Funny Pickleball Tees

Most players wear a t-shirt or polo, athletic shorts or a skort, and court shoes with flat, non-marking soles. Running shoes are the common mistake: they are built for moving forward, and pickleball is played sideways, so they roll at the ankle on quick lateral steps. There is no dress code at public courts. Some leagues and tournaments ask for a collared shirt, so it is worth checking before you show up.

A t-shirt with a joke only players understand is the safest gift, because it does not have to fit their gear preferences. Paddles are risky: grip size, weight and surface are personal, and anyone who plays regularly already has one they like. Balls wear out and are boring to receive. A shirt about the sport works whether they play twice a year or five times a week.

The kitchen is the non-volley zone, a 7-foot area on each side of the net where you cannot hit the ball out of the air. You are allowed to stand in it. You are only breaking the rule if you volley while touching it, including stepping in from momentum right after the shot. Its real name is the non-volley zone, and almost nobody calls it that.

A dink is a soft shot hit from near the kitchen line that arcs just over the net and lands in the opponent’s kitchen. The point is to keep the ball low so they cannot smash it. Dink rallies are how most points at intermediate level are actually won: not by hitting harder, but by waiting for the other pair to get impatient and pop one up.

You can, and plenty of people do, but cotton holds sweat instead of moving it, so it gets heavy in a long session. Our tees are garment-dyed heavyweight cotton, which is built for how it looks and how long it lasts rather than for moisture wicking. They are made for warm-ups, the drive to the courts, the bar afterwards and the rest of the week. If you sweat hard through three straight games, wear a technical shirt for that and change into this one after.

Order your usual t-shirt size. Ours run S through 3XL on a relaxed, boxy fit that is a little wider and shorter than a slim tee. Garment-dyed cotton shrinks slightly the first wash, which the cut already accounts for. If you are between sizes or want it looser over shorts, size up.

Four to twelve business days across the United States, door to door. Each shirt is printed after you order it rather than pulled off a shelf, so the first two to seven days are production and the rest is transit. Shipping is $5.50, or free on orders over $85. You get tracking as soon as it leaves the facility.

Yes, and there is no minimum order. Any design can be printed with your team or club name underneath, and we email you a proof before anything goes to production. Because the buy three, get one free deal applies to the whole cart, a group of four pays for three shirts, and eight shirts cost the price of six.