Our initial campaign hypothesis was wrong. We assumed pickleball players wanted better paddles. They don't. They want their knees to stop hurting.

The data was clear: when presented with $250 performance paddles alongside $40 knee sleeves, users overwhelmingly clicked recovery gear. The click-through rate on Normatec compression boots (50%) dwarfed paddle clicks (under 5%).

This makes physiological sense. The average pickleball player is 50+ years old, plays 3-5 times per week, and has accumulated decades of joint wear. They're not trying to go pro. They're trying to keep playing.

The insight: We're not selling equipment. We're selling the capacity to continue playing the sport they love.

This pivot from "performance optimization" to "longevity protocol" fundamentally changes our product strategy. Every item we recommend must answer one question: "Does this help a 55-year-old male with knee pain play more pickleball?"