Fundamentally Speaking

There is a wide variety of video instruction related to the sport of pickleball which can be streamed for your viewing pleasure. The majority of which seems to be focused on strategy. However, like working with a golf instructor to improve the fundamentals of your golf swing, if you want to improve the fundamentals of your pickleball strokes, you need to be in a one-on-one environment with a live instructor. It is necessary to have someone actually watching you, who can provide insight and advice on not only what you may be doing wrong, but just as important, (if not more important), what you are already doing right!

Players who are new to pickleball take beginner clinics to familiarize themselves with the basics of the sport. As they get hooked on the game, they naturally want to improve their strategical abilities and begin to try to execute more advanced shots. The problem that presents itself is, attempting to apply advanced strategical shots when we are utilizing poor stroke fundamentals is a recipe for frustration and failure. As the famous football coach Vince Lombardi, said: “Excellence is achieved by the mastery of fundamentals." Comparatively speaking, in the sport of golf, I may not be able to drive the ball 285 yards like the pros, however, by utilizing sound fundamentals in my swing, I can drive the ball 195 yards, keep it in the fairway, be on the green in two to three shots and putt out for par. As an amateur golfer, if I can walk away from 18 holes anywhere in the 70’s, I’m a happy camper!

As that theory applies to golf, the same is true for the sport of pickleball. While I may not have the gifted skills of a Ben John or an Anna Leigh Waters, if I am able to effectively and confidently execute my strokes by utilizing proper fundamentals, I can then challenge myself to strategically perform to the peak of my natural abilities. While the strokes in pickleball are nowhere near as complicated to master as the strokes in golf, both require muscle memory programming in order to be effectively successful in their execution. As a lifelong tennis player, the fundamentals of my strokes were embedded in my memory banks. I could unconsciously and effortlessly execute them with great ease, which would allow me the opportunity to focus solely on strategically working my way through a point. However, as a pickleball player, I had to re-program the fundamentals of my tennis strokes to apply to pickleball. I found myself struggling with having to devote the time and effort to have to actually think about the proper fundamentals of the stroke and the shot I was attempting to hit. 

Like anything we learn in life, good communication with your teacher/instructor/coach can make a world of difference in your ability to feel confident in applying the new knowledge which you are acquiring from them. When I work with students, I not only ask a lot of questions of them, but I also encourage them to ask a lot of questions of me. To be a good teacher, I need insight and knowledge of anything which they may not fully understand. It may require me to explain or demonstrate something in a different way for them to comprehend what we are attempting to accomplish. Everyone learns in their own way and at their own speed. Some students are more visual in their perception of what I am trying to teach them, while others are more vocal. It is the teacher's responsibility to successfully blend the visual and vocal aspects of learning and allow the student the proper amount of time they need to perceive it.

The relationship between student and teacher needs to be united as one and function as a team. In addition to that, every team needs a team leader. It is the teacher's responsibility to be the team leader, set goals which are related to achievable results and direct the team to accomplish the task at hand.