The other day a friend and I practiced. She said that she need to do better on returning serves. So for a hour and a half I gave her my best serves and during that time she improved so much that she felt better about returning serves. I could see the improvement from my end. We could have played a game but we decided practice instead. The better choice. Thank you for your video. 76 year old retired US Army Nurse.
Absolutely. I was lucky enough to get into a group with a "pro"/instructor for weekly drill/gameplay when I started 5 years ago. The "pro" became a PRO and has stayed with us. People have come and gone and we even changed locations but we are dedicated to Tues 10a-12p. Our instructor picks an area/or shot to work on and then we learn/refresh it, drill it and then use it in game play. I was afraid of not drilling and cementing my bad habits into the muscle memory. My game has improved immensely. Such good advice.
Thank you for the video! I agree with you. As a former tennis player, drills are what honed my skills and added new shots to my repertoire. I'm also amazed that people don't really warm up properly. 5 minutes of dinking back and forth and "ready!". Haven't practiced a serve, a return, an overhead, etc., and yet, one minute from now all those shots will be required...
Being in the right head space has to do with how you feel before, during and after. How you show up for PB is important. If you simply show up and play but are feeling nervous those nerves will impact you so how do you deal with them versus letting them take over your performance. The other important concept is knowing whether you need to start off playing in a calm space or a more pumped up place and getting your energy there so you can walk on court ready to perform. Make sense?
So true! People won’t even “warm up” much. They hit a few halfhearted dinks, can’t even sustain a short rally, get bored and say,” come on, let’s play!” It mystifies me. Playing at the same level gets old to me. Getting better is what makes it fun again.
Thanks for your comment. All so true and because this seems to be the norm, it is hard to get better. Ironically, everyone I know talks about wanting to get better, but many don't make a change and just keep playing vs practicing.
I looked up your bio and your are impressive. I am a retired Army and Va Psy nurse so After 40 I have an good understanding of your objectives in helping people in there lives. At 76 yo I am past winning being the most important thing in life. Is that the secret of better performance not worrying the game and just having fun. Thank you Ben
Thanks for checking me out! I love what I do. It sounds like you loved what you did. Not worrying and having fun are the key ingredients to good performance. Getting there can be hard. Great to hear from you.
One needs to train your muscle memory the movement on the court, that's when you will get better. Most want to believe its hand-eye chase the ball, but it really Feet, then hand-eye. When you start doing this you are a 3-3.5.
How can I deal with partners who do not or will not try to get to the NVZ but remain pinned after serving or just play from the transition zone...I am not able to handle or poach successfully very often since I'm short but I try off my forehand. Thanks
Hey Jeanette. Thanks for your comment. Working with a partner can definitely be challenging. It's not really your job to 'poach' just because your partner stays back. Don't get me wrong, poaching can be effective and fun but in this situation its not your job. Ultimately in this situation, you only have a wee bit of control which is - talking to your partner or poaching if you can but everything else having to do with your partner is out of your control. These situations can also rattle you but it's important to learn to let go and focus on what you are doing. You have control over yourself. If your goal is to win and you feel like you can't talk to your partner, it may be a good time to find another partner. ;-)
@@DrMichelleCleere Thank you so much, I'm trying to let go more, sometimes more or less successfully.. I play in groups primarily drop in with constantly changing partners!! I know I'm not the coach/pro and I'm not aggressive about it but I tend to really get negative with myself so, a struggle cause I'm not good enough to overcame the 6 ft gap down the middle. I hear you today.
@@jeanettebrown5788 try switching that negative to something more neutral positive and see what the impact is. I am planning to release a bunch more PB videos in the upcoming weeks. Don't hesitate to reach out if you have questions or need something. I am here to help you be more successful!
Ben back again. I try to improve may pickleball game. I watch videos, ask friends for help and practice. But as much I as I try to improve my game I do not feel the same way about winning. I don't care so much about winning as much as playing the game most of the time. In some ways I think I am like you. There are time that winning is important but that is the exception not how I feel most of the time. This is how I have been most of my life. This is not new. I think this approach helps me play better. I have les stress and feel better playing. When I played sports in school others would go out and work them self up for the game I would go to a quiet place and rest. I am interested in what you think.
Hey Ben. Welcome back! Here's what I tell my athletes: everyone wants to win otherwise why would you be playing. So why think about it. Stay in the process, stay as present as you can and move through the moments in the best way you can.
You were close to correct on reason #1. IMO, you missed on #2 and #3. #1 - Everyone needs to practice, with a HUGE caveat. You have to practice with ever improving mechanics. If you don’t know the difference between good shot mechanics and bad shot mechanics, you are likely just drilling in bad muscle memory and will plateau sooner than later. This addresses your comment about why you should take lessons and not just drill on your own. If your lessons were the same thing over and over, either you weren’t listening to your coach about how to continuously improve, or you had a bad coach. Find a better coach or listen better, or both. #2 - You don’t have enough tools in your toolbox. If you aren’t getting better, maybe it’s because you don’t have enough different shots you know how (and when) to use. I see too many players wanting to play just one way and they aren’t able to play against players who play differently. Do you only want to play the soft game? If so, then you likely struggle against hard hitters. And vice versa. Expand your repertoire of shots. #3 - Your fitness level isn’t improving. If you want to improve, you have to put in the work physically to match any work you are doing on getting better shot mechanics. If your mechanics are good, but you are constantly out of position, then your mechanics go out the window. You should be getting lower and lower in your stance with feet farther apart. Too many people are too vertical when they play. You should be getting from the baseline to the kitchen line faster and faster. Upper body should be getting stronger, with decreasing reaction times, to allow your paddle to get to where it needs to be quicker.
Thanks for your comment Dwain. Yep spot on with getting a good coach, being able to play a varied game and improving fitness. All really good points and all really important and I think really hard for the majority of the population that plays - seniors. Should they work with a coach? If they are working with a coach how do they sustain that practice if they aren't drilling/practicing outside of coaching sessions? And if someone doesn't do any of this how does one learn a variety of tactics and shots? Fitness...hard for people to understand the importance of it when they just wanna play. And, all of this is a commitment. How committed do you want to be? Right?! There's more I could say but I end on this note, since many of the people playing are older, some with no athletic background, most who are new so have little experience but with high expectations...there's a lot going on for most people when it comes to PB!
@@DrMichelleCleere Good comments. One common problem that I see is that there are too many coaches that don't understand mechanics. The certification program, as far as I can tell, never fails anyone. This is a problem because it results in people getting certified and then coaching when they shouldn't be coaching at all. They are just passing on bad advice and that isn't helping, but hurting the game. I also see coaches coaching "down", assuming because a student is older that they cannot do certain things. I see coaches teaching the 3rd shot drop to people with little to no hand/eye coordination. This is a tough shot for experienced athletes, to try and get newbies to do it from the start is a problem. So if someone doesn't understand shot mechanics well, then they need a coach at the start. Then pair up with other students to drill what they've learned.
@@PickleSmithWildlifeAndDrone in general coaching has many problems but with PB because it's new and the population older it is not quite where it needs to be yet. I think it'll get there but it's definitely a different type of coaching than it is for many other sports - physically and mentally.
@@PickleSmithWildlifeAndDrone because 1. it's generally an older pop 2. who is interested in being competitive during social play vs tournaments. That takes a little bit of a different coaching style.
Excellent points. I noticed my play improved when I got a practice partner. Working on volley drills, drop shots, serves and returns all improved just by practicing. Unfortunately, my practice partner kind of disappeared on me and now I need to find someone more reliable.
Hey Fernando. Thanks for your comment. That's exactly right! And, finding a partner who you can work together with consistently is HARD!!! Good luck with that! Dr. M
I def put the score above practice 😂 it’s hard for me to change stuff up because then my consistency goes down which causes me to lose matches. My serves are in literally 99% of the time and i switched it up and i was like %60 and everyone couldn’t believe it. Someone even said “I’ve never seen you miss a serve” but my new serve is way better but when the game gets close i find myself going back to my old serve 😂
Hey Isaiah. Thanks for your comment. What do you think causes your consistency to go down? 99%! Wow! When things get hard or close we are prone to going back to what we know and have done. Fear! Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help. 😉
Watching the coaching on UA-cam. Also watching pro matches and lower level matches to learn from. Use that information to practice. Drilling is the key.
@@jimzimmerman5288 I coach a lot. In my experience, many people don't have a good body awareness, meaning what they think they are doing and what they are really doing doesn't match up. I have had countless situations where I run through mechanics for a particular shot. They will try it for a while, but still not get there. I'll do a quick recording with my phone and have them watch themselves, only to hear "oh, I didn't think I was doing that". So if you aren't going to get a coach, minimally you should record your drilling and playing sessions and watch your mechanics. You may see something different than what you expected.
The other day a friend and I practiced. She said that she need to do better on returning serves. So for a hour and a half I gave her my best serves and during that time she improved so much that she felt better about returning serves. I could see the improvement from my end. We could have played a game but we decided practice instead. The better choice. Thank you for your video. 76 year old retired US Army Nurse.
Right?! Practice makes a huge difference and it’s amazing how quickly you can see it. Thanks for your comment Ben. And thanks for your service. 😁
Absolutely. I was lucky enough to get into a group with a "pro"/instructor for weekly drill/gameplay when I started 5 years ago. The "pro" became a PRO and has stayed with us. People have come and gone and we even changed locations but we are dedicated to Tues 10a-12p. Our instructor picks an area/or shot to work on and then we learn/refresh it, drill it and then use it in game play. I was afraid of not drilling and cementing my bad habits into the muscle memory. My game has improved immensely. Such good advice.
Hey Kelley. Thanks for your comment. Nice! It makes a huge difference! And yeah reinforcing bad habits is not helpful to getting better. 😀
Thank you for the video! I agree with you. As a former tennis player, drills are what honed my skills and added new shots to my repertoire. I'm also amazed that people don't really warm up properly. 5 minutes of dinking back and forth and "ready!". Haven't practiced a serve, a return, an overhead, etc., and yet, one minute from now all those shots will be required...
Hey Greg. Well said. It's so true! We do think 'lets dink for 5 minutes then I am ready to play'. How can that be? :-)
What does "being in red-head space" mean?
Being in the right head space has to do with how you feel before, during and after. How you show up for PB is important. If you simply show up and play but are feeling nervous those nerves will impact you so how do you deal with them versus letting them take over your performance. The other important concept is knowing whether you need to start off playing in a calm space or a more pumped up place and getting your energy there so you can walk on court ready to perform. Make sense?
Honest assessment of why people don’t get any better. Scores of game, winning or losing mean nothing. PRACTICE WORK WORK WORK
Thanks Mark! Deliberate practice is right on!
So true! People won’t even “warm up” much. They hit a few halfhearted dinks, can’t even sustain a short rally, get bored and say,” come on, let’s play!” It mystifies me. Playing at the same level gets old to me. Getting better is what makes it fun again.
Thanks for your comment. All so true and because this seems to be the norm, it is hard to get better. Ironically, everyone I know talks about wanting to get better, but many don't make a change and just keep playing vs practicing.
What drills should I be doing?
There are so many drills. It partially depends on what you want to work on.
I looked up your bio and your are impressive. I am a retired Army and Va Psy nurse so After 40 I have an good understanding of your objectives in helping people in there lives. At 76 yo I am past winning being the most important thing in life. Is that the secret of better performance not worrying the game and just having fun. Thank you Ben
Thanks for checking me out! I love what I do. It sounds like you loved what you did. Not worrying and having fun are the key ingredients to good performance. Getting there can be hard. Great to hear from you.
#1 is spot on! People just play games and typically don’t wanna practice so then they just play the same way alllll the time.
Yep! Many/most agree that it’s a problem.
Where I live, it is difficult to find anyone who wants to drill. Most just want to play games and admit they don't care if they improve.
have David. That must be hard. it’s hard to find people here who want to drill but they think they are getting better.
One needs to train your muscle memory the movement on the court, that's when you will get better. Most want to believe its hand-eye chase the ball, but it really Feet, then hand-eye. When you start doing this you are a 3-3.5.
Absolutely! Good information!
How can I deal with partners who do not or will not try to get to the NVZ but remain pinned after serving or just play from the transition zone...I am not able to handle or poach successfully very often since I'm short but I try off my forehand. Thanks
Hey Jeanette. Thanks for your comment. Working with a partner can definitely be challenging. It's not really your job to 'poach' just because your partner stays back. Don't get me wrong, poaching can be effective and fun but in this situation its not your job. Ultimately in this situation, you only have a wee bit of control which is - talking to your partner or poaching if you can but everything else having to do with your partner is out of your control. These situations can also rattle you but it's important to learn to let go and focus on what you are doing. You have control over yourself. If your goal is to win and you feel like you can't talk to your partner, it may be a good time to find another partner. ;-)
@@DrMichelleCleere Thank you so much, I'm trying to let go more, sometimes more or less successfully.. I play in groups primarily drop in with constantly changing partners!! I know I'm not the coach/pro and I'm not aggressive about it but I tend to really get negative with myself so, a struggle cause I'm not good enough to overcame the 6 ft gap down the middle. I hear you today.
@@jeanettebrown5788 try switching that negative to something more neutral positive and see what the impact is. I am planning to release a bunch more PB videos in the upcoming weeks. Don't hesitate to reach out if you have questions or need something. I am here to help you be more successful!
My adhd makes it very hard to be patient and listen… to slow
That would make it hard to be patient, listen and move slowly. What's helped?
Ben back again. I try to improve may pickleball game. I watch videos, ask friends for help and practice. But as much I as I try to improve my game I do not feel the same way about winning. I don't care so much about winning as much as playing the game most of the time. In some ways I think I am like you. There are time that winning is important but that is the exception not how I feel most of the time. This is how I have been most of my life. This is not new. I think this approach helps me play better. I have les stress and feel better playing. When I played sports in school others would go out and work them self up for the game I would go to a quiet place and rest. I am interested in what you think.
Hey Ben. Welcome back! Here's what I tell my athletes: everyone wants to win otherwise why would you be playing. So why think about it. Stay in the process, stay as present as you can and move through the moments in the best way you can.
You were close to correct on reason #1. IMO, you missed on #2 and #3.
#1 - Everyone needs to practice, with a HUGE caveat. You have to practice with ever improving mechanics. If you don’t know the difference between good shot mechanics and bad shot mechanics, you are likely just drilling in bad muscle memory and will plateau sooner than later. This addresses your comment about why you should take lessons and not just drill on your own. If your lessons were the same thing over and over, either you weren’t listening to your coach about how to continuously improve, or you had a bad coach. Find a better coach or listen better, or both.
#2 - You don’t have enough tools in your toolbox. If you aren’t getting better, maybe it’s because you don’t have enough different shots you know how (and when) to use. I see too many players wanting to play just one way and they aren’t able to play against players who play differently. Do you only want to play the soft game? If so, then you likely struggle against hard hitters. And vice versa. Expand your repertoire of shots.
#3 - Your fitness level isn’t improving. If you want to improve, you have to put in the work physically to match any work you are doing on getting better shot mechanics. If your mechanics are good, but you are constantly out of position, then your mechanics go out the window. You should be getting lower and lower in your stance with feet farther apart. Too many people are too vertical when they play. You should be getting from the baseline to the kitchen line faster and faster. Upper body should be getting stronger, with decreasing reaction times, to allow your paddle to get to where it needs to be quicker.
Thanks for your comment Dwain. Yep spot on with getting a good coach, being able to play a varied game and improving fitness. All really good points and all really important and I think really hard for the majority of the population that plays - seniors. Should they work with a coach? If they are working with a coach how do they sustain that practice if they aren't drilling/practicing outside of coaching sessions? And if someone doesn't do any of this how does one learn a variety of tactics and shots? Fitness...hard for people to understand the importance of it when they just wanna play. And, all of this is a commitment. How committed do you want to be? Right?! There's more I could say but I end on this note, since many of the people playing are older, some with no athletic background, most who are new so have little experience but with high expectations...there's a lot going on for most people when it comes to PB!
@@DrMichelleCleere Good comments. One common problem that I see is that there are too many coaches that don't understand mechanics. The certification program, as far as I can tell, never fails anyone. This is a problem because it results in people getting certified and then coaching when they shouldn't be coaching at all. They are just passing on bad advice and that isn't helping, but hurting the game. I also see coaches coaching "down", assuming because a student is older that they cannot do certain things. I see coaches teaching the 3rd shot drop to people with little to no hand/eye coordination. This is a tough shot for experienced athletes, to try and get newbies to do it from the start is a problem. So if someone doesn't understand shot mechanics well, then they need a coach at the start. Then pair up with other students to drill what they've learned.
@@PickleSmithWildlifeAndDrone in general coaching has many problems but with PB because it's new and the population older it is not quite where it needs to be yet. I think it'll get there but it's definitely a different type of coaching than it is for many other sports - physically and mentally.
@@DrMichelleCleere Why do you think it is a different type of coaching?
@@PickleSmithWildlifeAndDrone because 1. it's generally an older pop 2. who is interested in being competitive during social play vs tournaments. That takes a little bit of a different coaching style.
Excellent points. I noticed my play improved when I got a practice partner. Working on volley drills, drop shots, serves and returns all improved just by practicing. Unfortunately, my practice partner kind of disappeared on me and now I need to find someone more reliable.
Hey Fernando. Thanks for your comment. That's exactly right! And, finding a partner who you can work together with consistently is HARD!!! Good luck with that! Dr. M
I def put the score above practice 😂 it’s hard for me to change stuff up because then my consistency goes down which causes me to lose matches. My serves are in literally 99% of the time and i switched it up and i was like %60 and everyone couldn’t believe it. Someone even said “I’ve never seen you miss a serve” but my new serve is way better but when the game gets close i find myself going back to my old serve 😂
Hey Isaiah. Thanks for your comment. What do you think causes your consistency to go down? 99%! Wow! When things get hard or close we are prone to going back to what we know and have done. Fear! Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help. 😉
Some good points but a bit verbose.
Yes
I think you have some good advice to share, however you need to pick it up a notch for me; I did not finish watching!!!
Glad I had some good advice. By picking it up a notch you mean make the good advice shorter? Thanks!
You got smart finally not to pay someone for lessions.
What are your thoughts about lessons?
Watching the coaching on UA-cam. Also watching pro matches and lower level matches to learn from. Use that information to practice. Drilling is the key.
@@jimzimmerman5288 I coach a lot. In my experience, many people don't have a good body awareness, meaning what they think they are doing and what they are really doing doesn't match up. I have had countless situations where I run through mechanics for a particular shot. They will try it for a while, but still not get there. I'll do a quick recording with my phone and have them watch themselves, only to hear "oh, I didn't think I was doing that". So if you aren't going to get a coach, minimally you should record your drilling and playing sessions and watch your mechanics. You may see something different than what you expected.
You re not really a doctor though