When it All Comes Together

 I have a couple of thoughts to pass on.  

I played a nice two out of three game match the other days with some young guys at MN.  Their strengths were hitting the ball pretty hard.  Weaknesses were common issues that beginners have.  Firstly, they typically didn't follow service returns with a gallop to the kitchen line.  They liked to hang back and anticipate a ball that they would be comfortable with.  Probably comfortable in that they could hit it hard.

I think following a service return to the kitchen line is a fundamental part of playing the game.  It's right up there with "Pass Go and Collect $200," kind of thing.  If you don't do it, you are giving away all advantage which comes from the two bounce rule.  When I teach the beginners, I stress this positional need.  It is not readily accepted and not often remembered for the beginners, but after you've played a bit, there is no real excuse.  You have to do it...

My partner and I were able to just play back deep to the service returner, capture the kitchen and easily win two of the three games.  Yes, they managed to win a game, it was close and their ground strokes might have been better than the ones from my side but their lack of understanding of the game made for fairly soft opponents.

The other issue that shows up in that skill area between beginner and advanced, is hitting the ball too hard.  It's so very common and it's usually quite successful until it isn't.  When they come up against players who can block and duck, they are usually easily beaten.  Why do players moan about a shot into the net, but don't react when they hit it eight feet long?  Clearly the longer shot is less accurate and skillful than the shot to the net which was two inches from perfection.

Now on to something different.  I've gotten in a couple of private games with pals in the last couple of weeks that were just great.  And they were great for a couple of reasons.  All the players were very close in skill level and that skill level was probably in the high threes in re DUPR levels.  Which meant that the points might be long, no one was being picked on as the weakest player, and finally, there was agreement as to pickleball style.  There was aggression, thord shot drops, dinking, and speed up, but also resets and even, sadly, a number of lobs.  :-)  All very cat and mouse type play then trying to overpower the opponents.

There has been a number of videos on YouTube about how the soft side of pickleball has died and that dinking is dead and everything ought to be sped up.  I would agree that you can play that way and maybe as a pro you'll have to.  

However, some styles are more interesting to play.  And I'll agree that what is interesting and boring are different for all of us.  If we accept that, then clearly some games will be more enjoyable and fun than others.  There is a reddit group about pickleball and bangers have sought advice about whether their style is good or bad.  A number of repliers have mentioned boring points and frequently that hitting every shot hard might lead to a lack of folks that will play with the bangers.  In the Livermore park play area I don't see much of "I'm not playing in that game" or "with him/her."  Though at my last day at Down's someone tried to hit me in the face three times, not only did I not play to that player for the rest of the game, I avoided him after that and realized that the style of Downs play was no longer of interest to me.  

The Downs style was not always like that.  But as players got better they hit the ball harder and then a bunch of younger players from other sports came in and the style changed to a very aggressive banging game.  

Interesting to me, I see the May Nissen group to be much like the Downs was when I was learning my basic craft.  In the time I've played there, the level has gotten a lot better and also there is a fairly narrow level of skill.  It was more divergent at the Downs for some reason.  But at MN, almost all the players are OK and fun to play with. 

So these last couple of games I mentioned were like going back in time when we were all a bit more innocent and the world was a kinder place, but with better skills and in the company of like minded players -- kind of what it's all about. 

Pickleball 101 Syllabus and Stuff

 PB 101

Here are the things we teach and some thoughts as to why it is so.  There are two parameters in play.  The first being that the class is only an hour and half.  And the second is that there is only so much information we can pass on that will be remembered.  It seems to be an hour and a half is about right to introduce the students to a new game with strange scoring and a lot of new physical skills and strange ball and paddles.  We used to try to teach a lot more, but it was too complex and difficult for the students.

The simplification came about that instead of making students into PB players, we now provide and introduction to the game.  If they like the game, they can develop skills as they play.

The philosophy is to provide enough skills and knowledge to get them to play a couple of games.  Usually I've found that the students will have enough skills to play in the Tuesday, Thursday games and I mention that to them as a path to improvement.

Here is an outline that I use, that has worked well:

1) Introduce yourself.  Go over the names of the areas of the court.  Which lines are important, etc.  You have to mention the non-volley rules, but don't go crazy.  You usually have to define what a volley is, etc., and there is so much new for them, it's only going to stick a little bit.  Not a problem.

2) Demonstrate dinking.  Get a couple of people on each side of the net.  As they try it, check their grips.  Correct bad grips to the Continental or shake hands grip.  If the grip used is from tennis and they know what they are doing, I'll mention problems with a strong grip, but I won't insist they change it.  If they can't get the dinking, then put down the paddles and just toss the ball back and forth over the net underhanded until the light bulb goes on.

3) As soon as they can control the ball a little in hitting and returning, then break for water and then it's service time.  I will demonstrate drop and bounce serves, then have each person hit a couple with one on one supervision.  If they get it, then send them to the far side of the court and instruct them to catch/stop/pick up any balls and then serve them back.  I'll get all four going and then roam around while they hit them.

Spend some time on this as it's usually the hardest stroke to hit.  They usually will not swing at all hard enough.  "Hit the back fence!" I tell them, it works occasionally.  The serving target is the center of the service area and I generally will say nothing else.  Things to watch for, are foot positions and sideway swings.  It's usually the ball position relative to the body that causes the most problems.

4) After serving, take another water break, and then go over rules as it's time to play.  The scoring will be the most difficult topic of the day.  I stole  a good explanation of the scoring system: in that on every side out, both players get to service and the score keeps track of the first and second server.  

This is true with the exception of the first point and that's where the struggle is.  

5) Let them play while you are on the court.  You'll need to move folks around as their roles change -- Up, Back, etc.  Somewhere along the way you need to spend some time on the two bounce rule.  Getting the servers to stay back on the baseline and the service returner to come up is good training, but it usually will not happen.  No problem!  So let them play, make sure they call out the score properly.

And that's it.  Other topics you can blend in as they come up: don't fall, don't run backwards, get some safety glasses, make sure a new paddle will match their eye color, etc.  All the little bits of knowledge you learned in a year or two.  Note that you can't pass all that on.  Less talk more play is my philosophy.