My Pickleball Mindset

Hello, Friends!

Have you heard the rumor? Spring is on the way! Our Florida friends are already starting to see robins and before we know it, they will make their way to the rest of us. I love seeing my first robin of the season, don’t you? My eyes will start roaming the landscape trying to spot them very soon.

Do you play a team sport? Did you as a kid? Do you remember it fondly or with a tiny bit of a tummy ache and regret? Either way, I bet sports taught you lots of lessons. I have been learning a lot about the importance of mindset and applying it to pickleball, my new favorite sport. It has been helpful and expanding my little world, so I want to share with you. Maybe it will encourage you, too! I sure hope so.

Pickleball Mindset Shift

Backstory….I posted a couple of days ago on FB about something that happened when I played pickleball and it apparently struck a chord with people. I decided to share the end of the story here.

Growing up, I told myself I wasn’t athletic and I shouldn’t “play” whatever the game was. I’m not sure what started this negative mindset, but I sure had it. I grew up with lots of boy cousins and they LOVED to play Kick the Can when we were at Grandma and Grandad’s house. Keeping up with them was impossible for me, so I often quit before the end of the game.

Bad habit.

Then in 4th grade, we were running in a big herd in the Rose Hill school gym, and I fell down and chipped my front tooth which led to traumatic dentist stories.

And in 5th or 6th grade, we had to play PE with the 7th and 8th graders. There was a boy, who shall not be named, who scared the stuffings out of me, when he took great pleasure in hitting younger girls with all his 8th grade muscle-bound force during dodgeball.

Bad memories.

Whatever the cause, I never developed any athletic prowess and was intimidated by super-competitive people. I still am.

Many years later, enter pickleball.

As an adult, I discovered fitness classes and  movement became my friend again. I loved doing “Aerobics” and Jazzercise in the 80’s and then found yoga, which was the perfect noncompetitive “sport” for me!

Then, last year I set some fitness goals and playing pickleball was one of them. I really enjoyed the game and was happy to have found a team sport that didn’t involve panting.

Until one day this week.

I was happily playing, meeting new people, gaining confidence in my developing skills, and ending up in the loser bracket my first 2 games. I wasn’t bothered by it until one of my partners (who was also in the losers bracket, I might add) started to give me lots of tips and pointers. Coaching is a skill that this person was lacking.

Anyhoo. I let this grouchy granny take me right back to my insecure younger self. The more people tried to help me, the worse I played. Leaving the building that morning, my first thought was, “I don’t think I will be going back.”

Bad Habit. Mind Rut.

Shifting My Pickleball Mindset.

Over the course of the next few hours, I used some of the tricks I have learned over the past few months in Life Mentoring School, an online program I’m involved in, and shifted my thinking. I reviewed the reasons I wanted to play pickleball in the first place-not to win a college scholarship, or the high school tournament-but to make new friends, get some exercise and improve MY skills.

I am so glad I did!!!!

Walking into the gym, I put my paddle in the pile and was delighted with what happened next! I was not the beginning-est beginner! My new partner who told me she was an “intermediate” player, made similar errors as me, got the score mixed up too, and was just delightful. One of our 2 opponents was a great encourager of everyone’s good shots, including mine, and my confidence increased.

At the end of our match, I discovered that he had been a former high school teacher of at-risk students. He was a natural-born, kind encourager and I know his students were fortunate to have him. We had a great conversation about our teaching experiences.

As the morning continued, I visited with French Canadians with lovely accents, met the coach of the Canadian National Curling team who taught me a few things about that sport, and smiled my face off as I visited with people and played the game.

I am so glad I didn’t let one person who was probably just frustrated at herself and decided to let it out on me, stop me from going back. Doing what makes us a little afraid, makes us want to put on another layer of armor over our hearts, makes us want to turn and go another direction, can also give us just a little more freedom to be ourselves. (Read more along those lines….She is Better than Me)

Have you found this to be true in your life? I’d love to hear about a time you did something even a tiny bit afraid! It will encourage all of us!