Shelby Bates

Shelby Bates is a professional pickleball player from Jupiter, Florida, who made one of the fastest amateur-to-pro transitions in the sport. After playing college tennis at Coastal Carolina University and spending seven years as a tennis coach, she picked up a pickleball paddle in early 2022 and turned pro by September of that same year. The catalyst? Ben Johns jokingly called her 'trash' at a club exhibition, which lit a fire under her to train relentlessly. She won a triple crown (singles, doubles, and mixed) at her very first tournament in Plantation, Florida.

Now competing on both the APP and PPA tours, Bates has racked up over 60 professional tournaments and plays for the Western Vipers in Major League Pickleball. Her tennis background gives her exceptional lateral movement and a powerful baseline game, though she's noted that pickleball demands an entirely different footwork style with constant short steps and quick direction changes. Off the court, she still works as assistant tennis and pickleball pro at Mirasol Country Club in Palm Beach Gardens.