From elite tennis to paddle innovation: The story behind Enhance Pickleball
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Before founding Enhance Pickleball in 2022, Connor Hance and Drew Baird spent most of their lives competing at the highest levels of junior tennis.
Both were nationally ranked players who grew up immersed in the sport. Hance reached No. 1 in the nation in his age division at 16, while Baird climbed to No. 12 in the world in the ITF under-18 rankings.
The two first crossed paths on the junior tennis circuit before eventually becoming close friends, roommates and teammates at UCLA, where both competed.
It was during their college years that they were introduced to two things that would ultimately shape their futures: Pickleball and entrepreneurship.
What began as a shared interest quickly turned into something much bigger.
From players to business owners
When Hance and Baird first entered the pickleball industry, they saw an opportunity in a relatively overlooked category: Training equipment. Drawing on their backgrounds as competitive athletes, they began developing training aids designed to help players improve their games, while simultaneously building a community through instructional content.
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As the company grew, so did their ambitions.
For both founders, equipment had always been more than just a tool for competing. Growing up, they had been fascinated by tennis rackets, constantly experimenting with different specifications, weight distributions and customizations to understand how small changes could impact performance.
Naturally, that same curiosity carried over to pickleball paddles.
“We’ve both been playing racket sports at a really high level our entire lives,” Baird said. “When you’ve spent that much time competing, you develop a really good understanding of what equipment should feel like. We were always obsessed with paddles, and eventually we just wanted to make our own.”
They already had experience in product development and overseas manufacturing from making their training aids, so the transition into designing their own paddles felt like the obvious next step.
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Making performance more accessible
Enhance entered the paddle market in 2024 with the Sweet Spot Pro, followed by the Banger. Initially, the goal was straightforward: Create high-quality, affordable paddles that delivered great value.
But as Hance and Baird began working more closely with engineers and manufacturers, their vision evolved.
They realized that the manufacturing capabilities and technical expertise available to them could produce premium equipment that was beyond their existing budget options. They now had the ability to develop genuinely innovative products capable of competing with the very best paddles in the industry.
That realization marked a turning point for Enhance Pickleball.
Rather than simply following existing trends, the founders began investing more heavily in research, development and experimentation. Today, Hance and Baird regularly travel overseas to work directly alongside their manufacturing partners, testing new materials, refining designs and exploring technologies that push the boundaries of paddle performance.
“We’re extremely involved in developing our paddles,” Baird said. “We’re working on products every single day, testing prototypes, talking with our engineers, and figuring out exactly how we want each paddle to perform.”
Their approach combines the instincts of lifelong competitive athletes with the engineering expertise needed to bring ambitious ideas to life.
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The evolution of Enhance
The results of that commitment have become increasingly apparent with each new release.
The Duo in late 2025 represented Enhance’s first major breakthrough, introducing a unique core construction that helped establish the brand as a serious competitor in the performance paddle market.
Next came the Turbo, which combined high-level performance with exceptional value. Available for around $100 with promotional discounts, it quickly became one of the standout budget paddles of 2026.
Now, Enhance is preparing to introduce its most ambitious paddle yet: The Echo.
Launching Nov. 20, the Echo features a first-of-its-kind MPP core construction with full internal voids, along with the company’s latest ArmorGrit Plus surface technology. It represents the culmination of extensive prototype testing, material experimentation and close collaboration with engineering teams.
“The Echo has been a massive project for us,” Baird said. “We’ve spent so much time working through the construction, testing different prototypes, and refining the feel. We’re at a point now where we have a much deeper understanding of paddle engineering, and the Echo really reflects that.”
Just getting started
What began as two college tennis teammates exploring an opportunity in pickleball has evolved into a brand with approximately 650,000 followers across its social platforms and ambitions to compete with the biggest paddle manufacturers in the world.
Despite that growth, the philosophy behind Enhance remains the same.
Hance and Baird are still players first. They still approach equipment with the same curiosity that led them to experiment with their tennis rackets as kids. And they remain personally involved in developing, testing and refining the products they bring to market.
Their vision also extends beyond creating innovative paddles. They want Enhance to become one of the most respected brands in the sport, known not only for performance and technology but also for quality, value and exceptional customer service.
“We want Enhance to be a household name in pickleball,” Hance said. “We want to be competing with the biggest brands in the industry, and we think we’re getting closer with every release.”
For Enhance, innovation is about creating equipment that genuinely improves the experience of playing pickleball. And even after years of development, the founders believe they’re just beginning to realize what’s possible.
“We’ve learned an incredible amount over the past few years, and we’re still getting better at this every day,” Baird said. “I think we’re only a few more great releases away from being exactly where we want to be.”
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