Every good pickleball story starts with a courtside conversation.
Ryan Rabidou – an avid athlete and father – was on his yearly winter sojourn in 2021 from Vermont to the Florida Keys, playing pickleball and overwintering with his family.
While playing in Marathon Key, he met Dave Tribbett, a noted tinkerer and software engineer from Philadelphia, among local pickleballers.
They got to talking, as so many strangers do on the pickleball court, and Dave mentioned he was working on a new pickleball practice machine and he thought Ryan would be an excellent entrepreneurial partner.
"I didn't expect anything to come of it. But over a year later, Dave calls me," Ryan explains. "Not recognizing this Philly number, I hesitantly picked up the phone."
"'It’s ready,' says this voice on the other line."
“Who is this? I ask."
“'It’s Dave with the pickleball machine!'”
From left: Dave Tribbett, Frank Pizzichillio, & Ryan Rabidou
Ryan says he was very busy at the time and didn’t exactly feel he could commit to another project. But isn't that how most skeptics who try pickleball feel right before they step onto the court?
Just like those skeptics, Ryan's mind changed after he tried the prototype Dave sent after they reconnected.
In the year between meeting Ryan and giving him a call, Dave hired Frank Pizzichillio, Director of Distribution, who has over 25 years of business development experience, many of which were at Fortune 500 companies.
"I remember on the call, Dave tells me about Frank and says, 'We are a two-legged barstool that needs a third leg!'" Ryan says.
It wasn't long before the three formed Victory Sports Technologies to start bringing The ERNE Pickleball Machine to market.
Why Build a Pickleball Machine?
Some estimates of pickleball participation say about 10% or more of US adults play.
So if you're a player hoping to improve, you'd think there would be plenty of people to drill with. But you'd be wrong.
"Most people just want to go out, play actual games, and socialize," Ryan says.
"That’s totally fine, but drilling is where you see the most efficient, meaningfully-implemented improvements.
Since most players are totally content to learn only by playing real games, there are many issues aspirational players face when looking for drilling partners:
- It's hard to rip them away from full games
- Many think a few dinks back and forth before a game is good enough
- Some of them don't want to work on the same areas you do
But of course, a pickleball machine never gets tired, never cancels at the last minute, never gets tennis elbow.
"Unless you love doing it, training is hard work," Dave says. "But it shouldn't be any harder than what you put into it, which is why I created ERNE."
From Customer's Mouths to the Design Board
Existing fans of the ERNE will tell you that the Victory Sports crew are some of the most approachable people in pickleball.
Ryan says the team regularly fields requests for specific programmable drills and other feature adds...and they listen, even when feedback comes unexpectedly.
During one of his other family trips, Ryan was staying at an RV resort outside of Naples, Florida called Silver Lakes.
One of the regulars at a court there saw Ryan with his ERNE hat, told him how the machine had completely changed his game.
"He was able to squeeze out of me that I was one of the partners at ERNE. I was staying there for two weeks, so he and I went out to the courts a few times and I showed him some of my favorite drills," Ryan explains.
"We still stay in touch and chat pickleball and ERNE."
Meanwhile, back home in Vermont, Ryan has a solid base of customers that he brings out to the courts and runs drills with.
"I like to run them through ATP and ATP defense drills, things you wouldn't normally be able to practice with just one drill partner. It's impressive how quickly you can improve at ATP's and defense in general when you can practice with a hopper load of 150 balls."
The ERNE's Design
The ERNE's initial production run of 150 machines sold out within 12 days. It can fire balls at you with precision from 10 to 65 miles per hour. Most importantly, it can be programmed via an app to run you through all kinds of pickleball drills.
And, according to designer Dave, The ERNE still evolving.
"We have a long roadmap!" Dave says. "The current version has only achieved about 50% of the machine I originally laid out three years ago, but it's pretty great right now."
Dave wanted to create a truly smart pickleball training solution that can evolve with the game, ensuring aspirational players can always rely on ERNE to help them prepare for new, challenging scenarios.
So he built the intelligence into the ERNE's app, not the hardware, allowing them to provide updates and enhancements digitally so customers don't have to re-invest in the same machine.
Precision is Everything
Anyone who's ever hit a pickleball just outside their paddle's sweet spot knows precision is everything in pickleball.
The same is true of practicing pickleball technique: you can't do it meaningfully unless you really drill-down on the same techniques with repetition and consistency.
So, Dave designed ERNE with stepper motors instead of traditional DC motors, allowing for more precise control.
The sensors which control and modulate movement in the machine are also state of the art.
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"Many machines use analog sensors like limit switches and DC motors," Dave explains.
"ERNE uses Hall effect and photo sensors, as well as digitally-controlled stepper motors like you'd find in a 3D Printer or CNC machine."
The Response
Ryan still travels with his family in their Airstream trailer. Wherever he finds pickleball players on his travels, he also finds fans of the ERNE.
"It’s so cool going to these open plays where I’ll wear my ERNE hat and people will make positive comments without me saying anything about who I work for," he says.
"They’ll talk about their favorite settings and drills, and I'll just smile and nod for a bit until I'm asked about what I do for work. I've had some incredible conversations after telling people."
So how did the Victory Sports folks achieve such a loyal fan base in less than two years?
"This passion for the product we make has really embedded us in the community. We work with 15 of the top pros, and to be able to have personal relationships with them is really cool and fun," Ryan says.
Pros who've used the ERNE include:
- Tyson McGuffin
- Allyce Jones
- Federico Staksrud
- Travis Rettenmaier
- Megan Fudge
- Dayne Gingrich
- Lacy Schneemann
- Hunter & Yates Johnson
- Ryan Sherry
- Lee Whitwell
- Roscoe Bellamy
- Hannah Blatt
- Kyle McKenzie
- And plenty more
What's Next
Building on the success of their pickleball training machine, the Victory crew have expanded to provide a full slate of training solutions.
Their Sweet Stick Training Paddles help players improve their consistency and find their paddles' sweet spot every time; while their two-toned Sound Dampening Training Balls keep wall and machine drills quiet while training your eyes to see spin.
Ryan says you can expect even more sponsorships with pros and instructional content coming soon.
