Pickleball Joy Stories

Pickleball Joy Story From The author of this book

In the spring of 2023 shortly after the Covid pandemic ended, my family and I looked for a way to do something outdoors as a family, so we thought we would give pickleball a try. My wife and I have 5 grown children, and at the time we had 2 young grandchildren. We decided to go to an outdoor rec park that had 6 new outdoor courts with windscreens and some bleachers with a canopy overhead so the young children wouldn’t be in the direct sunlight for the entire time. This was a fun and exciting adventure for the entire family to enjoy. We learned how the game was played, we learned about the paddle system at the courts for rotating in when the courts were overcrowded, and we learned that 75 year old ladies were far better than we were.

This started the “Pickleball Bug” in me. I found a game that was fun, it was social, and people of all ages could play together. I eventually found some regular pickleball groups to play with so I could play twice a week. Both happened to be at church gymnasiums, so it was free, and I could have great fellowship with other Christians at the same time. The beauty was that without this game, I would basically have very little exercise, as I have a desk job where I am on the computer often, and I would not have the great pickleball joy fellowship I enjoy today.

The second year of pickleball joy I bought 5 different paddles as I would find an inexpensive paddle on FB Marketplace, and keep upgrading, until I eventually got the paddle I really wanted. I still had my eye on a paddle that was the the industry’s “cream of the crop,” and was more than I wanted to pay for a paddle as it cost $333.00 new. I had never spent over $100.00 for a paddle. Fortunately, I also have a friend who collects paddles, and I was able to try out the $333.00 paddle; fortunately, I was not a fan of that paddle, which finally made me happy and content with my current paddle.

Also, you know you are hooked on Pickleball when you go on vacation, and you try to find the local pickleball group closest to where you are vacationing. I have done that a couple of times recently, once in the Northwoods of Wisconsin, and once in Monument, Colorado (near
Colorado Springs). For me, this just enhances the enjoyment of my vacation. Another sign you are hooked on pickleball is when you regularly scroll pickleball highlights on Facebook and YouTube. I even send my brother pickleball memes quite often, even though he didn’t start playing pickleball until recently. Now he just upgraded his paddle.

Since I had published a number of books in the past few years, I thought it was time to publish my first book about pickleball, as that was now a passion of mine. Now I get to share my passion of Pickleball with all of you :)

This story comes from goodnewsnetwork.org By Andy Corbley, Nov 5, 2024

From Kansas comes the story of a timeless American: a great-great-grandmother who sings, dances, and plays pickleball twice a week. Lois White puts the elder in ‘elderly,’ and has lived a life of play, sport, love, and family to be celebrated from one corner of the country to the next. Pickleball is an American sport similar to padel played on a hard court with a hollow ball to reduce ball speed, and has rapidly gained popularity as a way to stay active for players of any age—especially among seniors.

Every Tuesday and Thursday, White takes to the pickleball court at New Century Fieldhouse, Gardener, Kansas. She holds her own against whippersnappers in their 50s and 60s. “On top of this, I play cards every week, I picked up square dancing, then, I decided I want to play the Mandolin. Now I belong to the Pickers and Fiddlers.”

Pickleball is just the most recent example of the richness of White’s life. Born before an airplane had ever flown over Kansas, she married a soldier at age 17 and had 6 kids. “We always did what the kids wanted to do. I’ve played basketball, football, you name it,” White said. “My husband and I had a softball team with our daughters for years.”

After her husband passed away 30 years ago, the “stubborn” woman continued to stay busy—easy to do when you have 6 kids, 20 grandkids, 37 great-grandkids, and now four great-great grandkids. Many of these offspring tell her she needs to take it easy, but she interjects: “I know one thing, you need to keep moving.”

You don't have to wait for a remarkable moment, you can create one. Every time you step onto a pickleball court, you have an opportunity to improve someone's day. The best stories often begin with simple acts of kindness.

Pickleball courts are the “third place” I needed all along

Resource: Reddit – “Pickleball courts are the third place I needed all along”

Another player described himself as a younger, burned-out corporate employee working from home. He wasn't necessarily looking for pickleball to change his social life. But the courts became what sociologists sometimes call a “third place”, somewhere outside home and work where people regularly gather.

He said pickleball allowed him to interact with people of completely different ages whom he otherwise probably would never have met. He had also been diagnosed with ADHD, and his therapist had encouraged him to raise his heart rate and connect with more people.

Pickleball accomplished both.

The courts helped him meet people in his neighborhood; reconnect with friends he hadn't seen for more than five years and develop a regular social outlet. He described pickleball as having “saved” him.