Chances are that you play, know someone who plays, plan to start playing, or are curious about playing pickleball. You may have heard the unmistakable pop, pop, pop sound of pickleballers in action at a local court, playground, or gym. Whether one loves it, loathes it, or is somewhere in between, pickleball—now the fastest growing sport in America—is everywhere!

The pickleball bug struck me two years ago. The game is fun, easy to learn, quick, and a wonderful way to get some exercise. Initially I saw it as a casual occasional pastime, but I was wrong! Now, I find myself now playing 2-3 times a week both competitively and socially and often thinking about playing when I’m not! I have learned that this phenomenon is common among pickleball players, and that the sport can become just short of an obsession.

This experience got me thinking about some parallels between pickleball and nursing professional development (NPD) practice. First, a brief overview of the game to provide some context. Pickleball is played on a small court (about half the size of tennis). Players (singles or doubles) use short paddles and a brightly colored plastic ball. Players or teams score points when their opponent cannot return a ball over the net or return it out of bounds. Games are played until one team reaches the score of 11, and players can only score when they are serving. There is a 7-foot area on either side of the net called the “kitchen” or the non-volley zone that players are not permitted to enter unless the ball has already bounced there. This “stay out of the kitchen” rule limits players’ ability to hit extremely hard, close shots at their opponents and helps to extend play. This also means that players must think, communicate, strategize, make good decisions, and execute well to gain advantages and score points. 

Now to the commonalities between two of my favorite things; NPD practice and pickleball! Let’s start with the need for basic knowledge, skills, and attitudes, or KSAs. NPD practitioners are constantly updating their KSAs, as evidenced by the outstanding attendance at ANPD Aspire 2024 last month! Taking time to focus on skills and drills are also imperative to improving one’s pickleball game. Basics such as grip, shot selection, court position, and communication are crucial to improving. It can be tempting to “jump in” and begin to play, but by overlooking the basics, one risks injury, making unforced errors, loss of confidence, developing poor habits, and the embarrassing label of being “pickled”—scoring zero points in a game! Like any other skill, one needs to practice, make mistakes, and learn from them to move ahead.

There are several basic shots in pickleball, each with its own purpose and risk. These shots can be compared to approaches in our NPD practice. For example, we know that our strategy and approach to a brainstorming retreat with our team is much different than how prepare for a board meeting or a meeting with system leaders to discuss a controversial policy decision. In determining our strategy for these situations, NPDs scan the environment. We read the room, keep our goals in mind, know our team’s skills and gaps, recognize and mitigate risks, make adjustments, remain flexible, and keep an open mindset. With practice and experience, these skills become part of our NPD “game” and help us succeed in various situations. The same is true in pickleball! 

Basic shots every pickleball player needs to have in their backpack include a serve, return, volley, lob, “3Ds” (drive, drop, and dink), and an occasional slam. As one might expect, there are many variations of each of these in terms of speed, power, spin, and placement. Advanced skills include an Erne shot, where players avoid the kitchen altogether by leaping over it to hit a ball, and the ATP or “around the post,” a trick shot where players go around instead of over the net and still place the ball in fair territory. These advanced skills, when used sparingly, contain an element of surprise and are very effective! For NPDs, knowing your individual skill level and actively working to improve your professional development and growth is key. The more practice you have, and effort put into a specific skill, the stronger player you will become.

Throughout the game, the 3Ds are the most common shots a player will use. A drive is a long, strong, speedy shot usually from the back or mid-court. This shot is primarily offensive—meant to establish one’s presence and position, keep the opponent back, and allow one time to move toward the net. An opponent must be ready to block or return a strong drive. Hitting a drive too hard risks sending it out of bounds. A drop, by comparison, is a slower, less powerful shot usually sent to the opponent’s kitchen. Its purpose is to slow play and reset positions, buying time for the sender to regroup with their partner and re-establish position. A well-placed drop is highly strategic and effective. A poor drop can “pop up” and allow the opponent to take advantage. The game’s most deceptive shot, a dink, is a short soft shot, hit from a bounce and returned to the opponent’s kitchen. The purpose of a dink is to keep the game going and to force your opponent to make a mistake either by missing an easy shot into the net or returning a shot that you can take advantage of by slamming a winning point. Just like in real-world NPD practice, choosing the right strategy at the right time and in the right place can pay off in big wins! For example, the opponent could be a patient safety concern. Making the right decision, selecting the correct modality and strategy, can either lead to improved patient outcomes or be a huge loss.

The hardest part of pickleball for many beginning players is learning to keep score. In doubles, there are three numbers called out before each serve. The first is the number of points the serving team has. The second is the number of points the receiving team has. The third is whether the server is the first or the second for that turn. A server would call out, for example, “6, 4, 1” prior to serving. Scoring can seem confusing initially. Once mastered, however, scoring becomes second nature and adds fun and focus to the game. Knowing the score, per se, is also a crucial part of NPD practice. One needs to know where they stand in terms of time, resources, goodwill, and urgency in any professional situation to help them prioritize and decide where to focus their energies. In addition, NPDs need to interpret and communicate score cards on a regular basis. Link this analogy to working on unit-based metrics, clinical division data, retention data, employee satisfaction, etc. The score is always important, and sets up all players for understanding what the current situation is and what outcome measures are at stake.

Just like in real-world NPD practice, choosing the right shot and using the right strategy at the right time and right place can pay off in big wins! And just like in pickleball, it takes time for NPD practitioners to develop these skills of knowing when to push and apply pressure, when to ease off and reset, when to keep conversations and projects going forward, and when to go for a small point or a big win. And just like in any sport, it’s important to build and encourage teammates and to “play” with civility and respect. Even if a point, a game, or a match doesn’t go our way, we learn and we live to play another day!