The complete guide to Pickleheads groups

If you're running pickleball sessions for the same players week after week, you're probably spending more time on coordination than you need to. Texting 20 people, tracking down RSVPs, manually inviting the same players every time — a group handles all of that.

This guide covers everything: why groups are worth setting up, how to get your players in, how to use group chat, what the admin controls do, and how to manage join requests and pending invites.

A group is a shared home base for your players inside Pickleheads. Once your players are members, they're always one tap away — for invites, announcements, and day-of coordination.

Here's what changes when your players are in a group:

Session invites stop being manual. Post a session to your group and every member gets notified. They RSVP in one tap — no separate texts, no chasing people down.

Recurring sessions run themselves. Attach your group to a repeating session and members get auto-invited every week. You set it up once.

Your players show up in your invite tools. Every time you create a session, your group members are right there — you can search, filter by skill level, and invite in seconds.

Communication has a home. Every group gets a group chat. Club-wide announcements, event updates, general coordination — it all lives in one place instead of scattered across different threads.

Groups also give you long-term value as a player pool. You build it once and reuse it for every session, every invite, every announcement going forward. The bigger it grows, the less setup you do each time.

Once you’ve created your Pickleheads Group, it’s time to get your players in.

There's no single right method — pick whichever fits how you already communicate with your players.

From your group page, copy your invite link and send it wherever your players will see it — text, an existing group chat, email, a neighborhood app. Anyone who taps the link joins your group directly.

This is the most flexible option because you write your own message around the link and send it through channels your players already use.

💡 Good to know: The link works on repeat — keep sharing it as new players join your regular game. Just note that invite links expire after 30 days, so if someone tries to join through an old link, you'll need to send a fresh one.

From your group page on web, open "Invite players" to search by name or filter by skill level. There's also a filter that surfaces players who follow the same facilities you follow — a fast way to find people at your level who already play where you play. Select who you want and send invites directly inside Pickleheads.

On web, use "Bulk invites" to paste a list of emails or phone numbers all at once. If you have a spreadsheet or contact list with your regulars, copy them in and we'll handle the matching. Anyone with an account gets matched and invited; everyone else gets an invitation to join.

💡 Good to know: This is the fastest way to move an existing club or HOA roster into Pickleheads in one shot.

From your group page, generate a QR code that players can scan to join:

The QR code works especially well at in-person sessions when you want to onboard drop-ins without collecting their contact info first.

⚠️ Important: If your group is set to private, the QR code method will let anyone who scans it join without admin approval — bypassing your join request flow. If you want to stay in control of who gets in, stick to the invite link or the Invite players search instead.

Want a step-by-step walkthrough of all four methods? Watch the inviting players guide →

Once your players are in the group, inviting them to a session takes about ten seconds. When you create a session, go to Invite players, switch to the Invite groups tab, and select your group. You can invite everyone at once or filter to a specific skill range if the session is level-restricted. For recurring sessions, there's a toggle to apply that group invite to every future date so you only do this once.

💡 Good to know: Inviting a group to a session is separate from having the session appear on your group's page. If you want the session listed on the group page and want co-admins to be able to help run it, add the group as a co-host in the session settings as well.

Some of your regulars will join the group without a second thought. Others — often your most loyal players — will push back. "I don't want another app." "I'm not good with technology."

It helps to have a line ready. Try this one:

"I get it. But this is how I'm keeping everyone organized now, and if you're not in the group, you might miss a session. It's free and takes two minutes. Once you're in, you'll just get a notification when I post a session and tap yes or no. Here's the link: [Your Group Invite Link]"

Both beats matter: being upfront about your own workflow makes the ask feel reasonable, not pushy. The FOMO line does the rest. No player wants to be the one who missed a session because they didn't tap a link.

For players who genuinely won't create an account, lists are the answer — more on that below.

Groups and lists work together. Groups are your community — shared, opt-in, visible to members. Lists are your private organizer tool — no one sees them but you, and players don't need a Pickleheads account to be on one.

Here's when a list makes more sense than a group:

Most organizers end up using both: a group for community and communication, and one or two lists for targeted inviting. The group handles the regular crew; the lists handle the edge cases.

Full guide: Creating player lists →

Every group gets a group chat that includes all members. It's the right place for broad announcements — upcoming events, court updates, anything you want everyone to see.

Group chat goes to everyone in your group. Use it for club-wide announcements, new events, volunteer callouts, and anything else that involves the whole community.

Keep day-of logistics — "courts are dry," "running 10 minutes late," "anyone see my paddle?" — in session chat instead. Session chat is automatically created for each event and only goes to confirmed players for that specific session. That separation keeps your group chat clean and your announcements easy to find.

In your group settings, there's a toggle: "Allow players to message the entire group."

For a large group, keeping this off reduces noise and makes the chat more useful as an announcement channel.

Group chat works on web and in the mobile app, but players only get push notifications in the app. If you want your announcements to actually reach people, it's worth encouraging your members to download the app.

Players who find the chat too noisy can mute it in the app without leaving the group. From the chats list, swipe on a chat to mute it — they'll stop getting notifications for that chat but will still get session invites.

Want a full walkthrough? Watch the group chat guide →

Your group's Edit page is where you configure how the group works and who can do what. Here's what each setting does.

Public groups are open to anyone who finds them. Private groups require an invite or admin approval before someone can join.

If you want control over who's in your group, set it to private. Players can still find and request to join — you just review and approve them before they're in (see Managing Requests below).

You can add any existing group member as an admin. Admins can approve join requests, edit group settings, and create sessions that invite the whole group.

If you co-run events with someone, add them as an admin so they're not waiting on you for every decision.

A toggle controls whether regular members can invite people to the group or only admins can. Leave it on if you want members to help grow the group. Turn it off if you want tighter control over who gets in.

A separate toggle controls whether all members or only admins can create sessions that officially invite the entire group. Regular members can still create their own sessions and invite individual players — they just can't send a session invite to everyone in the group at once unless they're an admin.

Add the courts where your group usually plays. You can set multiple home courts if you play at more than one location.

Choose whether your contact information shows on the group page. If it's visible, only group members can see it — not anyone browsing from outside the group.

Want a full walkthrough of every admin setting? Watch the advanced group features guide →

The Requests tab on your group page is where two things live: join requests from players who want to join a private group, and pending invites you've sent that haven't been accepted yet.

When someone finds your private group and requests to join, they show up in the Requests tab. For each request, you can accept or decline.

In the mobile app, you get one extra option: tap a requester's name to open a direct message with them before deciding. If you're managing a curated group, this lets you ask how they heard about it or confirm they're the right fit before adding them.

The Requests tab also shows everyone you've invited who hasn't joined yet. For each pending invite, you can send a reminder or cancel it.

If you bulk-invited a large list when you set up the group, come back a few weeks later and hit "Remind all" to nudge anyone who hasn't joined. You can also cancel individual invites or clear all outstanding ones at once with "Cancel all."

Want a full walkthrough? Watch the requests and reminders guide →

Once your group is set up and your players are in, everything else gets easier — inviting to sessions, communicating, and keeping your regulars connected between games. If you run weekly pickleball, the natural next step is attaching your group to a recurring session so members get auto-invited every week. That's covered in the weekly games guide.