Exploring the perceived mental health benefits of pickleball for junior players: a pilot study

ABSTRACT

Pickleball was first introduced in the 1960s and is growing quickly in popularity. A variety of benefits for adult pickleball players are reported in the literature. However, there has only been one study of pickleball for junior players published in the literature. In the present exploratory pilot study, we used a questionnaire to examine the perceptions of 51 junior pickleball players between the ages of 8 and 18 in the US. Results indicated that junior players had positive perceptions of the sport. Pickleball playing appeared to have a variety of mental health benefits including decreased stress, as well as improvements in coping, focus, making friends, and mood. Results also suggested that for every 1.00 standard deviation increase in the number of times pickleball was played each month, there was a predicted increase in benefits of 0.35 standard deviations, a small-to-moderate effect size.

Résumé

Le pickleball est apparu dans les années 1960 et connaît depuis une popularité grandissante. La recherche à ce sujet démontre divers bienfaits chez les adultes qui pratiquent ce sport. En revanche, une seule étude sur les jeunes dans ce domaine a été publiée. Dans le cadre de cette étude pilote exploratoire, nous avons étudié par l’entremise d’un questionnaire les perceptions relatives au pickleball de 51 jeunes entre 8 à 18 ans aux États-Unis. Les résultats indiquent que ces individus perçoivent le sport de manière positive. Le pickleball semble en effet avoir divers bienfaits pour la santé mentale, dont la diminution du stress, ainsi qu’une meilleure capacité d’adaptation, concentration, aptitude à tisser des amitiés et humeur plus positive. Les résultats suggèrent également que pour chaque augmentation de 1,00 écart type pour le nombre de fois où l’on joue au pickleball chaque mois, il y a une augmentation prévue des bienfaits de 0,35 écart type, ce qui représente un niveau d’effet entre faible et modéré.

MOTS-ClÉS:

• Pickleball
• santé mentale
• enfants
• adolescents

KEYWORDS:

• Pickleball
• mental health
• children
• adolescents

Pickleball is currently the fastest growing sport in the United States (Sports and Fitness Industry Association, 2023), possibly because it is relatively easy to learn, can be played by people of all ages, and requires no previous sport experience (Chen et al., 2021). Studies with adult players have shown that pickleball participation has a variety of mental health, physical, and social benefits (see e.g. Cerezuela et al., 2023; Kim et al., 2021; Wray et al., 2021). However, there is very limited research on pickleball among junior players (ages 18 or younger). The purpose of this pilot study was to explore junior players’ motivations for playing pickleball and their perceptions of mental health benefits from participation. Pilot studies help to move research into new areas and assess the feasibility and value of progressing to effectiveness studies (Hallingberg et al., 2018; Swedberg, 2020). This study helps advance knowledge and research about the potential mental health benefits of pickleball for junior players.

History and growth

Pickleball began as a leisure activity in 1965 in Bainbridge Island, Washington, US (U.S.A. Pickleball, 2023). This sport began by featuring one to two players on each side of a badminton or tennis court, utilizing one whiffle ball, and one wooden racket per person (Wasem, 1994).

Pickleball has rapidly progressed in popularity in the US and evolved to games played on specialized pickleball courts using paddles made from graphite and carbon fibers (U.S.A. Pickleball, 2023).

The Sports and Fitness Industry Association (2023) found that pickleball is the fastest growing sport in the United States, with participation almost doubling in 2022, increasing by approximately 86% year-over-year and by approximately 159% over three years. There has been an annual 12% average increase in pickleball participation in the US since it was introduced (Lavine, 2021) and it is also growing in popularity worldwide (Buzzelli & Draper, 2019; Chen et al., 2021) as shown by the 79 countries with membership in the International Pickleball Association (see https://theipf.org/countries.html) as well the increasing presence of international players ranked in the top 20 players in the world by the Professional Pickleball Association (PPA; see https://www.ppatour.com/player-rankings/). According to U.S.A. Pickleball (2023), the national governing body in the U.S., there were 4.8 million players (approximately 21% between 6 and 17 years of age) in 2021, a nearly 15% increase from 2020, with the fastest growth among those under 24 years of age. During the 2019–2021 Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, a nearly 40% increase in pickleball participation in players over 6 years of age was reported in the U.S (Austin, 2022). As noted by Chen et al. (2021), pickleball may be growing so rapidly because it combines aspects of tennis, badminton, and table tennis, only requires a short period of time to learn, and is suitable for people of all ages regardless of their prior sports experience. Compared with other leisure sports like tennis, the ball moves more slowly, and the court is smaller, so the game can be less physically demanding (Lavine, 2021).

Simon (2022) noted that while pickleball has often been considered an activity for older adults and seniors, more children and adolescents are taking up the sport possibly due to its inclusion in school physical education and summer camp programing. Another factor in growth among youth may be that U.S.A. Pickleball launched an online curriculum (available at https://www.usapickleball.org) with videos and resources for those wanting to teach the game to youth. Finally, its growth among youth may be because as pickleball has increased among adults this has also trickled down to children whose parents participate in the sport (Simon, 2022).

Research on the benefits of pickleball has often examined the effects on older adults. For example, in a systematic review Cerezuela et al. (2023) found 13 pickleball studies examining mental health benefits, with more than 90% focused on players 50 to 83 years old. There is only one pickleball study with junior players. We first review studies of pickleball benefits with adults before examining the one study with junior players.

Mental health benefits for adult players

Pickleball’s mental health benefits for adults are commonly noted in the literature (Cerezuela et al., 2023; Lavine, 2021). For example, J. Heo, J. Ryu, H. Yang, and K. M. Kim (2018) explored the relationship between depression, serious leisure, optimism, and social integration in 153 middle aged and senior citizen pickleball tournament competitors in the US. Findings indicated that serious leisure and depression were inversely related and that greater commitment to serious leisure in pickleball was associated with lower levels of depression. In a related study, J. Heo, Ryu, Yang, Kim, et al. (2018) used the same pickleball participants to measure life satisfaction and aging experience and discovered that serious leisure significantly predicted ratings of wellbeing and quality of life. These authors went on to note that playing pickleball appears to be a serious leisure activity that can add value to older adults’ daily lives and contribute to their successful aging.

Ryu et al. (2018) conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study in the US examining 153 employed middle-aged and retired senior citizens who averaged 9.9 hours of pickleball per week and played competitively. These researchers examined participants’ demographic characteristics and the psychosocial benefits derived from pickleball. Findings showed that the retired senior citizens who played pickleball had a higher life satisfaction than their employed middle-aged counterparts. These researchers concluded that playing pickleball appears to be an enriching leisure activity that may help older individuals cope with the transition to retirement.

Ryu et al. (2020) conducted a participatory program evaluation in the US with 208 pickleball championship tournament participants examining middle aged and senior citizens’ psychological functioning. Results revealed that higher levels of authenticity (feeling true to oneself) while playing pickleball were positively associated with higher levels of happiness and negatively associated with perceived stress. Authenticity uniquely contributed 10% of the variance in perceived stress. These researchers noted that playing pickleball may help older adults express themselves in authentic alignment with their values, desires, and emotions and thus improve their happiness and stress.

Chen et al. (2021) conducted a program evaluation during an international pickleball tournament in Taiwan. A total of 215 participants of all ages completed a self-report questionnaire regarding leisure involvement and leisure satisfaction along with ratings of their wellbeing. Results indicated that (a) leisure involvement had a significant effect on leisure satisfaction, and (b) that leisure satisfaction had a significant effect on wellbeing, mediating the relationship between leisure involvement and well-being. These authors suggested that participating in pickleball offers a way to increase a player’s leisure involvement, leisure satisfaction, and wellbeing.

Other benefits for adult players

Additional benefits of pickleball for adults have also been noted. It has been found that many middle aged and senior citizens report engaging in pickleball for physical and social benefits (Casper & Jeon, 2019). While the COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted activity levels, senior citizens who played pickleball at least once or more per week reported more stable physical health than those who played less frequently (Casper et al., 2021). The health benefits of pickleball for middle age and senior adults may be related to the fact that it has been found to be higher in intensity and more enjoyable to engage in than other activities like walking (L. E. Smith et al., 2018; M. Smith et al., 2016) and has social benefits (Casper & Jeon, 2019; Kim et al., 2021). Pickleball has been found to be an enjoyable activity to overcome barriers to exercising among rural, inactive mid-life and older adults to promote health (Wray et al., 2021). In a study by Reynolds et al. (2016) researchers found that college undergraduates who played with experienced senior players reported that they learned from the seniors and showed an accompanied decrease in ageism. The seniors also benefitted by fostering a positive relationship with the undergraduate students.

Another area of benefit and motivation for playing pickleball may be the competitive nature of the game. For example, in a study of middle age and senior citizens engaging in competition with others was reported as the greatest benefit obtained from playing pickleball (Buzzelli & Draper, 2019). Casper and Jeon (2019) also found that for middle-age and senior respondents who had a high psychological connection to pickleball, competition with others and skill mastery were rated as high motivations for playing. Studies with adults have also suggested that pickleball playing intensity is positively associated with the benefits participants often experience, including lower depression, higher quality of life, life satisfaction, happiness, and socialization (Casper & Jeon, 2019; Casper et al., 2021; J. Heo, Ryu, Yang, Kim, et al., 2018; Kim et al., 2021; Wray et al., 2021), however this has not been examined with junior players.

Junior players

There have been no published studies examining junior players’ motivations for playing pickleball or their perceptions of the benefits of such play. In the only research with junior age players, Evans et al. (1999) sought to evaluate two different curricula for teaching pickleball. These researchers conducted a quasi-experimental study in Nebraska by observing four physical education teachers giving oral directions and collecting worksheets and task cards from 91 students in 7th grade across three middle schools. Students received 8 to 11 pickleball lessons. Researchers discovered that more concise pickleball lessons helped improve classroom management resulting in lower levels of student inappropriate behaviour. These researchers also found that pickleball contributed to keeping young participants’ hearts healthy with an increase in heart rate and longer lasting heart beats, due to the increased cardiovascular activity that associated with the moderate physical activity level that pickleball provided.

In addition, prior research has found that youth physical activity participation can be affected by gender, age, or ethnicity (see e.g. Butt et al., 2011), however this has not been investigated in the context of pickleball. Since motivation has also been shown to have a significant influence on adolescent sport participation (see e.g. Allen, 2003; Weinberg et al., 2000), this was another area we were interested in examining among junior pickleball players.

Research purpose and questions

Given the lack of research with young pickleball players, the purpose of the current pilot study was to explore junior players’ motivations for playing pickleball and their perceptions of mental health benefits from participation. We focused on mental health benefits, due to the rise of youth mental health concerns during and following the COVID-19 pandemic (see e.g. De France et al., 2022; Lehmann et al., 2022; Panchal et al., 2023) and the need for programs and activities to help mitigate these concerns. Pilot studies are an important initial step in exploring novel applications of interventions or programs, with results helping to inform feasibility and potential modifications needed in large scale studies (Leon et al., 2011).

This study addressed the following research questions: (1) What mental health benefits do junior players report from participation in pickleball? (2) Does pickleball playing intensity (as defined by how often they play, how long they play, and how many years they have played) affect reported benefits? (3) Are there differences in players’ perceptions of benefits based on their age, gender, or ethnicity? (4) Why do junior players start playing pickleball? and (5) What aspects of pickleball do junior players like and dislike? The two last research questions were exploratory attempts to understand what motivates junior players to engage in pickleball, including whether there were aspects of their participation that they particularly liked or disliked.

Method

Setting and participants

This study was conducted through a junior pickleball organization (JPO) in the state of Utah, in the US. The JPO was started in late 2020 by a professional pickleball player and former collegiate tennis player, along with colleagues who yearned for a racket organization for juniors to compete against others their own age instead of adults. The JPO allows its players to earn points and rankings according to their wins. The ranking also allows junior players to earn invitations to national tournaments.

Participants were recruited from an invitation email sent to 209 parents of JPO members. A total of 51 junior players participated (estimated response rate 24.40%). It was not known whether the emails were sent to multiple parents or if there were multiple junior pickleball players in the household. Demographic data on study participants are presented in the sections below.

The respondents (n = 51) included pickleball players between the ages of 8 and 18. The majority (64.71%) were between the ages of 12 and 15 years of age (M = 13.08, SD = 2.22). Gender identity was 78.00% male, 18.00% female, and 4.00% prefer not to say. In terms of ethnic background, the composition was 79.25% White, 7.55% Pacific Islander, 5.66% Asian, 1.89% Native American, and 5.66% prefer not to say. Participant hometowns were located primarily in Utah (95.14%) with a small percentage in Idaho (2.43%) and Nevada (2.43%).

Measures

ERIC, PSYCINFO, and Google Scholar were searched for pickleball questionnaires from other studies. We found just one available questionnaire by Casper and Jeon (2019) for use with adults, however we deemed it quite long for junior-age players. Therefore, we

created our own Qualtrics (https://qualtrics.com) survey to assess pickleball players’ anonymous perceptions (see Appendix). Questionnaire items were developed collaboratively by the researchers and the JPO manager. The questionnaire contained 31 questions consisting of 16 Likert-style questions, five forced-choice questions, five demographic questions, four open-ended questions, and one ranking question. Likert-style questions had five options (e.g. ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree). Open-ended questions asked participants to indicate the city they lived in, why they had started playing pickleball, and what they liked and disliked most about the sport.

Procedure

The JPO manager sent out an email cover letter to the parents of the junior pickleball players requesting their completion of the questionnaire. Participants were told if they completed the study, they would be entered into a raffle to win one of five $20 Amazon gift cards. The questionnaires were answered between 23 February 2023, and 14 March 2023. University Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval was obtained to analyze a deidentified data set containing participants’ responses to the questionnaire.

Design and analytic strategy

This study was exploratory, using a questionnaire containing quantitative and qualitative items, like such studies done by researchers in other fields (see e.g. McKeen et al., 2006; Nguyen et al., 2016). As noted by Swedberg (2020), exploratory studies attempt to discover something new by researching a topic for the first time (which was the case in the current study) and help to move the field forward into new areas. Such studies also help to assess the feasibility and value of progressing to effectiveness studies (Hallingberg et al., 2018).

In terms of analysis, descriptive data (percentages) were first calculated on participants responses to the quantitative survey items. To answer the first research question, percentages of agreement with survey questions asking about perceived benefits were calculated.

To answer the second and third research questions, exploring causal links between the intensity of pickleball involvement affecting mental health benefits and how participants’ demographic characteristics might affect the results, several analytical steps were completed. Step one involved compiling descriptive statistics and correlation tables in the Statistical Package for the Social Science 28 (SPSS). Step two involved running a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on the mental health benefits items to determine whether a unidimensional construct could explain these items well. A CFA was run as opposed to exploratory factor analysis (EFA) because we had a hypothesis that a single factor would explain the items. CFA has also been used in other sport-related pilot studies (see e.g. Hardy et al., 2010). The data were considered ordered categorical in the analysis and estimator = WLSMV (diagonally weighted least squares) were used. Several fit statistics were examined and compared to their cutoffs to determine model fit (RMSEA < .08, CFI > .9, TLI > .9, SRMR < .08; Wang & Wang, 2019). This analysis was done in MPLUS 8.8 (Muthén & Muthén, 1998–2017). The final step was to run a structural equation model (SEM) where the variables of interest predicted the latent Mental Health Benefits factor. We used SEM because it has a variety of advantages including explicit assessment of measurement error, estimation of latent variables via observed variables, and model testing where a structure can be assessed as to fit of the data (Wang & Wang, 2019). During this final step there were some convergence issues that occurred, likely due to the small sample size, which required using the ESTIMATOR=BAYES option to overcome. This analysis was also done in MPLUS 8.8, which has the advantage of employing the full information maximum likelihood (FIML) approach to missing data that has been shown to be more reliable than listwise deletion or other missing data techniques (Allison, 2001).

To answer the fourth and fifth research questions, participants’ responses to three qualitative open-ended survey questions (‘I started playing pickleball because … ’, ‘What I DISLIKE most about playing pickleball is … ’, and ‘What I LIKE most about playing pickleball is … ’.) were analyzed to determine main themes by using thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006). The analysis was conducted by the first two authors who (a) independently reviewed the comments, (b) coded them for common themes, (c) compared their results, (d) and then agreed on a final set of common themes. Quoted comments from participants were then selected to represent the themes and reported verbatim using pseudonyms.

Results

Descriptive data

This first section summarizes descriptive data on participants’ responses to the quantitative survey items. Regarding frequency of play, the largest percentage of participants reported playing pickleball two to three times per week (31.25%), followed by once per week (29.17%), four to five times per week (18.75%), five or more times per week (10.42%), and one-time per month (10.42%). In terms of experience, most respondents (78.43%) had played pickleball for 1 to 3 years, 15.69% had less than 1 year of experience, and 5.88% had 4 or more years. Regarding professional pickleball lessons from an instructor, 28.00% of respondents had none, 28.00% had two to six lessons, 14.00% had one, and 6.00% had 7 to 12 lessons. Locations where respondents played pickleball most often were public courts (37.96%), followed by private clubs (21.30%), tournaments (17.59%), home (10.19%), houses of worship (7.41%), and school (5.56%). A total of 49.02% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that playing pickleball cost a lot of money, 78.43% similarly agreed that they would like to become a professional pickleball player someday, and 82.00% that they liked having ratings of their skill level in the Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating (DUPR) system (https://mydupr.com/). Exactly 50.00% of the respondents preferred playing pickleball against adults while the other half preferred playing against other youth. The top ranked pickleball activities (from most to least endorsed) were as follows; (1) doubles, (2) playing for fun with friends, (3) singles, (4) kings court, and (5) team league play. Percentages of agreement on questions specifically examining pickleball mental health benefits are reported in Table 1. Percentages of agreement on forced choice yes/no survey questions are reported in Table 2.

Table 1. Percentage of participants who agreed or strongly agreed on mental health benefits items.

Questionnaire items	Percent agreement
Playing pickleball is fun.	100.00%
Playing pickleball has had a good impact on my life.	98.04%
Playing pickleball helps my mood.	90.00%
Playing pickleball helps me make friends.	86.28%
Playing pickleball helps me feel better about myself.	82.00%
Playing pickleball helps me feel proud.	82.00%
Playing pickleball helps me focus.	78.43%
Playing pickleball helps me cope better with my feelings.	72.55%
Playing pickleball helps me with stress.	72.55%

Table 2. Forced choice responses on demographic survey items.

Questionnaire items	Yes %	No %
I know what DUPR is.	79.17%	20.83%
I have had a PE class where I have played pickleball	54.17%	45.83%
I hang out with other pickleball players in my free time.	51.06%	48.94%
I have quit other sports to focus on pickleball.	35.42%	64.58%

DUPR = Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating; PE = Physical Education.

Confirmatory factor analysis

As mentioned in the analytical strategy section, a CFA was run on the mental health benefits items to determine if this was a unidimensional construct. During initial diagnostics question 18 (‘Pickle ball is fun’) was dropped due to lack of variability as every participant agreed with this item. The CFA of the remaining items supported a unidimensional construct (labeled Mental Health Benefits) as shown in three of the four fit statistics (RMSEA = 0.15, CFI = 0.97, TLI = 0.96, SRMR = .06). The Cronbach’s α of the Mental Health Benefits construct was .84, which also supported a unidimensional construct. Standardized factor loadings are found in Table 3.

Table 3. Standardized factor loadings of mental health benefits factor items.

Questionnaire items	Standardized factor loadings
Playing pickleball helps me with stress.	0.95**
Playing pickleball helps me cope better with my feelings.	0.93**
Playing pickleball helps me to focus.	0.82**
Playing pickleball has had a good impact on my life.	0.82**
Playing pickleball helps me make friends.	0.76**
Playing pickleball helps me feel better about myself.	0.71**
Playing pickleball helps my mood.	0.57**
Playing pickleball helps me feel proud.	0.53**

n = 51, α = .84, RMSEA = 0.15, CFI = 0.97, TLI = 0.96, SRMR = 0.06, ** p < .01.

Structural equation modeling

Once the psychometric properties of the Mental Health Benefits factor were established, an SEM was run to explore the effects of the covariates of interest on the factor (see Figure 1). There were two covariates, gender, and ethnicity, which lacked sufficient variability to be included in the model and thus were dropped. The only significant path was the times played per month covariate predicting Mental Health Benefits with a standardized β of 0.35 (p < .05). This is interpreted as for every 1.00 standard deviation increase in times played per month the predicted increase in Mental Health Benefits was 0.35 standard deviations, a small-to-moderate effect size.

Figure 1. Structural equation model of covariates of interest on mental health benefits factor.

(n = 51, Standardized β shown)

Qualitative data

Qualitative questions were asked to the participants in the following areas: why they began pickleball, what they disliked about pickleball, and what they liked about pickleball. The data was coded and common themes in participants responses were identified. The most common themes as to why participants began pickleball were family, fun, and friends. These themes seemed to be interconnected around the idea that these junior players began playing pickleball because they viewed it as a fun activity they could engage in with family and friends. Sample participant responses for these themes were:

Family: ‘I had been playing tennis for a while with my dad, so we decided to try out pickleball and we loved it’. –James; ‘My family plays’. –Sarah

Fun: ‘It was fun! I liked the environment, and my family used it as something fun to do together’. –Olivia; ‘It looked like fun, and it is’. –Andrew

Friends: ‘All my friends played’. –Ryan; ‘A friend told us about it’. –David

The most common themes as to why respondents disliked pickleball were no free courts, having a bad game day, bad weather, and rude players. Sample participant quotes for these themes were as follows:

No Free Courts: ‘It is very hard to find court space anywhere for free which makes playing games just for fun with my friends … nearly impossible’. –Crew; ‘The cost of indoor courts in the winter’. –Ryan

Bad Game Day: ‘Bad days and inconsistent teammates’. –Jose; ‘Probably just off days’. –James

Bad Weather: ‘How much less I play in the winter’. –David; ‘The weather’. –Sarah

Rude Players: ‘When people are visibly/verbally/physically negative. It’s not fun to play with or against’. –Olivia; ‘Some people become too competitive and disagree/complain about small rules’. –Andrew

The most common themes as to why respondents liked pickleball were winning, making friends, having fun, and competing. Quotes from respondents that illustrate these themes were as follows:

Winning: ‘The competition and feeling of hitting that ace or winner’. –David; ‘Winning Tournaments’–Sarah

Making Friends: ‘The community! I love the support group and friends I have made through this sport’.–Elle; ‘I can easily play with my friends and teach others how to play’. –Andrew

Having Fun: ‘It’s fun and keeps me active’. –Mason; ‘It’s fun and exercise’. –Jose

Competing: ‘The competition’. –Crew; ‘Competing in tournament play’ –Olivia

Discussion

Given the lack of research with junior pickleball players, the purpose of the current pilot study was to explore junior players’ motivations for playing pickleball and their perceptions of mental health benefits from participation in the sport. Answers to each of the research questions are highlighted below.

Junior players reported that pickleball was fun and had a variety of mental health benefits including that it helped with stress, coping, focus, making friends, as well as improving mood and self-esteem. These results align with the systematic review by Cerezuela et al. (2023) which concluded that pickleball showed promise as a new tool to improve mental health. Such benefits are important, given the rise in child and adolescent mental health problems, especially anxiety and depression, following the COVID-19 pandemic (De France et al., 2022; Lehmann et al., 2022; Panchal et al., 2023).

Of the three metrics that we used, only how often participants played pickleball affected the perceived mental health benefits, which may be the truest measure of intensity. There appeared to be a linear relationship between how often participants played pickleball and the benefits they reported. As expected, those who played pickleball more often reported the most benefits. Studies with adults have also shown that the more participants play pickleball, the better psychological outcomes they tend to have, including lower self-reported depression, higher quality of life, life satisfaction, and socialization (Casper & Jeon, 2019; Casper et al., 2021; J. Heo, Ryu, Yang, Kim, et al., 2018; Kim et al., 2021; Wray et al., 2021). These findings also align with research in other physical sports where a higher frequency of physical activity leads to increased mental health (Cerezuela et al., 2023; Sharma et al., 2006). Therefore, we encourage pickleball participation to be offered to young people as often as possible to maximize the potential mental health benefits. Given that length of play and years played did not appear to affect the perceived benefits, it seems that even novice players may experience mental health benefits from pickleball participation. Those seeking ideas for instructing young novice players in the sport can take advantage of a variety of resources found in the literature (see e.g. Kim et al., 2020; Michael & Webster, 2020; Zagrodnik, 2019).

After examining the results of the SEM, age was not a significant predictor of mental health benefits reported based on age, gender, or ethnicity. This means that whether participants were 8 or 18 years old, they reported similar levels of benefits from pickleball participation. Thus, it appears that pickleball’s mental health benefits apply universally and could be offered to young people of all ages. Pickleball participation also seems to fit well with government guidelines that children and adolescents should get at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity each day (US Department of Health and Human Services, 2018).

In terms of the qualitative results, the most common reasons why junior players participated in pickleball were family, amusement, and friends. Wheeler (2012) also found sport participation to be related to family and social culture in elementary-age students. Mellano (2019) found that friendships made through sport participation positively contributed to social and mental wellbeing. Skille and Østerås (2011) found that fun and social benefits were some of the top reasons why adolescents participated in sports. Pickleball seems to offer benefits to family and social relationships, the latter of which aligns to pickleball research with adult players (see e.g. Kim et al., 2021), and suggests that pickleball could be a valuable way for parents to spend fun leisure time with their children which has been acknowledged as an important part of parenting (Craig & Mullan, 2012).

These junior players also liked winning, making friends, and the competition that comes with pickleball. Buzzelli and Draper (2019) also found competition as the self-reported highest benefit to participating in pickleball in their study of middle age and senior citizen players. The Kim et al. (2021) study with older players also supports that participation in pickleball increases social connections.

The aspects of what players disliked about pickleball were no free courts, having a bad game day, bad weather, and rude players. Casper et al. (2021) found that environmental changes were a factor in decreasing playing time, lower social connections, lower mental health, and life satisfaction for senior citizens. Pickleball players of any age may benefit from instruction and periodic review of etiquette such as starting and finishing games by greeting and shaking hands, giving the benefit of the doubt to opponents, avoiding being too loud, disruptive, or argumentative, and making positive comments to the other player(s) at the end of each game (see Kim et al., 2021). As some participants noted the high costs of pickleball and the lack of free courts to be a problem, local communities could investigate ways to make free or low cost pickleball equipment and courts available to junior-age players, particularly given the potential mental health benefits.

Limitations and areas for future research

While the results of this exploratory pilot study of junior pickleball players were interesting, there were several limitations. First, we had a relatively low response rate and small sample size with neither enough ethnic nor gender variability to evaluate these variables for potential impacts. The sample was also localized, consisting of a selective group of experienced junior players, which may not generalize to other populations. This study was exploratory and descriptive in nature, not a randomized controlled study of junior pickleball participation using established measures of child and adolescent mental health. Such additional controlled studies would be helpful to fully evaluate the benefits of pickleball for junior-age players. Pickleball studies involving children or adolescents with diagnosed mental health problems would also be helpful to further evaluate the positive effects of the sport on mental health. We also did not thoroughly explore all the potential benefits of pickleball, such as physical and social benefits (as the focus of the present study was on mental health benefits), though these are areas worthy of additional investigation. Qualitative studies (focus groups or individual interviews) would also be helpful to further investigate the themes found in the current study.

Conclusions and implications

This pilot study is considered exploratory as it is the first to explore junior players motivations for playing pickleball and their perceptions of mental health benefits of participation. Because research is limited for junior age players, it is important to understand how pickleball is perceived by and how it affects young players. The perceptions of junior age players in this study were quite encouraging and suggest that their pickleball participation positively impacted their mental health. For every 1.00 standard deviation increase in the number of times pickleball was played each month, there was a predicted increase in benefits of 0.35 standard deviations, a small-to-moderate effect size. Participants indicated that the main reasons they played pickleball were related to family, amusement, and friends. They also reported that the main things they liked about playing pickleball were related to winning, playing with friends, amusement, and competition. The main barriers to pickleball participation were not being able to obtain a free court, having a bad game day, inclement weather, and experiencing rude players. There appears to be opportunities for growth in offering pickleball to youth more widely, to experience potential improvements in mental health and help individuals reach recommended levels of daily physical activity while having fun with others. We encourage additional study of junior pickleball to further strengthen the literature in this area.

Disclosure statement

The authors have declared no conflicts of interest in relation to this paper.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Paul Caldarella

Paul Caldarella is a professor at Brigham Young University whose research focuses on positive behavior support programs for children and adolescents.

Malka S. Moya

Malka S. Moya is a practicing school psychologist with a research interest in student wellness.

Ross A. A. Larsen

Ross A. A. Larsen is a statistician with expertise in structural equation modeling.

Jeremy S. Horner

Jeremy S. Horner is the pickleball manager at the Utah Junior Pickleball Organization and an avid pickleball player.

Erika J. Richards

Erika J. Richards is a research coordinator at Brigham Young University with an interest in special sports psychology.

Appendix

Junior Pickleball Survey

Q1 What city do you live in?

_______________________________________________________________

Q2 I am ___ years old

o8

o9

o10

o11

o12

o13

o14

o15

o16

o17

o18

Q3 My ethnic background is _____________. (Select all that apply)

▢White

▢Native American

▢Asian

▢Pacific Islander

▢Asian Indian

▢Middle Eastern

▢African American

▢Hispanic/Latinx

▢Prefer not to say

Q4 My gender identity is ________.

oMale

oFemale

oOther

oPrefer not to say

Q5 I usually play pickleball ___________.

o1 time/month

o1 time/week

o2–3 times/week

o4–5 times/week

o5+ times per week

Q6 I have been playing pickleball for ________________.

o1–4 months

o5–11 months

o1 year

o2 years

o3 years

o4 or more years

Q7 I have had ___ pickleball lessons from a coach or instructor.

onone

o1

o2–6

o7–12

o13 or more

Q8 When I play pickleball, I usually play for about _____.

o30 min

o45 min

o60 min

o90+ min

Q9 When I play pickleball, I usually play at _____ (Select all that apply).

▢Public pickleball courts

▢Tournaments

▢Private club

▢Home

▢House of worship

▢School

Q10 Playing pickleball helps my mood.

oStrongly Disagree

oDisagree

oNeutral

oAgree

oStrongly Agree

Q11 Playing pickleball helps me feel better about myself.

oStrongly Disagree

oDisagree

oNeutral

oAgree

oStrongly Agree

Q12 Playing pickleball helps me make friends.

oStrongly Disagree

oDisagree

oNeutral

oAgree

oStrongly Agree

Q13 Playing pickleball helps me cope better with my feelings.

oStrongly Disagree

oDisagree

oNeutral

oAgree

oStrongly Agree

Q14 Playing pickleball helps me to focus.

oStrongly Disagree

oDisagree

oNeutral

oAgree

oStrongly Agree

Q15 Playing pickleball helps me with stress.

oStrongly Disagree

oDisagree

oNeutral

oAgree

oStrongly Agree

Q16 Playing pickleball helps me feel proud.

oStrongly Disagree

oDisagree

oNeutral

oAgree

oStrongly Disagree

Q17 Playing pickleball has had a good impact on my life.

oStrongly Disagree

oDisagree

oNeutral

oAgree

oStrongly Agree

Q18 Playing pickleball is fun.

oStrongly Disagree

oDisagree

oNeutral

oAgree

oStrongly Agree

Q19 Playing pickleball costs a lot of money.

oStrongly Disagree

oDisagree

oNeutral

oAgre

oStrongly Agree

Q20 I like having ratings of my pickleball skill level.

oStrongly Disagree

oDisagree

oNeutral

oAgree

oStrongly Agree

Q21 I would like to become a professional pickleball player someday.

oStrongly Disagree

oDisagree

oNeutral

oAgree

oStrongly Agree

Q22 I have had a PE class where I played pickleball.

oYes

oNo

Q23 I hang out with other pickleball players in my free time.

oYes

oNo

Q24 I have quit playing other sports so that I could focus on pickleball.

oYes

oNo

Q25 I know what DUPR is.

oTrue

oFalse

Q26 Who do you prefer playing pickleball against?

oYouth

oAdults

Q27 Rank in order (from 1 being most to 7 being least) what you like the most about pickleball?

______ Playing for fun with friends

______ Singles

______ Doubles

______ King’s Court

______ Round Robin

______ Double elimination tournaments

______ Team league play

Q28 I started playing pickleball because……

_______________________________________________________________

Q29 Other sports I play are……

_______________________________________________________________

Q30 What I DISLIKE most about playing pickleball is….

_______________________________________________________________

Q31 What I LIKE most about playing pickleball is….

_______________________________________________________________