Callahan Pickleball: Pickleball in Chesterfield, STL & more
Youth SPRING BREAK Pickleball Camp at The Beal Center in Chesterfield: 3/16 - 3/19. Grades 2-5 and 6-8. 12:30 - 3:30. Meals and Snacks Available. $150. Limited availability: click to reserve your spot (s) today.
Youth Summer Pickleball Camps at The Beal Center in Chesterfield: Camps to be held in June, July & August. Grades 2-5 and 6-8. Monday - Thursday; 12:30 - 3:30. Meals and Snacks Available. $150. Limited availability: click to reserve your spot (s) today.
Callahan Pickleball Academy In The News
JUST PUBLISHED: March '26 STL Magazine
The Beal Center in Chesterfield / Chesterfield Sports Association
The Book: Pickleball: Tips, Strategies Lessons & Myths
Chesterfield Community Spotlight: John Callahan helps players navigate growing pickleball scene
Callahan runs the Chesterfield-based Callahan Pickleball Academy.
March 16, 2026 at 4:00 AM
John Callahan fell in love with pickleball right away. With a background in teaching tennis, Callahan saw an opportunity to help players better understand a fast-growing sport and launched Chesterfield-based Callahan Pickleball Academy. Today, he works with players of all levels, from beginners to medal-winning competitors, focusing on building skills and confidence on the court.
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Organization: Callahan Pickleball Academy
Title: Owner
Age: 69
Hometown: Kirkwood, MO
Education: Mizzou
What motivated you to get involved in this work/community/activity?
I fell in love with Pickleball immediately. It reminded me of the early days of the internet business—rapidly growing, fragmented, and underserved. I had taught tennis before so I thought a successful transition was possible and I’d be able to differentiate myself and our academy.
What values or principles guide how you show up in this role/community? We meet students where they are, skillwise. We encourage students and take the time to be sure they understand the why, what, when, and how of what we’re working on, as well as the progression and enjoy when they tell us how much they’ve progressed and how they wish they’d taken lessons from us years ago. Yes, we have students who are on tour and win many medals, but we also enjoy teaching high intermediate, low intermediate novices and beginners.
What’s the most enjoyable aspect? Seeing our students and coaches grow in their enjoyment of the game, watching their skills grow, meeting their families and friends, and correcting poor mechanics or erroneous assumptions they’ve picked up over their years of playing. We love it when they tell us how much they love the way we teach and how much their games have improved by taking our lessons, clinics, camps, and reading my book.
Can you briefly share a few standout memories? Our students winning U.S. Open medals, the first time my book became the No. 1-selling pickleball book on Amazon, students bringing their parents, grandchildren and children to our clinics, fun corporate events and private parties, working with schools and school districts, the excitement around our charitable donations of pickleball parties/lessons and signed books, certifying coaches/ teaching clinics in other states, being inducted into the St. Louis Pickleball Hall of Fame, being selected as a STL Shock MLP Minor League Trainer, the special and close friends I’ve met, spending time with our coaches, and playing pickleball and talking pickleball with my two sons.
Can you share an insight about this role that most people don’t know? It’s important to avoid focusing on the first shiny object because if you observe your students playing you will likely come up with more timely and relevant areas on which to focus.
What’s one key piece of advice you’ve embraced? You never know what someone’s life is like before or after they’re on the court.
What’s the greatest challenge? Setting priorities for the academy.
Where do you find inspiration? Our students and coaches successes, enjoyment and increasing Pickleball IQ, close friends and family who challenge me to pursue new ideas and always be improving.
What are your future plans or ambitions? Continue to serve the St. Louis and national pickleball communities with broader offerings, help our venue partners be even more successful, licensing our intellectual property, continued involvement as the STL Shock MLP Minor League Trainer, pursuing new business ideas and writing another book, growing our coaches, and playing pickleball and talking pickleball with my sons.
The Book: Pickleball: Tips, Strategies Lessons & Myths
The Beal Center in Chesterfield / Chesterfield Sports Association
The Book: Pickleball: Tips, Strategies Lessons & Myths
Interview with #1 Best Selling Author, John Callahan.
The 10 Myths of Pickleball With #1 Best Selling Author John Callahan
Pickleball Fire Podcast
The Beal Center in Chesterfield / Chesterfield Sports Association
The Beal Center in Chesterfield / Chesterfield Sports Association
Translational Injury Prevention (TIP) Lab at Saint Louis University (SLU) SPIN Survey
October, 2025
"The Beal Center is thrilled to announce a new partnership with Callahan Pickleball Academy, bringing premier pickleball programming to our world-class indoor sports complex. In the coming days and weeks, we'll be sharing details on schedules and offerings, including memberships, open play sessions, court rentals, clinics, lessons, corporate events school programs and fundraisers."
Jake Wesley
General Manager
The Beal Center (Chesterfield Sports Complex)
https://chesterfieldsports.com/
Founded in 2020, Chesterfield Sports Association (CSA) is the Chesterfield, MO-based 501(c)( 3) non-profit organization that owns and operates The Beal Center, formerly Chesterfield Sports Complex.
In addition to pickleball programming, we are available for very large or very small corporate pickleball events, private pickleball parties and private pickleball lessons.
Update: 11/16/25
Membership: $25/month or $250 annual. Join and save up to $150/month.
Contact: info@chesterfieldsports.com or john@CallahanPickleball.com.
Translational Injury Prevention (TIP) Lab at Saint Louis University (SLU) SPIN Survey
Translational Injury Prevention (TIP) Lab at Saint Louis University (SLU) SPIN Survey
Translational Injury Prevention (TIP) Lab at Saint Louis University (SLU) SPIN Survey
Callahan Pickleball Academy is proud to be a founding sponsor: The Translational Injury Prevention (TIP) Lab at Saint Louis University (SLU) SPIN Survey is the largest injury survey of pickleball players ever completed and defines current injury trends in the fastest growing sport in the United States, pickleball. This is where you come in! We are currently recruiting for the second phase of our study to test the effectiveness of a warm up program and recovery program specifically designed for pickleball. After an initial data collection period, participants will be instructed in the warm-up program, the recovery program, or both.
Are you 18 years or older and play pickleball at least once a week? Please follow the link below to learn more:
https://slu.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9nnYAD1s54Erf7w
Thank you for your consideration!
SSM Cardinal Glennon Tree of Hope
Translational Injury Prevention (TIP) Lab at Saint Louis University (SLU) SPIN Survey
https://www.sophisticatedstlouis.com/home/all-eyes-on-pickleball-1
KMOX: Tom Ackerman & Carol DanielAckerman
https://www.audacy.com/kmox/podcasts/total-information-am-311/tree-of-hope-pickleball-1543152476
Growing pickleball and giving back. Callahan Pickleball Academy (St. Louis, MO) recently contributed three 20-person pickleball parties to raise money for SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital through their annual Tree of Hope campaign, raising thousands of dollars.
Now, we want to encourage the pickleball community to give more: donate now and get 50% of all lesson fees in January ’23.
If want to improve your game or searching for a last-minute gift for someone, please consider purchasing a gift certificate, a discounted lesson package or buy the #1 selling pickleball book in the world: “Pickleball: Tips, Lessons, Strategies, & Myths” (Amazon 12/25/21). All of us at Callahan Pickleball Academy wish you the Happiest Holiday Season and a glorious ’23. See you on the court.
https://www.sophisticatedstlouis.com/home/all-eyes-on-pickleball-1
Translational Injury Prevention (TIP) Lab at Saint Louis University (SLU) SPIN Survey
https://www.sophisticatedstlouis.com/home/all-eyes-on-pickleball-1
The best pickleball article and why it has become "The most addictive sport in the world". Sophisticated Living St. Louis
https://issuu.com/sophisticatedliving/docs/slsl_m-a_2022...
ISSUU.COM
Sophisticated Living St. Louis
KMOX and Webster Kirkwood Times feature Callahan Pickleball Academy
KMOX and Webster Kirkwood Times feature Callahan Pickleball Academy
KMOX and Webster Kirkwood Times feature Callahan Pickleball Academy
Here's the KMOX Interview at Tower Grove Park. Debbie Monterrey interviewed John Callahan, several Callahan Pickleball Academy students and Mike Chapin:)
Buy Pickleball Gift Certificates for Lessons Now
https://kmox.radio.com/articles/new-sport-takes-tower-grove-park
Here's the now famous article from the Webster Kirkwood Times: