I sweated my balls off on the pickleball courts this morning and it was eye-opening. I also give you 5 tips to improve your pickleball from a tennis coach.
First of all, l don’t like the idea that you can’t serve overhand (Which seems like a rule that should be changed to allow more opportunities for the serving side).
I also don’t like the fact that groundstroke winners are rare (one of a few advantages tennis has over pickleball).
Regardless, it is what it is and the two things that stand out are baseline depth and kitchen touch.
For tennis players who trained at academies and played “Touch Boxes” it’s very similar. One major difference, though, is the fact that tennis racquets can flex and absorb the ball at contact, which makes it easier for good players to manipulate spin on the drops. It’s a bit harder with the pickle paddle. The tennis ball also compresses at contact which helps absorb the pace.
The whiffle ball barely compresses so pickle ballers should learn to “cradle” the ball for droppers.
Pickleball and tennis similarities
The reason I’m writing this is because I see similarities with how tennis and pickle ballers process.
As a kid, I watched year after year the same club players playing in the same leagues and it baffled me. While I was getting better each year, they plateaued. They plateaued because of their approach to the game.
Here’s why…
They’re so focused on winning. What happens when you’re so focused on winning, is that you become one-dimensional. You get really good at one or two things. It gets you to a point of comfort and you don’t want to escape from it.
“If you’re not willing to lose,” I tell the kids I coach, “You’ll never win.”
I lost my first three pickleball games today. Did I care? I bet my partner did.
Always working on your game
I worked on things. I worked on spins. I worked on lobs. I worked on what I could get away with. And it brought up a big thing from the start.
One thing I want to work on is playing from a deficit and coming from behind (Don’t tell my partner. I’m only going to do that one day during the week). That takes care of what I want to work on one of the days. Another day I want to focus on cut lobs and drop shots. AND, YES! Moving into the kitchen.
I want to win from the backcourt (which players tell me is not the right thing to do. I don’t listen well). Which I will put on the back burner.
On day three, I want to work on the kitchen only.
TOUCH.
If I was focused on winning, I wouldn’t work on any of this. I would just hit the ball deep as and run up to the kitchen and play bink-bink-bink.
Cut lobs with heavy spin are going to be a huge ploy for me. Weaker players (just like in tennis) struggle “plowing” through the spin. Stronger players can’t get enough pop on the overhead. So it helps push them off the kitchen so you can move in.
Man, People are going to be pissed playing with me. And against me, too.
There are a couple of tennis drills that transition well to pickleball. I’m not telling you, unfortunately.
Not yet. But keep checking back for more!
So how to improve in Pickleball?
If you want to improve, whether you played a lot already or just getting started with Pickleball, here are a couple of ideas.
- Focus less on winning and focus more on developing something new. At least one day per week.
- Use the service games as a time to “mess around.” I failed with this miserably, today. I messed around with stuff whether it was a return or a serve. Not smart on my part. Sorry partners.
- I think players who want to understand the slice should play a little tennis. When you slice a tennis ball, you can FEEL the spin. This would help the pickle ball slice too.
- Get your partner creamed with overheads (kidding).
- One easy drill is high/lows. We do this on the tennis court to work on feel, and touch lobs. It also works on the other side of the court by moving back for overheads and then moving back in. Have someone sit at the kitchen and lob them. They hit the overhead and then they transition back to the kitchen. You do this over and over and keep one ball going as long as possible. It’s a good workout.
That’s it for today.
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