Watch The Ball

A Pickleball Devotional

"Watch the ball" is the most repeated advice in pickleball. It sounds obvious, but under pressure, players constantly take their eyes off the ball to look where they want to hit it, check where their opponents are, or worry about whether their shot will land in. The split second they look away, they mishit or miss entirely.

Coaches have to constantly remind players: keep your eyes on the ball until after contact. Trust your peripheral vision for everything else. The ball is the only thing that matters in that moment. Where you want it to go doesn't matter if you don't make clean contact first.

This discipline is hard because it requires trusting that if you handle what's right in front of you, the rest will work out. It means focusing on the present moment rather than the future outcome. It means believing that doing the next right thing is more important than controlling where everything ends up.

Matthew 6:34 - "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

We spend so much mental energy looking ahead – worrying about outcomes, planning contingencies, trying to control future results – that we miss what's right in front of us. We're so focused on where we want our lives to go that we fail to handle today well.

Watch the ball. Take care of the conversation in front of you. Do your job today with excellence. Love your family today. Follow Jesus today. Trust that if you handle what's immediately in front of you with focus and faithfulness, the future will take care of itself.

You can't hit what you're not watching. And you can't live well tomorrow if you're not present today.

Today's Thought: Focus on what's in front of you today. Tomorrow will take care of itself.

Reflection Question: What future worry is distracting you from handling today well, and what would change if you focused fully on what's right in front of you?