OUR STORY
Built on our own court.
ZIN9 started with two players, one sweaty hat, and a court where every idea gets played before it gets sold.
CHAPTER 1
Entrepreneurs first. Players always.
We're Ken and Cara, two entrepreneurs who love pickleball, love staying active, and are always looking for ways to make things better. We like building, testing, improving and chasing the next idea.
So we did what entrepreneurs do with anything they love: we started noticing what could be better. Hats that got ruined by sweat. Paddles that felt great on drives and dead at the kitchen, or the other way around.
ZIN9 didn't start with a business plan. It started with a list of things that bugged us on the court.
"To us, success isn't a destination. It's a journey that's never finished."
Ken & Cara, founders
CHAPTER 2
It started with a ruined hat.
Our first product wasn't a paddle. It was a fix for something every player in the desert knows: sweat soaking through the front of your favorite hat until it's stained, stiff and done.
We were tired of sweat ruining our hats, especially the good ones, so we built DriBrow, a removable COOLMAX® sweat barrier that sits inside the front of any hat, catches the sweat before it reaches the panel, and comes out for washing.
It's built into our Premium DriBrow Hat, and it works in the hats you already own.
CHAPTER 3
Our court is our lab.
One product led to another, and an indoor pickleball court followed. We built it in Yuma, Arizona, and testing became part of playing.
It's where Hellfire prototypes got hit until they broke, where DriBrow gets worn session after session, and where our friends show up to play, argue about paddles and tell us what's wrong with them.
Tested here
Every paddle, ball and hat gets played here before it's sold.
Played here
Regular games with the players who shape what we build next.
Zinger Club
Every Hellfire owner joins the Zinger Club, with invites to special events.
WHAT CAME OUT OF IT
The Hellfire™ paddle
A friend asked why two players who love the game and build products for a living hadn't made a paddle. We didn't have a good answer, so we built the one we wanted: power when you attack, touch when you slow it down. It's USA Pickleball approved, and it was tested on the court you just read about.
OUR VALUES
PERFORMANCE FIRST
We design and test products to help players perform at their best.
BUILT TO LAST
Quality materials, thoughtful design, and rigorous testing—because gear should keep up with your game.
PLAYER FOCUSED
We listen to players, test on the court, and build around what actually makes the game better.
COMMUNITY DRIVEN
Pickleball brings people together. We’re here to play, contribute, and grow with the community.
We're not done. See you at the top.
As long as we're having fun and building gear that helps players get better, we'll keep going.
Ken & Cara, Founders of ZIN9™