Gratitude on the Court: How Women Find Strength in Pickleball
For countless women, pickleball has become a source of strength, friendship, and confidence. It isn’t just something they do—it’s shaping who they are and who they’re becoming. As the holiday season rolls in, we invite you to slow down, reflect on the past year, and appreciate the ways this sport has changed our lives for the better.
A Place Where Strength Takes Root
For many of us, the first step onto a pickleball court comes during a season of transition: kids leaving home, careers shifting, relationships ending, bodies changing, or simply the need for something joyful and ours. What starts as curiosity becomes something much deeper. It becomes a place to rebuild strength and reconnect with our own potential.
For me, pickleball started as a distraction. After years of autoimmune diseases wreaking havoc on my body, followed by years of failed fertility treatment, I could barely force myself out of bed in the morning. I was bitter. My body (and my heart) hurt. But, my partner was “in pickleball” and I was surrounded by the pickleball buzz. Slowly, I let that energy enter into my space. It forced me out of my head. It gave me something to do. I started helping with some of the “business” stuff. I met amazing people. I started playing a little–and found myself smiling and laughing more. It gave me a purpose after I lost all sense of myself.
What’s so powerful is how the sport has a way of proving that physical strength isn’t defined by age, body type, or athletic background. It reminds us that our worth isn’t defined by physical ability, appearance, job title, or financial status. Instead, pickleball teaches us that true strength grows through consistency, play, and showing up even when life feels heavy. The game offers small wins that add up—learning a new shot, trusting your footwork, staying in the point one stroke longer than last week—and each one builds a quiet, steady confidence.
Confidence That Spills Into Everyday Life
There’s something transformative about noticing that what you do on the court starts transferring into the rest of your life. Women talk about standing a little taller at work. Speaking up with more conviction. Taking on challenges that once felt intimidating. Pickleball builds a type of self-belief that shows up everywhere—at home, in relationships, in decisions big and small. It’s a reminder that we are worth it. “Pickleball confidence” spills over and empowers us to be confident across the spectrum of life. The court forces us to get out of our comfort zone and becomes a rehearsal space for bravery.
Friendships That Feel Like Fuel
Have you ever felt that you carry the weight of the world on your shoulders? That responsibility can feel heavy, isolating, and lonely. Walk onto any pickleball court and you’ll see one of the sport’s greatest strengths: connection. It’s what so many of us are missing in life. It’s a huge part of what I was missing. I had buried myself in self-pity and shut out the world around me. Pickleball forced me to take down those walls and engage with other people. People who lifted me up and helped me remember that my life could be full again. I’ve seen that time and time again–people who have rediscovered life through pickleball. Women who would have never met in their day-to-day lives are now cheering each other on, swapping strategy tips, sharing life stories, and laughing over missed put-aways.
For some, these friendships arrive at the perfect moment—filling gaps left by moves, empty nests, divorce, or simply the desire for community. What starts as a weekly open play becomes a lifeline. A tribe. A reminder that joy is contagious when you surround yourself with people who want you to win, both on the court and off. It’s something to be deeply grateful for.
And during the holidays, that gratitude feels especially real. Women talk openly about how the pickleball community carried them through the hardest seasons—and how those courts became a place they felt seen, supported, and energized. As I look back and realize how much pickleball has changed my life, my heart feels a little lighter–and for that, I am so grateful.
Learning to Lead, Lift, and Pay It Forward
Perhaps the most inspiring part is how women are channeling their newfound strength into something bigger than themselves. They’re organizing round-robins, mentoring new players, volunteering at community programs, raising money for local causes, and giving their time to help others feel welcome in the sport. They’re paying it forward.
Pickleball creates leaders in the most natural way: by giving women something to care about and a community to uplift. These small acts—offering encouragement to a beginner, showing up early to help set up courts, checking in on a friend who hasn’t played in a while—compound into something powerful.
Women aren’t just playing pickleball—they’re shaping the culture of it.
A Sport That Gives Back More Than It Takes
At Empower Pickleball, we hear the same message again and again: Pickleball gave me my life back. In many ways, it did for me. It’s a reminder that a paddle and a few hours on the court can be the start of a beautiful new chapter. A healthier body. A fuller social circle. A stronger sense of self. A deeper commitment to each other. A better community.
As we move through the holidays and reflect on the past year, there’s so much to be grateful for—not just the game itself, but the strength, friendships, and purpose it has inspired in women everywhere.
Pickleball may be a small sport on paper, but for many women, it’s been a life-changing one.
