Zen, Yoga and the Church of Pickleball
By J.R. MacLean
Pickleball is Spiritual Practice
Pickleball is my spiritual practice, a conscious activity that cultivates well-being, builds understanding, enhances awareness and opens the heart. I’ve dabbled in yoga and zen, examples of spiritual practices that have been robustly effective for thousands of years. But Pickleball? Pickleball! The very name is ludicrous though perhaps sexy on an infantile level. Could this fastest growing sport in North America also be a form of spiritual practice?
The boomer friendly game currently taking over the known universe has me in its thrall, and as a person who likes to think of himself (a non-spiritual practice) as a spirited person, my current obsession with the game ergo must be due to its spiritual benefits. Sure, endorphins are exercised and aggressions are exorcised by the therapy inherent in repeatedly whacking an aerated plastic sphere. But there must be more to pickleball than an addictive happy place where we can play like children. Or is that in itself simply a case of following one’s bliss?
The Pickleball Hero’s Journey
Mine begins with my basketball buddy Bill, a soft spoken retired professor with some modest Gandalfian characteristics. He, with an assist from the Covid plague, got me out to the dedicated courts at Knights of Columbus park, introduced me to the game, and sold me a paddle. In the spring and summer throngs of pickleball devotees attended those courts and lounged around them as players filled the warm air with shouts and the thwacking sounds of paddled balls. My paddle joined those of the non-winners, and remained there. I was hooked nevertheless, and eager to learn the mysteries of the game. Fortunately there was no lack of pickleball priests and priestesses available to initiate me.
There was ‘Too Tall’ Robbie, a charismatic presence who loved to dominate the net and needle the participants. The first time I worked as his partner and miss-hit my first shot he loudly asked if he might have a partner better than a 2.0. This is part of the arcane pickleball rating scale, which I believe goes to 5.0. A 2.0 indicates some one who is unsure of which end of the paddle to hold. Later he kindly told me that I had the ‘ability’ and just needed practice. Then there was ‘Drill Sergeant’ Debbie who delighted in pointing out my foot faults and in roaring at me to “Get up here!” when I lallygagged in no man’s land instead of getting up to the net. There is nothing like the immediacy of on the spot coaching.
Immediacy is in fact a huge spiritual component of pickleball. The game can move very fast and he or she who lets their mind wander can quickly find themselves woefully out of position or smacked somewhere delicate by a fast-moving aerated sphere. In this game, as with mindfulness, presence is at a premium. There are also the challenges, which increase in difficulty with age, of remembering your partner’s name, the score, whose serve it is, and which side or portion of the court one is supposed to be standing on. The need for presence and attention is compounded by the need to observe and anticipate the type of shot an opponent is hitting. Are they driving, lobbing, or dinking and does the shot have under, over, or side spin? Are they moving towards or away from the net? Is there an opening where the return shot should be directed? That’s a whole lot to process in the split second available for many shots. Engagement in the moment, with no time to think, is at the core of the pickleball experience just as it can be in spiritual practice.
Zen, yoga, and the art of pickleball
Once upon a time I had the privilege of visiting a Zen monastery and taking part in a ‘sesshin’, a week of intense spiritual practice in which virtually every moment is ritualized. Imagine having the role of ‘server’ at an orioki meal. Practitioners, who have been sitting ‘zazen’ since being awakened at four AM, are brought their food while still sitting on a cushion on the floor in a meditative posture. Servers, who themselves have been up since four AM, stride into the zendo balancing huge serving bowls while chanting a mantra. They maintain all this while kneeling down in long heavy robes to serve each participant beginning with the presiding Roshi. Much like the pickleball player trying to be aware of paddle positioning, court positioning, ball velocity and direction while approaching the net, the Zen server has to trust his or her ability and instincts. Disaster, or at least a lost point, lurks in both situations. Pickleball, like zen, albeit milder and more fun, is an overt training in staying in the moment. And in both practices, there is always more to learn.
It can be argued that anything, when done with mindfulness, can be spiritual practice. Chop wood. Carry water. Wash the dishes. Dink one off the top of the net. Being completely present and aware for any of these activities, can, with reason, be called spiritual practice. But are there elements particular to pickleball that make it amenable to being a spiritual practice, more so than, say, NFL football or tennis? I put something like this question to my pickleball teacher Alan Sargeant, a person uniquely qualified to answer as he has also been a Yoga teacher for some twenty years.
Says Alan:
“Playing pickleball can be meditative. When you are really focussed on the ball and intensely enjoying the game it provides a peace of mind that is spiritual in my view. Playing pickleball regularly can train you to concentrate deeply while being very relaxed. In addition, the interpersonal dimension of pickleball can provide many opportunities to selflessly help others which I consider the practice of Karma yoga or selfless service…It can create more harmony amongst groups of people and a greater enjoyment of day to day living. If humans are enjoying their lives, they tend to be kinder and more concerned with the welfare of the planet.”
Pickleballers do tend to enjoy life. My first teacher, Paul, was always genial, even though he needed shoulder surgery and a hip replaced. Mattie, who welcomed me into the outdoor scene, was always chipper, even after he had a knee replaced the following week. People love to play, and keep coming back, despite the need for a fresh body part every now and then. Good humour flows along with the endorphins. Funny things happen. Dramas unfold. People get injured. Courts have to be squeegeed and wiped with old towels. It is all done with enjoyment because the game itself is so much damn fun. And what is spiritual growth if not enhanced enjoyment of, or perhaps enjoinment in, life as it is?
So pickleball is spiritual practice. Or at least it can be, depending on the attitude of the participant. In pickleball, as in life, attitude is everything. If one gets frustrated or down on oneself with every little mistake, or is ultra competitive and too driven to win, then participation in a sport where boo boos and lucky shots happen all the time can be frustrating. Forgiveness (a noted spiritual quality) of oneself and others is as fundamental to enjoying pickleball as is a deep service return. Add the social dimension, which tends to thrive on a small, more intimate court with the consequent opportunities for teasing, repartee and compliments along with on and off the court suggestions that help players become better, and participation can become a joy. I imagine in the old days going to church, meeting the neighbours, singing some hymns or gospel, might have been an experience with similar effects. In going to church, practicing zen, doing yoga, or playing pickleball one gets dressed up in special clothes, convenes with like-minded others, participates in various rituals, and generally feels better for doing so. All are ways of sharing spirit.
Hinduism (the 4000 year old religion) and yoga (Hinduism’s spiritual discipline) see the world, the universe as ‘leela’, which means play or playfulness. In Mathew 18:3 Jesus says: “Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” I am grateful, in an unprecedented time of plague, to be able to become a big creaky old child having fun with like-minded pickleballers. It is certainly the most spirited, and arguably the most spiritual, activity of my week.
