How the Anna Leigh Waters Franklin paddle deal reshapes the pro landscape
How the Anna Leigh Waters Franklin paddle deal reshapes the pro landscape
Anna Leigh Waters walking away from Paddletek and signing a long term contract with Franklin Sports is the most consequential paddle deal in professional pickleball this season. The Anna Leigh Waters Franklin paddle deal shifts the center of gravity toward a mass market sporting goods brand that already sells balls, nets and entry level paddles in big box sports chains, and now wants credibility at the very top of professional pickleball. For competitive players who track every press release and every paddle deal, this move signals that Franklin will pour serious resources into pro pickleball rather than treating it as a side sport.
The timeline is tight but clear for any pickleball player who follows the PPA Tour and Major League Pickleball broadcasts. First came the quiet end of the Paddletek contract, then the official press release from Franklin Sports on January 3, 2024 announcing that Anna Leigh and her mother and coach Leigh Waters would anchor a new pro pickleball roster built around a flagship Franklin pickleball paddle line. In that announcement, Franklin’s president Adam Franklin reportedly called Waters “the face of the modern game,” while Anna Leigh said she was “excited to help design paddles that any player can pick up and trust on day one,” which reinforces that this is a performance driven partnership rather than a simple logo swap.
For context, Franklin already had a foothold in pickleball through its X-40 ball, rec paddles and broad sporting goods distribution, but it lacked a dominant women’s singles and doubles player. By signing Anna, Franklin gains a player whose passion game style, aggressive kitchen pressure and relentless transition zone attacks are replayed in every PPA Tour broadcast and in countless social media posts. That visibility means recreational players and aspiring pros will see a Franklin paddle in almost every televised point, and that repeated image will quietly influence what players reach for when they walk into a local sports retailer or scroll through an online brand catalog. Independent coverage such as the Franklin January 3, 2024 sponsorship announcement, Paddletek’s roster updates and ongoing PPA Tour broadcast notes all point to this deal as a watershed moment in Franklin pickleball sponsorship strategy and in how mainstream brands approach elite pickleball gear.
What Franklin’s paddle lineup offers and what rec players should actually bag
Franklin’s current pickleball paddle catalog spans cheap composite options on big box walls and more serious carbon fiber faces aimed at the professional pickleball crowd. The Anna Leigh Waters Franklin paddle deal almost guarantees that the next generation of Franklin paddle models will lean into textured carbon fiber, higher twist weight for stability and a softer polymer core that matches the control heavy trend highlighted in the Empower Pickleball Paddle Report and The Dink reviewer roundup. That is good news for 4.0 players who want a pro level response without the harsh feel that plagued some earlier Franklin Sports paddles.
Right now, Franklin’s tour level paddles already show the brand learning from what players like Ben Johns, Anna Leigh and other pro pickleball player specialists have proven on court. You see elongated shapes for reach at the kitchen, thicker cores for a bigger sweet spot on the ball and surface textures that generate spin without crossing USA Pickleball limits, all of which matter more in a tight game than any logo or press release. In practical terms, that means a 4.0 tournament player might look at a Franklin Signature Carbon STK or similar elongated control paddle in the 8.0–8.3 ounce range with a 4.25 inch grip, while a developing 3.5 player may prefer a lighter 7.6–7.9 ounce option with the same handle size for easier maneuverability. Exact Franklin paddle model names, official weight ranges and grip specs should always be confirmed against the latest Franklin Sports product pages or current USA Pickleball approved paddle lists, because manufacturers routinely tweak layups and balance points between production runs.
Recreational players should not assume that every professional paddle suits their sport or their arm. A heavy carbon fiber face that Anna Leigh uses in a PPA Tour final might feel like a club in a two hour rec game at your local park, especially if you are still learning to track the ball cleanly on the sweet spot. For most players, the smarter move is to look at Franklin’s mid priced line, compare it with other top carbon fiber pickleball paddles in independent tests such as this guide to carbon fiber paddles, and then pick the model whose weight and grip size match your hand rather than just copying a pro. Resources like the Empower Pickleball Paddle Report and The Dink’s paddle reviews, along with in house playtests and retailer demos, give you a clearer sense of how Franklin pickleball paddles stack up against competing brands in terms of power, control, spin and arm comfort.
Why this matters more to 4.0 tournament players than to casual fans
For casual pickleball fans who play once a week, the Anna Leigh Waters Franklin paddle deal will mostly show up as a new logo on a broadcast graphic or a different paddle color in a highlight post. For the 3.5 to 4.5 tournament player who lives on PPA Tour streams, scrolls every comment under pro clips and treats pro pickleball as a second language, this kind of paddle deal shapes what shows up on local courts for years. Sponsor visibility at Major League Pickleball events, regional tournaments and even Nike or other cross sport campaigns quietly nudges players toward one brand or another, whether they admit it or not.
Paddletek now faces a real product roadmap problem without its flagship player, because losing Anna Leigh and Leigh Waters means losing the most visible mother daughter team in the sport. Their engineers will need to lean on other pros and high level players to validate new cores and faces, while Franklin Sports can now build entire marketing cycles around Waters family storylines and the passion game identity that Anna brings to every match. That imbalance will be obvious at big events where one brand has multiple center court matches and the other is fighting for a single featured player slot, and it will likely influence which paddles retailers stock, which brands dominate social media highlight reels and which sponsorships younger players dream about when they picture their own future paddle deals.
For your own bag, the measured take is simple: Anna Leigh’s switch should prompt you to re evaluate your paddle, not to copy hers blindly. Watch how her new Franklin paddle handles in hand battles, resets and dink exchanges, then ask whether your current setup lets you hit the same patterns at your own speed and skill level, and use independent tests such as this foam core paddle review to understand how different cores feel over the long term. If you are already a serious pickleball player who travels for tournaments, also think about the rest of your sporting goods setup, from shoes that may or may not be Nike to a backpack that actually fits multiple paddles and balls, and resources like this guide to choosing the right pickleball backpack can help you build a kit that serves your game long after the latest paddle deal fades from the news cycle, because what wins matches is not the logo on your paddle but the tenth tournament game you grind out with gear that truly fits you and supports your style of play.