Luiz Lustosa

Luiz Lustosa

Luiz has always been an elite athlete. He attributes his athleticism, determination, and competitive nature to his parents who encouraged him to play sports since he was a young child growing up in Brazil. As a child, Luiz played football and tennis for 15 years before deciding to become an endurance athlete and compete in triathlons. Luiz is very disciplined and always sought to practice and learn new skills in order to compete with others. A few of his favorites include mountain biking, rappelling, trekking, skateboarding, volleyball, and rollerblading. However, it was surfing that changed Luiz’s life. Even as a professional pickleball player, he says that surfing is the most complete sport that he still loves doing as often as he can.

Luiz discovered pickleball by chance. A friend of his invited him to play tennis in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Afterwards, Luiz’s friend suggested they give pickleball a try at some nearby courts. The first thing that caught Luiz’s attention was the kindness of the people who practice and play the sport. Luiz never thought that the love he had for surfing could be shared with any other sport. He realized that day he was wrong. Since that memorable day almost 2 years ago, Luiz practically “breathes” pickleball now spending countless hours at the courts sharpening his game through drills with other pros.

Over the past 2 years, Luiz has tried many paddles in search of one that matched his style of play. Thanks to another friend of his, he met Team Phantom and was invited to tryout. After a one hour hitting session with their top instructor, Luiz selected the 16MM Goliath and knew that was the paddle for him. According to Luiz, “you can feel the added pop from the first swing while maintaining superior precision and control for my dinks, drops and sharp angles I love to hit. This is a company run by great people that are excited to do great things for the sport I love”.