History
So, let's take it from the beginning, its not too long of a story, In late January 2023, the company and its vision were conceived when Bill Gitre and Jeff Thompson met for the first time in their hometown of Boyne City, Michigan, just north of the 45th parallel on the shores of Lake Charlevoix. The two committed to exploring ways to create a superior pickleball paddle. After some white board meetings, and crazy ideas being thrown against the wall, the vision, a new "way" to create a paddle emerged, and the pair knew their vision now had a mission. Thompson Pickleball Paddle Company was formed in March, 2023.
Early on, the two agreed that carbon fibre was the way to go, but the edge-guard as is common on 90% of paddles, had to go, and that the paddles had to be made in America. They quickly understood that the edge guard is clearly an after-thought and unrefined technology that is unbefitting the game itself (as if seeing an edge guard on a ping pong paddle and thinking thats okay, yea, right). There is the mission, pretty simple, right?.
Well, not so fast. It quickly became apparent that making a paddle in the US is not so easy. Most paddles are assembled in the US, with the components all sourced in China. Domestic fabrication is just putting the edge-guard and grip on the core. It's all made in China. If the company wented to take that route, it be selling paddles in weeks. But, that was not our mission. The mission was to build the most advanced, best performing paddle truly constructed in the US with US sourced components and made with American hands and eyes on every aspect of the production process.
As of December 1, 2024, the company has made 27 prototypes to test materials, shapes, weighting and balancing of paddles, handles, grips, etc. Jeff and Bill have refined the prototypes and have selected the premiere new paddle to come onto the market: The Thompson Model P 290 Pro (nicknamed "Finn").
Thompson Pickleball Paddle Company is just beginning to write its story, and will be making historic advancements in paddle technology for years to come, and all made in America!!
