3 Questions With Yobi Paddle Founder Bruce Ushijima
Yobi Paddle’s collaboration with Hilo Pickleball
Honolulu—Support local.
We’re discriminating buyers, now that we can get practically anything we want with just a click. And even though we’d like to support local all the time, it isn’t always the obvious choice if the product isn’t as good or in some way different or unique from what you can get online.
That isn’t the case with Yobi Paddle, our own locally grown paddle brand that is both just as good as the uber-premium brand names out there, and is unique…Yobi combines premium materials and local style at an affordable price point.
Join me as I chat with Bruce Ushijima, the founder of Yobi Paddle!
How did you get the idea for Yobi Paddle?
I was looking for a new paddle, and at that time, paddles were starting to get expensive. Most of the paddles on the market were around $120-$150, and the paddle I was looking at, the Carbon 1X, was the first to be priced at $200.
It was so expensive, yet, it was sold out. I asked myself “why is it $200? Is it worth $200?”
Around this time, there was a lot of chatter online about making your own paddle, and I thought, “how hard would it be to make your own paddle?”
I ordered one from the catalog, with the intent of giving paddles as client gifts for my consulting clients (I was doing web development application consulting at the time).
I didn’t expect much, in fact, I wasn’t sure it was even going to arrive.
The paddle arrived a month later. When it came, I played with it, and never went back to my old paddle. I shared it with friends, and they liked it too!
And from there, it grew organically.
Does “Yobi” have any special meaning?
Yobi is a data term that comes from Yobibyte; it’s how data is stored. I was doing web development application consulting work at the time, and Yobi was the name of my consulting project.
Instead of opening new bank accounts and refiling names and paperwork when I decided to start the paddle business, I just kept the name.
(As an aside, a Yobibyte equals:
2 to the 80th power; or
1,208,925,819,614,629,174,706,176)*
*just some good old hip pocket info LOL
Yobi’s newest Kevlar paddle, at the airport, on the way to USA Pickleball for approvall
Tell us what makes Yobi paddle special.
It’s a premium paddle for an affordable price, made with the best quality materials you can get.
We offer different shapes for paddles, offer the newest technology, and there’s no skimping on any materials.
We want to put out some of the best stuff and keep it affordable for the everyday player. (Although pros can play with and have played with Yobi Paddles).
Also, we’ll be launching Kevlar paddles soon. In fact, the Yobi Kevlar paddle is on its way to USA Pickleball for approval, and should be available for sale in a few weeks. Each paddle will be upgraded with a Hesacore Tour Silicone Grip (a $25 value). Pre-orders will begin soon!
Last thing—we’re a small paddle company, but we can do custom design paddles for organizations and companies. We’re also beginning to collaborate with schools—we can brand paddles with the school name and design, and they can be sold as a fundraiser.
Wow, Bruce—amazing ideas from this local paddle company! Stay tuned for more products and collabs from Yobi Paddle!
