How to join a ladies social pickleball group

Clinics/lessons – If you sign up for a clinic at your level of play (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced) etc., you naturally meet people to play with. You get to know them in the clinic. If you are a beginner, you will definitely want to start here.

When I took my first beginner pickleball lesson, I asked a few of the ladies if they could stay for a few minutes extra afterwards and play. They did, and now we have been playing together for over a year, and co-organize a ladies Pickleball group. If you meet friendly people you seem to get along with in the class, go ahead a reach out to them. See if they want to play outside of class. Exchange contact info then follow up and actually meet up to play.

Find an ‘open play‘ – In Pickleball there is something called ‘open play’. It is a slot of time (example a Saturday from 9 -11am) when players can drop in and play with one other in groups of 2 for singles, or 4 four doubles. What is wonderful is that pickleball games last typically from 10 -30 minutes. So one group of 4 people will play, then leave the court and another group of 4 will go onto the court. Typically during the rest time, is when a lot of fun social conversations take place. If there is a big group, then you may also have the freedom to come and go as you please. Below, I provide some places that may have open play times available.

Some places have structured open play systems, where you ‘put your paddle down’ in a rack or on the court, to show your intent to play. Then players play in the order of paddles put down. Others may have open play by player level, such as beginner, intermediates, or by the Pickleball rating system (called DUPR) etc. However, many places may just have a flexible social open play system, where the players are free to play with everyone.

While I love playing pickleball, I have grown to embrace the break and rest times between games. This is where I have really gotten to know people. I strike up a conversation with them. It makes it more fun to play with them, because you know them a little better. It keeps you coming back to open play time and time again. You know you will meet with these fun friends every time you play.

Meetup.com – I also play with a local group that is organized on Meetup.com. It has a very organized leader that posts weekly open play games. Go to their site, and check your local county or city listings. For example if you live in the city of Sarasota, Florida, check for Pickleball groups in Sarasota, Florida. Pay attention to the player level that the group advertises for.

You will have to join and be accepted into the Meetup group and abide by the rules and optional dues of the group. Meet-up is very social and intended for people to meet one another. Other than just strictly pickleball groups, sometimes you will find a ladies fun social activity group that offers pickleball as one of the many fun social things they do. I actually play in a co-ed meetup group. They organize several open play times at a local park. I sign up on the groups site on meet-up.com and then show up at the date and time.

Facebook (Meta) Groups – There are numerous groups on Facebook for pickleball. Check for local Pickleball groups

Local Leagues– There are local leagues that organize clinics, open play, and tournaments. They have a well organized structure so if you like accountability, structure, organization, and love competition, then leagues are a great way to go.

Local Tennis and Pickleball clubs – Check the offering at local Pickleball clubs. Lots of times, they will have clinics, open play, and socials. You may need to pay for a membership. As pickleball has increasing gained popularity, there are more Pickleball clubs popping up. Some fitness clubs have also started offering Pickleball. Check your local listings.

If you play at a club ask the Pickleball Director for help. They can often point you towards member or groups that organize women’s social pickleball play. Our director knows to point ladies looking for fellow players towards our group. Some clubs also offer player matching. They will match you up with players of your level.

Local parks and pickleball courts – More and more cities are putting in pickleball courts in the parks system. These are great, because they are for public use. There are some nice megacomplex courts that have been built where there are a large number of courts, such as 24 courts in one area. Check local listings. Sometimes Meetup and Facebook groups will play here. Check to see if they have an open play where you can drop in and play with other players. The park office may have local groups and leagues they recommend to contact.

Tournaments – If you have been playing for some time, and love competition, consider signing up for a tournament. Another great way to meet players that may want to play more social pickleball at a later time or know of social open play groups.

Organize your own ladies social pickleball group – Once you meet a few ladies, you may want to organize your own times to meet and play. This way you have a pool of ladies that you can play with.

If you have a few ladies, you can text or email to coordinate. We did this at first. As we got bigger, I wanted to get away from constant back and forth text messages. So I use an app called Pickleheads to organize our group. We have loved this app as it is very user friendly, and allows you to easily schedule open play games.

You can send new players an invitation to join your group. They register and then sign up for the games you schedule. The Pickleheads app also has more play options and we are going to try a round robin soon. We actually have regular open play games scheduled every week and the app has a way to schedule a recurring game, so I don’t have to manually schedule them all the time. Our ladies have gotten into a regular routine of going to the app and joining the games. You could also create a Meetup or Facebook group.

Set expectations for your group up front. For instance, is it an intermediate level group only? Is it a social for all levels welcome to play together? Can people drop in at any time or do you expect people to be there at the scheduled time? Do you expect everyone to have an open attitude when playing with others? Even if it seems obvious, setting some guidelines will help the group to run smoothly.

Introduce yourself to people playing pickleball and ask if they want to play – (Whoa! The old fashioned way of communication :)) If you see people at about your level, that look friendly, why not ask them to play? Or ask if they know open play times, or groups that are looking for players. Most people will be happy to play or provide this information. Pickleball has a natural ‘open to all players’ attitude built into the game. The games are also relatively short, so no one has to commit to a really long time of playing with someone, if it’s not a great fit. That’s why I love it.