In December of 2023 Chris Haworth put on record that his New Year’s resolution for 2024 was to win a gold medal, something he hadn’t done before in professional pickleball.
He didn’t have to wait long.
At the 2024 APP Punta Gorda Open, Haworth won the men’s pro singles title and voilà: 21 days into January - gold medal. He followed that up with a gold in Delray Beach, and then another in New York just last month, in addition to winning a bronze in Sacramento, all in singles. Halfway through the year, for someone to have achieved their New Year’s resolution three times over is perhaps an indication that things are going well.
A year ago at this time, Haworth was working as the director of a tennis academy near his home in Oklahoma City. He was working with competitive junior tennis players who were playing national tournaments en route to getting college scholarships. This was a natural fit for Haworth, who was a standout junior tennis player in his own right. At one point, Haworth was ranked sixth in the nation amongst players 18 and under. He went on to play tennis at Oklahoma State for three years before deciding to sit out his senior year. After graduation, he played pro tennis for about a year-and-a-half, and despite winning a low-level pro tournament, wasn’t doing well enough to make it worth continuing.
In November of 2022, in the midst of a rigorous training schedule for his junior players that didn’t regularly allow him days off, Haworth and the rest of the staff decided to close down for Thanksgiving week, which would give everyone a mandatory week of rest. Someone randomly asked Haworth to join a game of pickleball on the Monday of that week off.
“So I played,” recalls Haworth, 31. “I was hooked right away. I played every single day that week, and I started scheduling my tennis lessons around when I could be playing pickleball. So pickleball slowly took over my life.”
In March of 2023, Haworth began playing in pickleball tournaments. In his first tournament, he made it through the qualifying rounds and did well, which led to an onslaught of encouragement from friends in the pickleball world. After a few more tournaments in April and June, Haworth felt he was at a crossroads.
“I was doing okay, but it was hard,” Haworth explains. “The people that are playing are playing full-time, they don’t have jobs, they’re practicing all day and training like a professional sport.”
During a vacation that August, Haworth decided that if he was going to succeed in pickleball he’d have to fully commit. So he did. The following Monday, when he was back at work, he gave his notice.
The first tournament for Haworth after deciding to leave his job as tennis director was the 2023 APP Sunmed St. Louis Open, where he was given a wild card into the main singles draw and ended up winning the bronze medal.
“From there, it all just happened quickly, and here we are 10 months later,” exclaims Haworth, who won a total of four medals - three silver and one bronze - in 2023. “So it was a little bit of a whirlwind the last year, but super fun.”
Like many others who have switched from tennis to pickleball, Haworth loves the fact that pickleball is similar enough to tennis to be familiar, without actually being the same. The other reason that he loves pickleball however, would probably garner some strange looks.
“I love the sound,” Haworth proclaims. “That’s the weirdest thing. The sound of pickleballs to me is so satisfying. When I would be giving tennis lessons and there would be pickleball courts next to me, and I would hear the sound, I’m like, I love the sound of that. People complain about it, and I’ve never understood that because that sound is addicting and I want to hear it all the time.”
But as they say, to each their own.
Haworth’s pickleball journey has indeed been his own. In 2024 he’s committed himself to the little details that have allowed him to get to that next level.
“I have dedicated myself a little bit more to small things like patterns, and my fitness has gotten a lot better,” admits Haworth. “That was not really something I had focused on; when I’m teaching tennis I’m not really worried about my fitness that much. When I first started playing [pickleball] it was definitely not where it needed to be for a professional athlete. That’s really one of the biggest things, I’m moving a lot better. I feel like I’m maybe one step quicker, and in pickleball, especially for someone my size, it only takes me three steps to cover the whole court. Being one step quicker is a huge, huge difference.”
While he’s not typically the type to make New Year’s resolutions specifically, Haworth is extremely goal-oriented when it comes to work. So it goes without saying that after checking more than one gold medal off his list, he’s now focused on attaining something new.
“My goals are to do well in doubles. My goals are nothing to do with singles right now. When I’m home, I’m actually not really practicing singles at all I’m playing doubles all day, and drilling for doubles,” Haworth admits. “To medal in doubles by the end of the year, that’s my main goal. That would be a huge accomplishment for me.”
For Haworth, singles is about who has the best shots, because a point can be over at any time with one good one. The challenge with doubles is that it requires strategy - knowing when to hit the best shot - and that’s what he’s currently learning.
“A lot of people are like, ‘my goal is just to get better,’ and I obviously want to get better, but I need to have tangible goals, something that I can feel like I can accomplish. It was to get gold in singles and I knew that that was something I could do. I knew I was good enough to do it, it’s just making it happen,” states Haworth, who is currently the top ranked men’s singles player on the APP Tour. “Now my goal is for sure to get a medal in doubles and same kind of thing, I know I can, it’s just putting the right pieces together to make it happen.”
Living in Oklahoma City, Haworth practices at The Greens Country Club, where he plays almost exclusively inside, which is rare. There are only two other pros that train out of the facility - one being APP gold medalist, Jenna Hessert - and Haworth is the only one who plays full-time. Not having many practice partner options could be challenging for some people, but it is not a problem that Haworth feels needs solving.
“I like being close to home and having my parents and my sister close by - not even to see them that often, but it’s just comforting for me to have them there,” says Haworth, who grew up in Oklahoma City but went to a tennis academy where he lived full-time for his senior year of high school. “I talked about moving for pickleball, but for me, it’s not worth it to be away from my family for a career, no matter what the career was. I’m really big into family.”
Haworth, his husband, Jackie, and their four dogs, Spot, Lucy, Lola and Zoe, are happily settled in Oklahoma near both sides of the family. Jackie works in his family business, and when Chris isn’t on tour, he can regularly be found at his nieces’ softball games, where his dad is their coach. College sports are a favorite pastime in their household, and Chris will often attend Oklahoma State sporting events. Jackie and his family happen to be University of Oklahoma fans, so there are admittedly a few days a year that may or may not coincide with football season, where there will be a breakdown in communication.
Aside from the occasional Oklahoma State loss, Haworth is enjoying life: being near his family, and playing pickleball for a living, where he has tangible goals that he is achieving as a result of his hard work.
“I’m definitely satisfied with my progress of where I’ve come, so happy with where I’m at yes, but I also know that where I’m at is not my end goal,” Haworth concedes. “Doubles is my main focus right now, so being ranked top-five in doubles - that would be my New Year’s resolution if I had to make it right now.”
It wasn’t abundantly clear whether he was referring to a second resolution for 2024 or a new one for 2025, but for Chris Haworth, it probably doesn’t matter.
