The Loneliness Prevention Club: How Pickleball Is Becoming a Mental Health Intervention

"I've seen people arrive feeling isolated, and within weeks, they're playing three times a week and counting down to sessions. That's not just fitness—that's quality of life."

Emma Owen isn't a therapist. She's a pickleball champion and sports developer who launched The Pickleball Collective in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire this January with an unusual mission: use sport to combat one of the UK's most overlooked public health crises.

It's a timely intervention. Last December, Age UK released a sobering report: 940,000 older people in the UK "often feel lonely," and by 2034, that figure is projected to reach 1.2 million. For context, chronic loneliness carries health risks equivalent to smoking—linked to a 29% increased risk of heart disease, a 32% increased risk of stroke, and a 25% increased risk of dementia. The NHS is drowning in demand. Mental health waiting lists stretch for months, sometimes years. Yet Emma's solution isn't pharmaceutical or therapeutic. It's a smaller court, a carbon-fibre paddle, and a plastic ball.

Why Pickleball Works Where Other Activities Don't

On the surface, pickleball looks like a niche sport—a crossover between tennis, badminton, and table tennis played on a court roughly the size of a badminton court. Easy to dismiss. But the research suggests something more deliberate is happening.

A new systematic review published in Frontiers in Psychology (2025) analyzed 14 studies involving over 1,400 participants and found that pickleball specifically enhances life satisfaction, reduces depression, and—most critically—builds social integration in ways general exercise does not. The social advantage is pronounced: a 2025 Penn State study of 825 Americans over 50 found that current pickleball players were 1.5 times less likely to report loneliness compared to those who'd never played. For former players—those who'd quit—the contrast was starker: they were twice as likely to feel lonely as active players.

The reason is architectural. Pickleball's court dimensions and doubles format create forced proximity. Four people occupy a 13.4 by 6.1 metre space. The ball travels slower than tennis, allowing players to actually converse mid-rally. Games rotate, ensuring you play with different partners. Unlike gym workouts or running clubs where people exercise near each other but not with each other, pickleball makes isolation logistically difficult.

Current pickleball players reported making an average of 6.7 social connections through the sport, compared to just 3.8 for people who exercised in other ways. And these relationships extend beyond the court: 65% of people who try pickleball keep playing, suggesting the social pull is strong enough to overcome typical exercise abandonment rates.​

Inside The Pickleball Collective's Model

Emma Owen arrived at this insight empirically. After running pickleball sessions at a local health club, she watched her classes grow to over 150 players monthly and noticed something her fitness background had taught her to recognise: people were showing up for reasons that went far deeper than cardiovascular health.

"I've played with everyone from children to people in their late seventies," she said. "But I've watched someone in their sixties who initially came alone gradually make friends, start socialising outside sessions, and talk about how it's given them purpose again."

The Pickleball Collective operates from two accessible locations—Rushcliffe Arena and Nottingham Emmanuel School—with a deliberately scaffolded approach. Beginner sessions run for 90 minutes, split between coached instruction and relaxed social play. All equipment is provided. The coaching team carries serious credentials: Head Coach Natalia trained and competed in Florida alongside future professionals, earning medals at the US Open before securing a bronze at the 2023 English National Championships. Co-founder Emma herself is a national champion with a background in sports development. Coach Sally brings teaching experience and an emphasis on welcoming newcomers.

This matters. Research shows that accessibility and expert scaffolding are both required for sustained engagement in health interventions, especially among older adults. A club can have perfect court design and still fail if someone walks in, feels out of place, and never returns. Emma's background in sports development and her coaches' competitive experience create a culture where beginners aren't afterthoughts—they're the point.​

The Mental Health Evidence Is Now Hard to Ignore

The timing of The Pickleball Collective's launch is significant precisely because the research base has finally matured enough to support what early participants have been saying informally for years.

The 2025 systematic review found that pickleball participation was associated with increased life satisfaction (particularly in those under 70), reduced depression scores, and what researchers call "eudaemonic wellbeing"—essentially, a sense of meaning and purpose in life. Women showed particularly strong gains in social integration. Critically, the COVID-19 pandemic provided a tragic natural experiment: when pickleball courts closed and players couldn't participate, loneliness rates among the community spiked significantly (p = 0.01). This suggests the benefits are causally linked to participation, not merely correlational.​

The Penn State study went further, exploring why pickleball outperforms general exercise programmes in combating loneliness. Lead researcher Jordan D. Kurth noted: "Social isolation and loneliness affect 1 in 4 older adults in the United States. Meanwhile, interest in pickleball is sweeping across the country. We thought that the exploding interest in pickleball might be a possible antidote to the social isolation and loneliness problem."​

Their data confirmed the hypothesis. Not only did current players report lower loneliness, they'd also built more robust social networks—and crucially, these networks extended outside the sport. The implication is clear: pickleball clubs function as social infrastructure, not just fitness venues.

The Bigger Picture: Pickleball as Preventative Medicine

For policymakers and health officials, the significance is profound. The UK spends billions on mental health treatment, social care, and interventions for loneliness-related conditions. Yet many of these services are reactive—they kick in after someone is in crisis. Pickleball clubs like Emma's operate at the prevention level: they create communities where isolation is structurally difficult.

This is particularly important given that pickleball is, coincidentally, the fastest-growing sport in the United States for four consecutive years, with 311% growth since 2020. It's now expanding rapidly in the UK, with participation projected to reach 100,000 players by 2025 and 200,000 by 2026. Unlike fitness fads, pickleball appears to have genuine structural staying power: its accessibility means it appeals across ages, incomes, and ability levels. The 25-34 age group now dominates US participation, but the 65+ category remains substantial and loyal.​

Emma sees this growth trajectory as an opportunity. "Pickleball's accessibility is what makes it powerful," she said. "A former tennis player love it because it's easier on the joints. Someone who's never held a racquet finds it's finally their sport. For anyone experiencing isolation, it offers an instant sense of belonging."

Why Now Matters

The context is urgent. The UK's loneliness crisis isn't improving through conventional interventions. The NHS cannot adequately resource every isolated older person with therapy or social prescribing programmes. Community hubs—pubs, libraries, church groups—have contracted. The cost of living is forcing people to choose between socialising and survival. Digital connections offer superficial engagement without the emotional reciprocity that comes from standing next to someone on a court, sharing the experience of hitting a ball badly and laughing about it together.

What Emma's experiment suggests is that the solution might be hiding in plain sight: a sport so accessible, so inherently social, and so joyful that it essentially rebuilds community while people aren't even thinking about rebuilding community.

How to Get Involved

The Pickleball Collective's early sessions are already attracting strong interest. Membership opens to complete beginners, with no experience necessary. Sessions run at both Rushcliffe Arena and Nottingham Emmanuel School, with accessible parking and modern facilities. All equipment is provided—you only need trainers and a water bottle.

If you're in the Nottinghamshire area and find yourself isolated, frustrated with traditional fitness, or simply curious about why thousands of people are suddenly obsessed with a sport you've never heard of, it might be worth finding out. The research suggests the benefits go far beyond keeping fit.

Visit: www.thepickleballcollective.co.uk

Citations

Age UK, "You are not alone in feeling lonely," December 2024 report on older adult loneliness in the UK​Age UK research on health risks associated with chronic loneliness​Lena Lauxtermann and Brendon Stubbs, "Padel, pickleball and wellbeing: a systematic review," Frontiers in Psychology, July 2025​Jordan D. Kurth et al., "Association of Pickleball Participation With Decreased Perceived Loneliness and Social Isolation," Journal of Primary Care & Community Health, 2025​SFIA (Sports & Fitness Industry Association) pickleball participation data, 2024-2025​