FLiK Pickleball putting players first as company sees rapid growth
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Fred Robinson’s business philosophy is very simple: If you make a good product that actually helps the people you’re trying to help, the money part will take care of itself.
That was the driving force behind Robinson’s first sports equipment company – Body Helix.
As a high-level tennis player who had battled through his share of injuries, Robinson noticed that the compression products being marketed toward athletes simply weren’t providing a benefit to those athletes.
So he teamed up with Dr. Tom Parker to create high-quality compression wear that didn’t cut corners. Body Helix is now trusted by thousands of athletes across a wide range of sports.
Robinson, Parker and COO Joann Nicodemus took the same approach when they started making pickleball paddles, first under the Body Helix brand and now under FLiK Pickleball, which they spun off into its own brand earlier this year.
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Robinson was used to a certain standard from his tennis equipment, and when he started playing pickleball a few years ago he quickly noticed that many of the most popular paddles used cheap materials and didn’t feel like a quality piece of sports equipment.
“As soon as I picked up a paddle and started playing, I noticed that the handle just did not feel solid and clearly wasn’t made from high-quality materials,” he said. “Coming over from tennis, where we’ve had solid molded handles for decades, that was just unacceptable to me. So I decided I could do better and make something that was a much higher quality.”
The original Body Helix X-1 paddle was released in 2023 with a solid molded handle, which was uncommon in the industry at the time (many companies have since opted for this style of handle). They followed that up by creating several different paddle models to fit a wide range of play styles and preferences.
“It’s a simple thing in all business and industry everywhere,” Robinson said. “When money is more important than people, bad things happen. When people are more important than money, good things happen. As an athlete myself, I have a high level of respect for athletes and we’ve always focused first on how we can best serve them.”
Different paddles for different players
FLiK is probably best known for its F1 paddle, which was released in 2025 and is one of the most powerful paddles on the market. It features a “Gen 4” EPP foam core, and the elongated model is relatively light compared to most elongated paddles (it has a swingweight of ~114).
That combination of power, pop and maneuverability makes it an especially good paddle in fast exchanges at the net – not only are counters putting you ahead in hand battles, but you’re also able to be more “on” the counter because of the low swingweight.
FLiK F1
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For players who want to play a more rounded style and prioritize precise placement, FLiK earlier this year released the F3, which is constructed using a triple-layer foam core. The paddle uses three different types of foam – high density, mid density and low density – and those layers work together to produce a reliable response across the face.
The F3 still produces high power on big swings like third-shot drives and overheads, but has a more plush feel on softer shots like dinks and drops. It comes in elongated, hybrid and widebody shapes.
FLiK F3
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“We’re always trying to innovate, so we wanted to create these different options because we recognize that not everybody wants or needs a super powerful paddle,” Robinson said. “With our lineup now, there’s something for every type of player.”
Building the brand to last
Robinson is well aware of the challenges that exist in the paddle market. As a smaller brand, he’s competing against much larger companies with more manpower and bigger budgets, but he’s also up against many other smaller brands that are all trying to gain a foothold in the industry.
The ones that innovate will be the ones that survive, Robinson said.
“We’re always in the background looking at the industry and saying, ‘How do we make this a better place for everybody?’” he said. “That means better quality and paddles that last, more durable grit, and ultimately products that respect the athletes first and foremost.”
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Robinson said they are currently working on new models that will be released this fall and be under UPA-A certification rather than USAP. FLiK believes UPA-A’s compliance and market-testing model aligns more closely with the brand’s emphasis on product consistency.
“We want to bring more credibility to the industry and operate within a system that lets companies compete on a level playing field,” Robinson said. “We think we have a good approach that sets us up well in the long run because we’re building paddles around what genuinely benefits the player — not simply what produces the strongest marketing claim.”
