If Orange County bestowed such a title, John Gill would be known as Mr. Pickleball.
Instead, he’ll have to settle for champion player and president of the World Pickleball Association.
The native Australian, who moved to the U.S. in 2020, plays, promotes and teaches pickleball in Garden Grove, Anaheim, Cypress, Seal Beach and other Orange County cities as well as Los Angeles and San Diego counties.
“Everyone’s happier when they play pickleball,” he said.
Gill is busy planning tournaments in Las Vegas and Gardena. Come fall, he’s headed back to his motherland for the WPA championships. And he’s started teaching pickleball and martial arts at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson — the home of the LA Galaxy.
You can learn about him — and how to better your pickleball game — at John Gill pickleball on YouTube, theworldpickleballassociation.com or info@theworldpickleballassociation.com.
His most watched YouTube post — about 15,000 views — is titled “Maximum Spin.” Others include “AVOID INJURIES!”, “Mastering the Art of Attack” and “Improve Your Third Shot with This Sneaky Deep Serve.”
Gill did not set out to be a pickler. His focus was on martial arts.
He is the current world self-defense?champion and winner of more than 40 martial arts titles,?including 26 world championships. He is an 8th Dan-Bo Black belt Master instructor in Hapkido and 7th Dan Blackbelt in Taekwondo.
He was inducted into the Martial Arts Hall of Fame for credits including 2016 and 2017 Hapkido Master of the Year; 2017 Black Belt Competitor of the Year; 2020 Hapkido Master of the Year and Black Belt Self-Defense Competitor of the Year; and 2021, 2022 and 2023 Black Belt Self-Defense Competitor of the Year.
Gill, 62 and a resident of Long Beach, is greatly bothered by domestic violence. That’s why he’s taught self defense to girls high schools and served as an ambassador for the White Ribbon?Foundation for the prevention of?violence against women.
His experience in tennis — he’s an Australian and Pan Pacific Masters champion — helped him when he picked up pickleball in 2020. Since then, he’s won tournaments, including the 2023 WPA World Championship with partner Scott Aquino. He has instructional certificates in both pickleball and tennis.
If you become one of his students, you’ll get a steady stream of positive energy.
You’ll get jokes, too.
When a male player hits a ball that trickles over the net, he quips, “Annette’s his girlfriend. Don’t tell his wife.” Not everyone gets that one, but think about it…
One of his biggest success stories is Bill Spradley, who progressed from a 3.5 player to competing against 4.5 players under Gill’s tutelage. Pairing with Long Beach resident David Anderson, he recently won a WPA championship in the 60s category.
Pickleball is all the rage. According to the Association of Pickleball Professionals, the sport has grown by about 200 percent every year since 2019. About 40 million Americans play regularly. The paddle industry is $200 million strong and growing.
Why the popularity? It’s easy to play (though hard to master). It’s good exercise — not too strenuous, but plenty of movement. Instructors are big on warming up. In part because players skip this step, injuries are on the rise, according to a report by NBC News.
The game is, above all, social. Thousands of friendships have been formed since the sport took off during COVID. New buddies create text threads with like-minded players, team up in tournaments and share instructional videos.
He wants everyone — all “mates” to him — to play pickleball, including homeless people. Stunned by the number of people living on the streets of his adopted country, he envisions a facility offering treatments and resources for the less fortunate. At the center of the facility? Pickleball courts.
“Sport brings people together,” he said. “It’s such an important part… Then you’ve got them there and you help them with treatments they might need.”
Gill’s long-term goal: pickleball in the 2032 Olympics in Brisbane, Australia. Will he play? He performs a bit of “dynamic stretching” and thinks about it.
“In doubles, I think I could if I stay healthy.”
