Jackie & Jade
Kawamoto

01 — ORIGINSFrom Maui to the Indiana high-school courts

The sisters were born in Maui, Hawaii, where their early childhood revolved around sports.^[2] Their family relocated to the Indianapolis area around 2004, and the twins grew up playing competitive tennis in Indiana, attending Greenwood High School.^[10][11] There they were the program's top two singles players. Per IHSAA records, Jackie won the Indiana individual state singles championship in June 2013 as a junior, defeating Carmel's Bailey Padgett in the final.^[53] The following season she stepped off the team's No. 1 line so Jade could play the top spot; Jade reached the 2014 state singles final but lost to Bloomington South's Denise Azcui, 6–4, 6–4.^[53]

That early willingness to trade off, rather than fight over, the spotlight became a theme. The two have described being intensely competitive with each other as kids in a way that pushed both of them higher, while keeping the rivalry good-natured.^[8]

02 — COLLEGEThe Dayton Flyers years

Both sisters graduated from Greenwood High School in 2014 and went straight to the University of Dayton, where they played Division I tennis for the Flyers from the 2014–15 season through their senior year in 2017–18.^[12][53] Over their careers, Jade compiled a 64–22 singles record and Jackie went 55–24; as seniors they teamed up to post a 17–2 doubles mark.^[7] Their reported academic majors differ between sources — the official PPA Tour profiles list Jackie in psychology and Jade in environmental biology — but both graduated and went on to careers within college athletics.^[1][2]

03 — THE SWITCHDiscovering pickleball in 2019

The Kawamotos' pickleball story began in 2019, when their father introduced them to the game as a family activity.^[8] It started as something fun to do together and quickly turned into an obsession for the whole family.^[8] Their tennis backgrounds — hand-eye coordination, footwork, athleticism — made the transition fast, though Jackie has noted that the bounces are different and that, unlike tennis, the game cannot be won from the baseline.^[10]

By 2021 they had turned professional, right as pickleball exploded in popularity during the post-pandemic outdoor boom.^[7] Jackie has joked that she started out with a wooden paddle "back in the day," a reminder of how quickly both the sport and its equipment have evolved around them.^[7]

04 — THE BREAKTHROUGHCincinnati, September 2025

For years the Kawamotos were regarded as fan favorites and excellent ambassadors for the sport who had never quite broken through for a PPA Tour gold medal.^[9] That changed at the 2025 Veolia Cincinnati Showcase, a "slam" event worth 2,000 ranking points, held essentially in their backyard: Dayton is under an hour from Cincinnati, and the twins live and train in Indianapolis, roughly two hours away.^[5]

Seeded sixth, they were given less than a 1% chance to win the title in the tournament's futures market.^[5] They first upset the dominant top seeds, Anna Leigh Waters and Anna Bright, in the semifinals, rallying from a third-game deficit.^[5] In the final against Jorja Johnson and Tyra Black, they lost the opening two games before storming back to win three straight — 8–11, 7–11, 11–6, 11–8, 11–7.^[6] The PPA Tour noted it was the first women's doubles final won from a two-game hole since at least the start of the 2022 season.^[15][17]

"Screw it, let's just crash on the fifths and see what happens." — Jackie Kawamoto, describing the tactical switch that turned the final^[5]

Adding to the drama, the win came on unfamiliar equipment. Their usual paddle — the Proton Series Three "Project Flamingo" — was not on a newly released UPA list of paddles approved for pro events, so both sisters switched to a JOOLA Perseus Pro IV for this tournament.^[5] This September 2025 approved-list issue was a separate matter that predated the broader financial ban on Proton paddles in 2026 (described in section 06).

05 — PLAYING STYLEWhy the mirror works

Because Jackie is a righty and Jade a lefty, their forehands point toward opposite sidelines, and their backhands meet in the middle — the geometry that makes them so hard to attack down the center.^[8] Jackie has said that knowing exactly where to be when Jade gets pulled wide, and vice versa, having practiced together their whole lives, is their single biggest strength.^[8]

Analysts single out Jade as one of the best middle-coverers in the women's game and among the strongest left-handed players in pickleball, while Jackie is known for a creative, wristy, choked-up grip that lets her generate heavy topspin and a feared lob — an unusual technique among women pros.^[4] Above all, observers credit the team's success to a simple foundation: they rarely miss, and they keep the ball moving until opponents crack.^[4]

06 — TEAMS & SPONSORSMajor League Pickleball and the paddle question

In Major League Pickleball, the twins have moved between franchises as rosters reshuffle each season. They played together for the ATX Pickleballers in 2023, were drafted to separate teams in 2024, and by 2025 lined up as rivals — Jade with the Los Angeles franchise and Jackie with the Brooklyn/New York franchise — a split they have framed as a fun chance to keep pushing each other.^[7][8] Both have built their pro income primarily through doubles rather than singles.^[7]

On equipment, the sisters moved from Selkirk to the upstart brand Proton in 2025, becoming faces of its "Project Flamingo" paddle.^[42] That alliance soured quickly: in March 2026 the PPA Tour, MLP and the UPA banned all Proton paddles from sanctioned pro play over unpaid debts owed by the company — a financial dispute, not a performance ruling — leaving the Kawamotos, who had only just re-signed, among several pros suddenly needing new gear.^[28][35]

07 — OFF THE COURTDay jobs, balance, and giving back

Unusually for top pros, both sisters have kept full-time NCAA roles — Jackie in championships and alliances, Jade in eligibility — traveling for tournaments on weekends.^[1][2] They say the arrangement is by design.

"I think I'd go a little crazy if pickleball was my end all be all." — Jackie Kawamoto, on keeping a 9-to-5^[3]

They have described being "conservative by nature," choosing to keep their jobs while exploring the tour, and crediting the day-to-day work with giving them mental distance from the pressures of competition.^[3] Off the court, the twins host tournaments to raise money for Alzheimer's research in the Indianapolis area.^[1][2]

The lighter side

The sisters say they actually prefer playing against each other in some settings, jokingly, to "figure out who the parents are rooting for."^[2] Jade, the elder by a minute, has laughed that the on-court bickering never really changed from childhood — the difference now is that they leave it on the court.^[7] Even longtime watchers admit the two are nearly impossible to tell apart, which is part of the charm of one of the sport's most underrated and genuinely well-liked teams.^[4]