Playing Pickleball in a Tennis World: Why Your Past Success Might Be Holding You Back

Have you noticed the pickleball craze sweeping across the nation? Since 2021, pickleball playing has increased by a staggering 311%. People of all ages are flocking to courts everywhere. But here's what's fascinating—the people who struggle most with pickleball are often those who come with court experience, assuming that because they were good at tennis, they'll naturally excel at pickleball. Their greatest asset (tennis experience) becomes their greatest liability.

This phenomenon extends far beyond sports. In our spiritual lives, relationships, and careers, we often discover that what got us here won't get us there.

When Old Rules No Longer Apply

We're so committed to playing tennis in a pickleball world that instead of success, all we find is frustration. I'm prone to this way of thinking—if something is working, I'll just keep doing it until it doesn't work anymore. And when it doesn't work anymore, sometimes I keep doing it some more just to see if it might someday work again.

Have you ever been there? Your greatest obstacle to future growth may be your past success. You know what you did to get where you are, yet you haven't discovered what you need to do to get where you're going.

God's Promise of Something New

This struggle isn't new. About 2,500 years ago, God's people found themselves in a similar situation. The Israelites were living in captivity in Babylon, stuck in circumstances beyond their control. They did what we all tend to do when things get hard—they looked back, reminisced about what was, and talked about the "good old days."

In Isaiah 43:18-19, God speaks to them through the prophet Isaiah: "Forget the former things. Do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing. Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland."

God wasn't telling them to erase their past completely. Rather, He was reminding them not to be so fixated on what was that they lose sight of what might be. The instruction has two parts: stop dwelling on your punishment and stop yearning for the former days. In other words, stop being defined by your failures and stop being limited by your success.

Three Ways to Adapt to New Seasons

1. Learn a New Serve

Embrace the fact that there are new rules in front of you and adapt to them. If you feel stuck in your spiritual life, maybe you need to open your Bible to a different passage or find a reading plan to help guide you. Maybe you need a spiritual director or a conversation with one of your pastors. Sometimes just a small tweak to what you're doing can make all the difference.

Remember Blockbuster Video? They once had 9,000 stores and 84,000 employees. Now they're down to one store because they were convinced the internet was a fad and streaming would never work. They didn't adapt, update, or change—and they didn't thrive.

2. Look for the Kitchen

In pickleball, "the kitchen" is the area seven feet on each side of the net where you cannot stand and hit the ball unless it has bounced first. This rule changes how the game must be played. Success is no longer measured by power but by placement.

When we begin to think differently in our lives, we measure success completely differently. Where others seek power, we find ways to serve. When others want to be first, we choose to be last. When others condemn, we offer forgiveness.

3. Lean into the Pace

Tennis is fast and about power. Pickleball is slower, more methodical, and about patience and grace. We would do well to embrace this pace in our lives.

"When we're moving too fast, we feel distant from God and end up living off somebody else's spirituality," says Pastor John Mark Comer. Dutch author Corrie ten Boom famously wrote, "If the devil can't make you sin, he'll make you busy." The busier you get, the more you edge God out.

Putting It Into Practice

Your greatest obstacle to future growth may be your past success, but only if you let it. Your willingness to release what you know in order to embrace what God is doing can become your greatest opportunity.

What are you holding onto that is "tennis" in a pickleball world? What are you doing that's causing you to miss out on what God has planned? God wants to "make rivers in the desert" and "a way in the wilderness." He wants to do something new in your life that's better than anything you've experienced before.

It starts with being willing to learn the new rules to a new game. And who knows? Along the way, you may just discover that you love pickleball more than tennis anyway.