When setting your pickleball goals, think big

Frank Hines

Contributor

Last Edited

Sep 17 2025

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Instruction

Everyone has goals.

Some are big, some are small, some are just random things people think would be cool to accomplish.

Pickleball is no different.

Almost all of the goals in pickleball are centered around some performance metric. People want their DUPR to increase or they want to medal in a tournament or heck sometimes they just want to beat up on their friends.

Regardless of what that specific thing is, everyone has it. The problem is people tend to set their goals too low.

Let’s say you are a 3.5 DUPR and your goal is to get to 4.0. That might be fine, but the truth is you don’t really need to change a whole lot about what you’re doing to reach that.

Maybe you’ll play in a few more tournaments or go drill every now and again, but by and large nothing about you as a player or as a person is going to change to reach that specific goal.

Think of it like this: Let’s say you want to lose weight and set your sights on losing 10 pounds. That's great, but the reality of the situation is there is not much change you need to make in order to achieve that goal.

You might go on a couple walks or not eat that entire bag of chips, but there won’t ever be a massive shift in what you’re doing because there doesn’t need to be.

Losing 10 pounds won’t change your life.

Now let’s adjust that and say the new goal is to lose 50 pounds. Now we’re going to have to make some serious changes. That might look like going to the gym a few times a week and getting on a diet. It might mean you start taking supplements or working on different areas of your life to meet that goal.

The theme is the same (lose weight) but the intensity is what changed.

This is the exact mentality that applies in pickleball. Everyone wants to get better, but what your end goal is can change how much better you’ll actually get.

Back to the original example of the 3.5 wanting to become a 4.0. Let’s say that 3.5 sets their mind to becoming a 5.0. Now that’s a big jump. A lot has to change.

They will need to drill constantly and work just has hard off the court as they do on the court. Their experience in tournaments needs to improve. It's an overhaul of not only who they are as a pickleball player, but who they are as a person also needs to shift in order to reach that goal.

In reality, that same player might only get to a 4.6 DUPR, but that’s a huge leap from a 3.5.

You can set yourself up for success by doing things that will make you successful. Do not limit your ability by limiting the goals you set for yourself. Dream big. Shoot for stars and land on the moon.

Now ask yourself, are you trying to lose 10 pounds or 50 pounds?

Frank Hines loves the game of pickleball and sharing that passion with as many people as possible. He found the game over two years ago and hasn't let up since. Follow Frank on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram.

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