Thaddea Lock may be the best female pickleball player in the country but her personal ambitions in no way overshadow her desire to help grow the sport and transform the lives of others in the process.

Having swapped her tennis racket for a pickleball racket while holidaying with friends in America, the 36-year-old could never have predicted that what started out as a hobby would eventually change her life.

As she prepares to compete at the Skechers English Open in Telford this weekend she hopes the 2000 tournament attendees - from 42 countries - will prove the potential for growth in the game is exponential.

“I think there’s something so unique about pickleball and these tournaments especially,” she said. “You have people of all ages and abilities competing in the same place - it’s not often you have that in sport. 

“Tournaments like this bring so many people of so many different backgrounds together. You can watch your friends compete, professionals, wheelchair athletes, older people. That diversity creates such an incredible community.”

While the week-long tournament offers the chance for people of all abilities to be active in a competitive environment, Lock believes there is yet more potential to expand the sport at a grassroots level.

“I remember when I first started playing on holiday and the coach said I should continue when I got back to the UK, I said ‘whatever this sport is, we don’t have it at home’.

“Five years later Pickleball England have done an amazing job of growing the sport across the country. It’s been added to the 2027 Invictus Games too which is amazing because ex-servicepeople will have the chance to try this new sport which is so accessible to everyone.”

Pickleball’s moment in the limelight has paralleled the growth in participation - and popularity - of racket sports, which Lock also sees as an opportunity to tackle social issues including loneliness.

“The rise of new sports is really good for this country. We have issues with loneliness, obesity, so what we’re doing [by promoting pickleball] is giving people an opportunity to get out there, be active, and do things that are good for their mental health. 

“Playing pickleball can sometimes feel like you’re playing a glorified bat and ball at the beach - it takes you back to the inner child in you and the small court means you are close to the people you’re playing. 

“You rarely walk past a pickleball court without hearing the people who are playing laughing and for me, that is such a big selling point.”

Lock is no stranger to competition as a former WTA-ranked tennis player and hitting partner for world wheelchair men's doubles no.1 Alfie Hewett, so knows the importance of fostering an inclusive atmosphere.

“Tennis is quite a lonely sport," she said. "At the level I was playing, it was very competitive and cutthroat which made it hard to find that sense of community, whereas pickleball is so sociable. 

“It’s also hard to get young people and girls especially to try new sports - young girls don’t pick competitive sports as much as young boys - but the barriers to entry in pickleball are so low. 

“I’ve witnessed first-hand how pickleball has literally changed people’s lives and that really inspires me and just makes me want to be surrounded by all of it. It can be a competitive sport for life.”

Pickleball England has announced a record number of players competing at this year’s English OPEN from the 8th-14th August at the Telford International Centre in the largest pickleball event taking place outside of the USA EVER – visit pickleballengland.org