🥒 Pickleball Fights, Padel Confusion

In This Issue:

• 🤬 A viral fight everyone thinks is Pickleball… but isn’t

• ⏳ Tommy Fleetwood and the rule that lets you stare at your ball (kinda forever)

• 📰 Sports headlines that broke the rules — and maybe our brains

• 🧀 Lydia Ko + Wisconsin Cheese = the heartwarming content you didn’t know you needed

• ⌚ More opportunities to win your very own $299 GPS Golf Watch. Simply refer 3 friends for your chance to win!

Let’s get into it!

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*Contest ends June 30th

🤬 PADEL BEATDOWN GOES VIRAL

🤷🏼‍♀️ A VIRAL FIGHT … THAT WASN’T EVEN PICKELEBALL

If it feels like Pickleball has become the official sport of parking lot tantrums, you’re not imagining it.

There are more fights, more paddle-smashing, and more midcourt meltdowns than ever before. Even Bill Simmons jumped on the latest viral pickle-brawl moment last week to talk about the latest “wild video” going viral online.

Except… there’s just one problem.

🚨 IT WASN’T EVEN PICKLEBALL.

Turns out that viral clip featured an argument on a Padel court, not a pickleball court. Close enough, right?

Wrong.

We suppose it looked like pickleball. There were paddles. There was shouting. There was a dude in socks yelling, “Hit the ball, fat boy!” That’s where the similarities ended.

Equipment aside, padel and pickle are completely different sports played on completely different court configurations. Here’s a quick refresher so you can become an expert: Padel courts are larger and enclosed by glass or mesh walls. Pickleball courts are smaller and open, like badminton or smaller tennis courts.

And honestly, the confusion is kind of perfect. Pickleball has become such a symbol of suburban sport drama that it’s now being blamed for fights that aren’t even its fault.

We’ve officially reached the point where people just assume any paddle-related meltdown is Pickleball.

📣 Moral of the story: If you’re going to throw down over rules, at least get the sport right.

📬 Do You Have A Real Sports Story To Share?

We’d love to hear from you! Share your crazy, hilarious, epic, and wild tales of sports rules and decorum gone wrong with us, and we may highlight them for our newsletter audience. Send your stories here: [email protected]

🏓 ⛳️ 🐎 MAJOR SPORTS EVENTS THIS WEEK

🏎 Auto Racing
Firekeepers Casino 400
June 8 | Michigan International Speedway

🐎 Horse Racing
Belmont Stakes
June 7 | Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York 

🎾 Tennis 
French Open (Roland Garros)
May 25–June 8 | Paris, France

🤼‍♂️ Pro Wrestling
WWE Worlds Collide
June 7 | Kia Forum, Los Angeles

WWE Money In The Bank
June 7 | Intuit Dome, Los Angeles

⛳ Golf
RBC Canadian Open
June 5—8 | TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley (North Course), Caledon, Ontario

🔎 RULEY EXPLORES THE RULEBOOKS 🔍

⛳️ The Tommy Fleetwood Stare-Down: Legal?

If you missed it, Tommy Fleetwood recently hit a putt, watched it stop on the lip… and then stood there. And stood there. And then — finally — the ball dropped.

The crowd went nuts. But some folks online were asking: “Is that even allowed?”

We asked Ruley.

✅ According to Rule 13.3a in the USGA Rulebook, a player whose ball is overhanging the hole is allowed “a reasonable time to reach the hole and then wait no more than 10 seconds.”

⏱ That’s it. Ten seconds max. If the ball falls in after that, it still counts — but you’re assessed an extra stroke.

Tommy waited exactly 10 seconds. Legend.

📚 Cited: USGA Rule 13.3a – Ball Overhanging Hole

🧠 Why it matters: Every stroke counts. So does knowing the rulebook better than the guy next to you.

📰 Un-Ruley Sports In the News

A look at the un-ruley, unsportsmanlike headlines shaped by the rules of the game.

⚾ UCLA Softball Ties Game, But Misses Home Plate?
Yep. The runner missed the plate. Yep. The run still counted. Why? Because “that part isn’t reviewable.” Seriously. 🔗 Watch it

🏃‍♂️ Juan Soto: Trapped Ball = Trapped Runner
Chaos on the basepaths cost Juan Soto. It turns out that the “trapped ball” rule is still confusing to everyone. 🔗 Read more

🍌 The Savannah Bananas Brought the Great Hambino Out of Retirement
If you’re unfamiliar, the Hambino is the legendary big-boned slugger from The Sandlot. He got a real at-bat last week. Because the Bananas make their own rules. 🔗 See it to believe it

⛳️ GOOD STUFF ⛳️

Wisconsin: Beer, Brats, Golf … And Cheese Curds

Lydia Ko gets it.

While everyone else at the U.S. Women’s Open in Wisconsin was grinding on the greens, Ko embraced the local culture by snacking on Wisconsin cheese.

And not like a tiny cube of cheddar from a VIP tent. She was pounding cheese from the practice greens.

📣 Moral of the story: Play hard. Snack harder. Lydia Ko for Governor of Wisconsin.