Posted on September 5th, 2023.

Pickle ball has taken the world by storm. Not being one to miss out on doing anything new and exciting, I accepted a friend’s request to give it a try. 

A fellow friend gave us a rudimentary lesson on the basics and then dismissed us to play on our own. 

Our foursome played that day and then two other times. I really enjoyed it but all three times, I came home with my shoulder throbbing. I’ve already had one shoulder surgery and need another one so as much as I want to stay active, I also don’t want to do anything to aggravate the pain. 

One of my fellow picklers asked if we wanted to take a group lesson. I will admit the frugal part of me didn’t think I needed to spend any money learning how to play what I initially thought would be just a “fun” thing to do with friends; however, I figured it couldn’t hurt to get some professional advice, especially if I wanted to continue doing this.   

The first thing our instructor/coach taught us how to do was to properly hold the paddle. He noticed we were gripping it too hard. He suggested we loosen our grip. He explained the harder we gripped, the more resistance we would experience in our body. I could instantly tell the difference in my shoulder when I followed his advice and when I didn’t. When I gripped the paddle tightly, my shoulder would tighten up. No wonder my shoulder had hurt so much the last few times I had played. 

My friends and I quickly determined the money we had spent on this first lesson was well worth it if it would prevent our bodies from hurting and allow us to continue playing on a weekly basis. 

I couldn’t miss the spiritual lessons which could be applied from my pickle ball lesson. 

Loosen your grip. 

 How tightly are you holding onto things/situations/relationships in your life? How is that working for you?  

When my children were little, I would hold on to their hands tightly whenever we would cross the street because I wanted to protect them and make sure they didn’t run away from me and be harmed. Now that they are grown, it would look ridiculous if I was still holding onto their hands tightly trying to prevent them from danger. I have had to loosen my grip.  

I have tried to tighten my grip on intimate relationships which weren’t going the way I thought they should go. Tightening my grip must have felt like strangulation to these people I loved and it added stress to my body. I have had to loosen my grip. 

I tend to take everything I do very seriously; however, this one lesson in pickle ball gave me a new perspective. Sometimes we need to just relax, loosen our grip and enjoy the experience instead of thinking we need to make everything we do an experience that needs to be so serious, competitive and something that needs to be won. 

Protect your body.

The next thing he taught us was how to hold our paddle in front of our bodies at chest level so we would be prepared at all times to hit the ball when it came our way, which serves two purposes: (1) it protects you from getting hit (yes, pickle balls can sting) and (2) it allows you to return the ball more efficiently. 

God has equipped us with spiritual equipment which is very similar to a pickle ball paddle. To me, a pickle ball paddle is very much like the shield of faith which can protect us from any spiritual attacks coming our way, as well as the sword of the spirit, which can be used to return any fiery darts satan is sending our way. We need to keep ourselves prepared, in battle position to protect ourselves from any fiery darts coming from satan, and then be ready to send them right back where they came from.

Paying a coach is worth the money.

I am so glad I paid the money to have someone who is much more knowledgeable and experienced than I am to coach me on the proper way to hold a pickle ball paddle. This may have been the difference between me quitting and never playing it anymore because I didn’t know how to hold the paddle and continue to hurt my shoulder and me knowing how to do it correctly and be able to enjoy time spent with my friends playing this fun sport. 

As a Life Coach, who specializes in helping people face their fears, get unstuck and live the life of their choosing, I have had the opportunity to successfully maneuver my way through my own fears. I have had to get unstuck out of several toxic relationships. I have designed the life I feel God wanted for me all along even though I got sidetracked along the way. I would encourage you to invest in yourself and get a great coach who can help you learn new skills which could make life so much easier and more enjoyable. Many people go through life thinking they can learn how to do things on their own but can’t figure out why they are always in pain. This pain can prevent them from engaging in all of the fun things they had hoped to do. Does this sound vaguely familiar to the way I incorrectly thought I could teach myself how to play pickle ball? If so, I would encourage you to give me a call and schedule your introductory phone call with me so we can figure out if: (1) you need to learn how to loosen your grip on anything you are holding on to, (2) you need to learn how to protect yourself from any of satan’s fiery darts which are being fired at you or (3) you need to hire a Life Coach who can come alongside you and teach you new things which would make your life so much more easy and enjoyable. 

Stacy Rothenberger

Stacy Speaks!

803-586-0776