just to be in the space and be around the energy of people playing.
It's really cool.
Oh, it's in!
Yeah!
Oh no! I am here with Chad. He is the director of programming and events here at Paddle and Par. Big shoes to fill here. Talk to me a little bit about what you do here.
I'm always looking at how we can kind of bring people into the doors. And into the space to check out what we have to offer. We're running all different kinds of programming to get pickleball players in here, like-minded golfers in here as well, to create a community social club within the space where people are just having some fun, you know, having these activities and then having a food and drink afterwards and creating camaraderie throughout the community.
Love that you guys are bringing it all under one roof.
Yeah.
What has been instrumental in getting people in the door and to keep coming in the door?
Yeah, so I mean, with Pot Play, I mean, I've been tasked with the ability to be the guru within Podplay, within the team. So I know a lot of the ins and outs of what's going on there. So utilizing all the, the features of it to get people in the doors has been phenomenal. And they love kind of all the technology that we have on the courts. And, you know, just seeing the instant replays and, you know, doing all the challenges that they can do within it is pretty impressive. All right, so you have 5 golf simulators here, the number one endorsed full swing simulator by the PGA Tour. We've got 5 of them. They're extra large bays, makes you feel nice and cozy. So this loungy feel in here, we've got the sound barrier wall so you don't hear the pickleball on the outside. We've got a putting green over there as well, and you cannot hear anything.
No, I— all I hear is the music in here. I can't hear anybody playing pickleball, which is amazing.
They'll be in here hitting slap shots after they're slinging back a few. Uh, exactly. Yeah, as you come in, obviously we have a bunch of different things you can play. You can practice if you want to just go practice, you go to the driving range. We also have some spots where you can hit to a bunch of different greens, change that yardage.
So I played soccer my entire life.
Okay, all right, well, same thing.
Play pickleball, play basketball, play softball, golf.
Here we go. Look at that, was absolutely perfect. Went up in the air, we got it all. Super easy.
I always perform well under pressure, no matter the game.
I love that, that is so good. And then we do have an ability to do multi-sport on this simulator, so not just golf.
This is, this This is ridiculous, but this time—
Change it up. And since you're good, we're going to put you up on the pro level here.
I'll show my stuff here.
Yeah.
What?
A little high. A little high.
This is ridiculous, guys. All right, I need to do one more. I got to—
Sounds like we got to get you practicing a little bit more.
I picked up— That is— first of all, I'm working on this.
Sorry.
I'm working on this drill. Michael maybe set this up really, really hard. For you, so that's my fault.
It's on the ground. I think this is playing games with me. I always perform well under pressure. All right, I should just like kick it in.
Look at that.
Oh, wow.
There we go.
Well done. High five.
I don't deserve a high five.
I scored. First try. First try. I'm sorry.
He's embarrassing me. Just had so much fun here at Paddle and Par in Beverly Hills, Michigan. We played pickleball on these beautiful courts that have Pro Pod play setups, which was amazing. The food and beverage is unbelievable, 5 stars, and the people are what make it amazing. They were so welcoming, and I'm so grateful to have been here. The joy of pickleball was definitely spread in this building today. Okay.
