It Don’t Mean A Thing If You Ain’t Got the Swing Part 2: Length of Your Swing

Last week I discussed the importance of the speed of your swing, and hopefully, you have been focusing on the timing, the smoothness, and the consistency of the speed of your swing. This week I’m going to discuss the importance of the length of your swing. 

Simply stated—the longer the better. 

Fundamentally speaking, in order to have a long swing, you need to provide yourself with enough time and space to actually execute the entire motion. 

Golfers have the luxury of striking a stationary object. They don’t have to deal with all of the physics involved with having to adjust their position in order to make contact with a bouncing ball. 

The problem that many pickleball players encounter is that they tend to either run directly into a short ball, or not get away from a deep ball. 

To effectively create this space and time, you need to properly judge the distance between the bounce of the ball and your point of contact. 

There are two reasons why it is important to provide yourself this space. 

First off, by doing this, you will create an area that will allow you to have a better opportunity to choose your contact point with the ball. 

Secondly, creating this space provides you extra time to prepare and start your stroke, which will allow you more time to finish your stroke.  

By tying all of this together, you will naturally take a longer swing. So now that you have control of the speed of your swing, begin to focus on the length of your swing. Next week I will discuss the importance of the balance of your swing. 

Wayne Clark is a professional tennis instructor with over 25 years’ experience coaching players on all levels of the game. Wayne is also qualified in pickleball instruction and is on staff as an instructor with The Pickleball Academy of Southwest Florida at East Naples Community Park. Contact Coach Wayne by email at coachwayneclark@aol.com, or by or by phone or text at 239-450-6161.