The Pickleball Path
to Peace & Happiness

What time is it? NOW.

Where are you? PLAYING PICKLEBALL OF COURSE!

So you love playing pickleball (in fact, you are probably obsessed?), but for some reason you don’t seem to have fun all the time…

Maybe you…

have a loud inner critic that interferes with your play?

have meltdowns, or get overly angry or frustrated on court?

feel sad or upset that you are not playing your best?

blame your fellow players or the environment on your quality of play?

choke in games when you are ahead, or give up in games where you are behind?

If you answered YES to any of these questions then you are in the right place!

PICKLEBALL SELF-THERAPY

I believe that pickleball is a goldmine for personal and spiritual growth.

We are so close to our opponents and the game is so fast and intense, that all our deepest triggers and programs seem to come to the surface.

And therefore, we are provided with countless opportunities to heal and grow.

Maybe it’s time for you to uncover and rewire your mental and emotional conditioning to find peace on the pickleball court?

A wonderful side effect of becoming a peaceful pickleballer is of course is to play better pickleball!

And the second wonderful side effect is to be happier and more peaceful in EVERY area of your life.

In my experience there are 6 key ingredients to becoming a peaceful pickleball player:

Set Intentions – internal based goals help keep you on track
Develop Awareness – a sense of curiosity helps you see what is going on in your inner world
Become Present – external focused attention will help get you out of your mind and into your body and the game
Manage Emotions – acknowledging and understanding overreactions helps you to not act the out in ways you may later regret
Reframe Thoughts – finding different ways to explain your circumstances can help to neutralise overreactions
Repeat & Repeat Again – just as you need to drill pickleball skills over and over again before you see results on the court, so to do you need to drill and repeat these internal skills

Read more in my article The Art of Peaceful Pickleball

HOW TO CREATE PEACE ON THE COURT

The important piece of the puzzle is HOW to make it all happen. Setting goals, having practices and checking off task lists is only half the battle.

Changing our internal world requires the development of new skills that over time will become habits.

I have discovered that the most important internal skills are:

Rewire the Brain

We tend to run the same thought patterns from our childhood over and over again – they may have worked for us when we were young, but not as adults.

We need to be able to reframe thoughts, silence that inner critic and rewire our brain for more positive thoughts, and to eventually have a quieter mind.

Manage Emotions

Emotions can be overwhelming and we may never have learned how to handle or manage them. We may direct them inwards towards ourselves, or outwards towards others, instead of understanding why we are experiencing them.

We need tools and techniques to discover their important messages, and reduce the impact on our pickleball game & life.

Increase Mindfulness

I believe being in the moment and getting “out of your head” is the key to playing better and more peaceful pickleball.

We need methods to become aware when we are not in the moment, and how to bring ourselves back.

Being more present also helps us to achieve the elusive “flow state” more often.

ABOUT ME

My name is Janie Carter and I am obsessed with pickleball!

But I have struggled a lot with my own inner demons on the pickleball court, and over time I have discovered some tried and tested tools & techniques to effectively manage my inner world of thoughts and emotions.

As a result I have found myself not only having more fun (and playing better!) on the pickleball court, but I also find myself playing in that wonderful elusive flow state more often.

The goal of this blog is to share what I have learned to help fellow pickleballers achieve more peace and happiness on court.

I want everyone to be able to experience the joy of being a peaceful pickleballer!