In March 2020, Brooke Buckner had a newborn son, a coaching job she was about to leave, and no plans to compete again. A few months later, her mom dragged her to a pickleball court.

Today, the mom of three is the No. 4 women’s singles player in the world, a JOOLA athlete, and one of the hardest hitters in the pro game. On a recent episode of The Kitchen Pickleball, she talked about how she got here, how she trains around family life, and why she wants other parents to see what’s possible.

From junior Grand Slams to college coaching

Brooke grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, in a big family where sports were everything. Her older brothers played football, and she was their water girl. At age 7, she told her mom she was done with soccer. She only wanted to play tennis.

That decision stuck. She went on to play three of the four junior Grand Slams and spent two years chasing a pro tennis career. Around 16, an honest coach told her to think hard about the road ahead telling her “It’s not like this glamorous life”.

She chose college instead and played at Michigan under coach Ronni Bernstein. After graduating, she coached college tennis at Western Michigan, Yale, and UNC Charlotte. Then her son was born, and she stepped away to stay home with him.

How a new mom found pickleball

Going from a competitive career to life at home with a baby was a big shift. COVID made it feel a little less strange, she said, because everyone’s life had changed. But she still didn’t know what to do with herself.

Her mom, who had been playing pickleball for a few years, had a simple message. “You need to do something for yourself. You have to get out of the house,’” Brooke’s mom said.

A PPA employee named Chris Patrick spotted her mom at a local park and decided to take a chance on her. He connected her with a strong group of players in Charlotte, giving her the opportunity to test herself against tougher competition. “I was probably like a 4.0 max, and I finally got to play with the 5.0s,” she said. “I got absolutely annihilated.”

That’s a feeling plenty of players know. Playing up hurts at first, but it’s also one of the fastest ways to improve, and one of the fastest ways to move your rating.

Why her singles rise started with timing

Brooke is refreshingly honest about her early success in singles. She played her first-ever singles point at the 2022 US Open, in the 5.0 bracket, and reached the final. “I got in at the right time when singles weren't very deep,” she said. “Women’s singles was not very good. I could hit some ground strokes.”

That’s no longer the case. With younger players coming up, she says you can’t stay near the top of women’s pro pickleball without real training. For Brooke, that means court work, gym work, and nutrition.

Her biggest improvement in the last year? Net coverage. She used to rely almost entirely on passing shots. Now she moves forward with more confidence.

Training like a pro as a mom of three

Brooke had her daughter in 2021, right as her pickleball career was taking off. Her kids are now the reason she has to train differently than the 20-somethings on tour. “I can’t put in the hours that I would if I was 24,” she said. “But I think what tennis taught me is how to train.”

She works with coach Mike Wolf, who is based in Kansas City. Plenty of pros move there to train full time. That isn’t an option for her. So they come to Charlotte, put in work with her at tournaments, and she makes trips to Kansas City when she can.

Her husband, Adam, wasn’t surprised when she told him she wanted to give pro pickleball a real shot. “I married an athlete,” he told her. She credits him for making it work while she’s on the road.

One piece of advice every player can use

Asked for the most underrated tip in pickleball, Brooke kept it simple. “If you find a strategy that works, you stick to it,” she said. “Too often people stray from the strategy that’s been working.”

Why do we abandon what’s working? Brooke thinks it comes down to focus. That applies on a pro show court and at your Tuesday night ladder.

What this pickleball mom wants others to know

Brooke went from coaching college tennis to being a stay-at-home mom to signing with JOOLA and joining Team Agassi. That journey matters most to her.

“I just want them to realize that you can still go do things once you start a family,” she said. “A lot of times people don’t realize that they can still chase their dreams once they have kids.”

She has no plans to leave the sport when she stops playing. “I love the people,” she said. “I will not leave once I officially retire.”

Brooke’s path started with her mom, one rec session, and a humbling night against 5.0s. Yours can start the same way. Log your matches on DUPR, play up when you get the chance, and find a tournament near you when you’re ready to see where your game stands.

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