About us

Just like everyone else, we started out as pickleball skeptics — and like all pickleball players know, one time was all it took to be hopelessly, enthusiastically, blindingly addicted! We loved the game and we loved the “pickleball spirit” of community over conquest even more. But just playing a regular game wasn’t enough for us. How, oh how, we thought, can we get pickleball to be even more pickleball-y? Enter Pickleball Twist©, our labor of love. A game that turns up the silly, zany aspects of pickleball to 1000%. A game that gives great players crafty skill challenges. A game that will make you bond with your partner until you’re (and we mean this literally) howling together!

We’ve been friends since our college a cappella days at UCLA  — before Danny was out but after Janet was 21. Before either of us met our spouses (and before lots of ex-boyfriends). We’ve gone on trips together to Hawaii, to fitness conferences, to the wilderness of Oregon, but this is the first time we’ve gone into business together! Danny brings business acumen and start-up knowhow from over a decade in tech. Janet brings a deep understanding of gameplay and positive emotions as a psychology professor. We both bring an obsessive attention to detail combined with a serious streak of silliness. We hope you’ll enjoy our little game, and have the best game of pickleball ever!

How we made this game

Danny had the lightbulb moment. One day after playing at our favorite spot (the Presidio Wall courts in San Francisco), Janet got a text from Danny:

The lightbulb moment

The “haha, what if we actually did this” turned into more serious activity:

 

Thanks, AI, for creating a Pickleball Jwist logo

We took many months just having fun coming up with card ideas. That led to marathon playtesting sessions well into nighttime. We agonized over whether it should be called PickleTwist or Pickleball Twist. We talked to a lot of people about pickleball, about business, about art, and about whether Stephen Colbert would like this game.

We then roped Janet’s sister-in-law, SF-based artist and writer Jordan Kushins, into doing the art. We knew her whimsical style would be a perfect match. We appreciated that the first bullet point in her agenda doc was always “I’m having so much fun!” and indeed, we laughed a lot in those design review meetings.

An early version of 'The Crown' that got nixed pretty quickly

Some finishing touches and a garage full of decks later, now you’re part of the Pickleball Twist story! Go out there, be ready for curious and jealous onlookers, and show us your twisted game by tagging us @PickleballTwist!