Strathmore Pickleball Club

Strathmore Pickleball Club

Strathmore, Alberta
ADHÉSION
Member Pictures 2023

From Kevin Stanley May 2022

DO THE BASICS EXTRAORDINARILY WELL AND YOU WILL PLAY EXTRAORDINARY PICKLEBALL!

Grip:

The pickleball grip is called a handshake grip. The paddles should be open 15 degrees to the outside of your body. (NOT neutral/straight up and down) This is important because we are not looking for top spin on our ball for the majority of shots like in tennis. We are in fact lifting the ball for roughly 80 percent of our shots and need to play a soft short shot to the safe zone. This 15 degrees allows us to have the paddle in the optimal angle without changing our grip for both forehand and backhand reset shots. The proper grip makes making consistent shots happen more consistently.

Ready Position:

Feet apart slightly wider than shoulder width. Too much makes it hard to move laterally and to be nimble. If we have our feet too far apart we tend to reach for the ball rather than shuffle. Knees slightly bend, back straight, hands out away from our body. Paddle tip cocked up and in the centre of our body. Paddle face protecting our chin and slightly on the backhand angle. Bending our back causes the paddle to drop down. Bend our knees encourages the paddle to stay up. We keep our paddle facing towards the ball like the sight of a gun by turning our shoulders towards the ball.

Basic stroke steps:

Drop the paddle dowout towards your right for a forehand and out to the left for a backhand (right handed person), as if your elbow is on a pivot.

DROP, LIFT protect chin

DROP, LIFT protect chin

Your ready position starts and ends with this sequence.

Watching and anticipating ball direction:

  1. We watch the ball come off of our opponent's paddle. This allows us to get in the ready position sooner than later. As soon as we know the direction the ball is moving towards us, we move our paddle in position first, as we move our body. Paddle leads the body motion!! Most people telegraph where they are going to hit the ball in their swing.
  1. Making Good shot
  1. Watch the ball come off our opponents paddle
  1. Get ready early
  1. Have your paddle down as you move to the right spot
  1. Try to hit the ball in front of you from the same position as often as possible. HItting the ball out in front of your thighs allows you to see the ball come off your own paddle.
  1. Be patient
  1. Don't rush to hit the ball
  1. Try to hit the ball at the top of the bounce where it is no longer moving
  1. Hit the ball with specific intent on its destination every time. Don't just whack it.
  1. Complete the shot by protecting your chin
  1. Assume that the ball is coming back every time to your body
  1. Look for opportunities to create chaos

Basic Strategies to Playing Extraordinary Pickleball

  • Deep serve (3-5 ft above the net)
  • Deep return (MOST IMPORTANT SHOT OF THE GAME!!) 3-5 feet above the net.
  • Get to the kitchen line with your partner when receiving serve
  • Attempt at third shot drop majority of the time
  • Get ALL of your serves in
  • Be more aggressive when you are serving. Less aggressive when receiving
  • BUY TIME when out of position, off balance or separated from your partner, by lifting the ball higher and using angles on your shot so as to get back in position.
  • When making third shots or resets keep the top of the arc of your shot on your side of the net to lan dit in the safe zone in front of their paddles.
  • reset your shots in front of you or your partner- whoever is closest to the net
  • Move the kitchen line as a team together when it is safe
  • Move around the court with your partner as if you are attached by a 6 foot elastic band
  • Keep the middle closed. Give them the outside rather than the middle
  • Return to opponent's backhand when possible
  • Never invite an opponent to the net but rather keep them back
  • Hardest shot of the game is a short dink or reset to the person directly in front of you. USE seldom. Go to the middle if unsure, the middle is always your friend.
  • Lob sparingly.
  • Take time outs if your opponent gets more than 2-3 points in the lead
  • Lean forward into the kitchen to shorten the safe zone
  • Backhand 79 percent of your shots
  • From the kitchen line - volley 60 percent of your shots
  • Use a ready position stance to make your shots if the ball is moving quickly. Use the groundstroke stance if you have time to move your body
  • If you get jammed on your backhand, slide your foot back and away and have your paddle follow the foot. This gives you more flexabiltiy and room to make a good shot.

Communication;

Talk with your partner-

  • I have middle
  • Let's get our third shot or let's get to the line
  • Keep them back
  • Mine
  • Yours
  • Soft
  • Push
  • Keep them deep

Proper communication prevents miscommunication and clashes or strategy foibles.

HAVE FUN!

PLAY SAFE!

IN REC PICKLEBALL PLAY TO YOUR STRONGEST OPPONENT IF YOU WANT TO IMPROVE

DO DRILLS TO GET BETTER.

DON'T HURT YOURSELF!

iTS JUST A GAME

I ENJOYED MEETING ALL OF YOU! I HOPE WE CAN DO IT AGAIN SOMETIME IN THE FUTURE.

TAKE CARE

Cheers

Kevin Stanley 

Kevin can be reached at : kevinstanleycoach@gmail.com

If you would like to book your group for lessons or even one on one.