Pickleball

Pickleball: Fun Facts

Jeff

PICKLEBALL FUN FACTS*

First Annual Pickleball Championship

  • The sport of pickleball has been around since 1965
  • It remained a well kept secret until 2008 when the game hit the senior market
  • Today it is estimated that over2 million people play the game
  • It is estimated by 2018 there will be over 8 million players
  • 68% of all players are over 60 years old
  • 53% are male and 47% female
  • Younger people are being introduced to the game in record numbers
  • Places to play are up 62% since 2010
  • USAPA membership is up 64% since 2010
  • In addition to the United States, it is played in Canada, Mexico, Netherlands, India, England,
    Australia, China, Spain, France, Singapore, Aruba, Czech Republic and the United Kingdom

* Via the US OPEN Pickleball Championship website

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Pickleball Explosion at Dynamite Park, Phoenix

Jeff

Dynamite Park Sign


Starts Wednesday, March 30th @ 7:30AM

Read further for more details!


As the sign says, welcome to Dynamite Park. As pickleball Ambassador in North Phoenix, I recently sent an email to the Phoenix-area pickleball players explaining that after March 25, 2016, pickleball will be allowed to be played on the two tennis courts at Dynamite Park.

For those who might want more information and location, you can read about the initial startup phase here:

Dynamite Park ( 4580 E Dynamite Blvd, Phoenix, AZ 85331 ) is a very nice suburban park in a peaceful and natural setting.

There are two water fountains nearby. This fountain is only a short distance from the parking lot.

Dynamite Park Sign

The tennis courts (and soon-to-be pickleball courts) are a short walk down the main path, directly west of the playground area. In the picture below, you can see them behind the shaded benches.

Dynamite Park Sign

Here is a close up of the two benches under the shade structure.

Dynamite Park Sign

Just outside the tennis court gate, on the north side, is a large Ocotillo with a nice display of flowers on the day the picture was taken.

Dynamite Park Sign

As you can see the park has a number of exercise areas. There is a large field to the north of the tennis courts with a walking/running path. People and people with dogs can be seen throughout the day.

Dynamite Park Sign

Dynamite Park Sign

A nice children’s play area (just northeast of the tennis courts) has appropriate shade and the second water fountain nearby.

Dynamite Park Sign

Here are the tennis courts as I found them before we began the task of placing chalk lines for pickleball. We decided to use the east tennis court to outline the two pickleball courts; one on either side of the net so the net will serve as a backstop for each court.

Dynamite Park Sign

Somewhat surprisingly, I didn’t receive too friendly a reception from the two people who were having a tennis session on the other court. I heard some rumblings and bluster, but generally speaking, tennis players have been open to expanding pickleball opportunities in the Valley.

I was glad to learn that the courts have a practice wall with a tennis net line. Pickleballers will need to aim for the bottom of the line or bring some easy-to-remove painters tape to mark a practice line. Remember to remove the tape when leaving.

Dynamite Park Sign

My colleague and Phoenix Pickleball Ambassador, Mary Travis, arrived and taught me how to mark the courts using several tape measures, blue chalk, a chalk line and a straight edge. Thank you Mary! It was very time-consuming and hopefully it won’t rain for a long time so the lines will remain. Even after some of our rains, we are hopeful that the faint lines will be visible to guide the next outlining when necessary.

Dynamite Park Sign

Can you see those skinny, faint blue lines on the tennis court? That means PICKLEBALL!

Here is a picture of me after we spent more than two hours putting lines down so we can have access to two pickleball courts once we set up the nets. (The nets were set up just for the photo opportunity.)

Dynamite Park Sign

I am hoping to see some of my fellow Phoenix pickleball players at the park during structured playing times. You can read about our initial one-month trial schedule here:

NOTE: I want to thank the USAPA for their generous grant which went a long way to help us purchase the two pickleball nets. For those who may not know, the USAPA has established the Pickleball Ambassador program and fosters outreach activities like those going on in the Phoenix-area now. Please consider joining the USAPA and supporting them so they can help us to grow the sport we enjoy so much.

I also want to extend a sincere thank you to Pickle-Ball, Inc. for their kind donation of pickleball paddles and a supply of pickleballs which will help us get the program started. I think it is important to support those companies that support us.

I hope to see you on the courts!

Jeff Ross

USAPA Logo

The Pickleball Lob – the Rodney Dangerfield of PB

Jeff

The lob often gets little respect. It is not an easy shot to execute well because if it is too short, your opponents will have you at slam city. If it is too long, it is an easy fault for your opponents. So, why use the lob?

There are times when both opponents are at the net and it is difficult to get the ball by them. Perhaps your drop shot has abandoned you and your hard drives are coming back fast and furious. This might be a good time to lob the ball.

The lob can provide an opportunity to move your opponents away form the net (offensive), i.e. the non-volley Zone (NVZ) and it can be a defensive move if the opponent’s shot forces you out of position. Lobbing the ball high and deep will provide time for your team to move to the NVZ and recover from a previous good shot by the opposing team. The point is, it must be well executed.

In doubles play, the person to “get” the lob should be the person opposite of the court in which the shot will land. If the ball is going to land in your partner’s court, you need to get it. At that point, yell “switch” which signals your partner to cover your previous court while you finish the point in their original court.

Don’t sell the lob short (no pun here). When used appropriately, it can be a valuable tool in your pickleball arsenal.

Read the entire article below (which includes some “how to advice”) to help improve your lob game. The lob can be a valid shot when used strategically.

Via – The Wretched Lob by Gale Leach – author of The Art of Pickleball.

Pickleball – Serve Yourself – Serving Styles and Options

Jeff

When I first started playing pickleball, the rule of the serve back then was to “just put the ball in play” and “don’t miss a serve.” The mantra was hit the ball high and deep; or some variation on that theme. Indeed this does work at the beginning levels of play. The emphasis on keeping the ball in play is a solid one because your team can only win points on the serve.

Since that time, I have seen a shift in attitude regarding the serve. New players entering the pickleball court are bringing skills from other sports like racquetball, ping pong, tennis, etc. There seems to be a bit more openness to trying something different on the serve and taking risks.

I too have adopted the more open philosophy in that I will take some chances during a game such as trying to serve the ball close to the line if it is to the backhand of the receiving player. I will also try to spin the ball once in a while just to keep the opposing team off balance a bit.

Here is my rationale. I don’t have a killer serve and most 3.5 and better players can get my serve back without a problem so the point needs to be won during a rally or volley.

There are times, however, if I take a risk and try one of the trickier shots mentioned above, I can often win one or two points a game on my serve by hitting an outright winner or forcing a weak return shot.

Because of this, I figure I can take a chance with my serve until I miss one or two and then I scale back a bit. This makes the game more fun for me and I hope more challenging for my opponents.

Mark Renneson of Third Shot Sports, who has been featured on JBRish many times, has a video addressing the serve. Interestingly enough, I recently had a pickleball coach watch me serve and he made the same points as Mark does. One key element I wasn’t getting quite right, was that I was not hitting the ball low enough on my serve. I was told it should be just above the height of my knee. Keeping this in mind has helped my serve.

Watch the video below and pay attention to the key points Mark makes about hitting the serve.

In Summary, I think these are the take-aways:

  • Pre-serve routine
  • Don’t throw the ball too high in the air
  • Make contact with the ball “out front”
  • Relaxed follow through

Click the link to register to receive the Third Shot Sports Pickleball Newsletter

Click the link to see Third Shot Pickleball Past Newsletters.

Click the link to visit the Third Shot Sports Pickleball website.

Thanks to Mark and Third Shot Sports for allowing this to be presented on JBRish.com

Pickleball – Practice Need Not Be Dull

Jeff

In Malcolm Gladwell’s Book, “Outliers”, he asserts that to gain complete mastery of a skill one would need 10,000 hours of practice. He did this by examining the work of generally acknowledged geniuses or noted masters. There are those who will dispute the number Gladwell uses, but few argue with the idea that to gain mastery, one needs to practice.

The problem arises with the fact that practice may not be as much fun as using the skill for its intended purpose. A basketball player, for example, probably prefers to play a game rather than practice free throws to assure a ninety scoring percentage from the free throw line.

What if there were a compromise between practice and play? Now understand that I am not suggesting that this is better than just practicing. What I do propose is that perhaps this would help some players achieve a greater success in pickleball by focusing on ball placement during revised play.

An essential pickleball skill is to be able to “aim” the ball and what I mean by that is getting the ball where you want it to go. If you can’t hit the ball to your opponent’s backhand or down the middle, you will have trouble beating average to above average players. Learning to place the ball is a key pickleball skill.

Here is one way to practice placing the ball where you want it to go. Play a game with one other person (Yikes, not singles), BUT… the ball can only be hit to the side of the court the serving player serves from and the diagonal opposite court of the receiver. The game must be restricted to just those two diagonal courts. Anything on the other side of the court is a fault. Play this game to a score of fifteen when starting this revised play because faults will be much more prevalent at the start.

[ Looking at the graphic above then, play can only continue while the ball is hit to the courts indicated with the black arrow during even numbered points and only to the courts indicated by the red arrow on odd numbered points! ]

Once players have become better at this and the points are getting longer, the game can transition to opening play to any side of the court starting with the third shot. In this variation of play the server hits the ball diagonally, the receiving player must return to the server’s court and after that normal pickleball play resumes, i.e. hit the ball anywhere in the playing area.

Both of these revisions of play will force players to concentrate on getting the ball where it needs to go and thus practice placement. It isn’t practice per se, but it is one way to get experience with putting the ball where it needs to go.

Pickleball – Delayed Gratification with the Ground Stroke

Jeff

One of the first shots most people learn when they begin to play pickleball is the forehand groundstroke. If you ask players about this shot, they would probably say that they know how to do it and that may be true…to some extent for most of us!

We all probably learned the basics about the best way to correctly execute the pickleball groundstroke, but do we all maintain our focus and correctly perform all phases of the stroke?

The video below with Wes Gabrielsen demonstrates the groundstroke from both the right-hand and left-hand side. (Wes is a 5.0 player who switches hands for a groundstroke with either hand). Watch the video below and pay attention to the “hints” which are also detailed at the end of this post.

  • Keep your eye on the ball through the stroke; especially at the point of contact – watch the ball hit the paddle.

    **The reason this is important is that the ball may move along an unanticipated path and if you are not watching it, you cannot adjust your swing and you may mishit the ball or perhaps miss it all together. Don’t be tempted to look up to see how well you hit the ball. Delay your gratification and keep your head down, eye on the ball and follow through. I understand this is easier said than done!

    •  

  • Bend your knees and get the weight of your body behind the shot.

    •  

  • Follow through towards the target. Coach Mo suggests that you “kiss” the shoulder of the paddle hand to assure the follow through.

Quoted from the YouTube Video:

“What if you didn’t have one good forehand, you had TWO! You may not have this unique ability on the court, but we know you will enjoy watching Wes Gabrielsen, a top 5.0 pickleball player, demonstrate this move which he uses to his advantage. We have even included some pop up tips that apply to all forehands whether left or right! And the slow motion is just plain fun to watch besides being helpful when you study other players to improve your own pickleball skills. Watch this one today!”

Pickleball – The Rules Are The Rules (Most of the Time)

Jeff

When we play clubhouse pickleball, and by that I mean “out to have fun and not in a tournament,” it is always good to keep the play lighthearted.

I am a concrete sequential person and I like things to be done in a certain way and in a certain order and BY THE RULES, BUT…when we are having fun on the pickleball court, I wonder if we can RELAX a bit.

I don’t mean ignore the rules. Rules are there for a reason and they keep the game standardized, etc., but in a crowded gym with balls flying all around I think we can all agree to make certain allowances.

Perhaps you know, or maybe not, that if a player is waiting to receive a ball and the server hits the ball in the receiving-partner’s side of the court and the ball hits that partner or he touches it, TECHNICALLY this is a fault and a point for the serving team.

Here is the rule from Section 7.F. of the IFP Rulebook:

“In doubles, if the serve strikes the receiver’s partner, it is a point for the serving team, providing it is not a let serve or a fault serve.”

I should think, however, that in the scenario mentioned above (i.e. crowded gym), if the receiving player’s partner deliberately reaches out to catch the ball so it doesn’t go willy-nilly all over the place and head for another court thereby disrupting play, we can BEND that rule just a bit.

What do you think?

Pickleball Doubles – Two People Move as One

Jeff

For those who may not know, there is an interesting online resource with a good number of pickleball tips to help us brush up on our game or, for those who do not know, teach about pickleball strategy. Since most players compete as a doubles team, the strategies are aimed primarily at doubles play.

One of the suggestions I try to stress when people ask me for ideas is that a doubles team should move together during play. One of the hardest positions from which to win a point is when one partner is in back of the court while the other is up at the net. That positioning leaves a large hole in the pickleball doubles defense which a good opponent can exploit.

Here is how it is explained on the Arizona Pickleball website Playing Tips:


Move in sync with your partner.

“Imagine an invisible link that keeps you and your partner no more than about 10 ft. apart. When your partner moves to retrieve the ball, that link is like a powerful magnetic force that pulls you with him. If your partner is pulled to the sideline to play the ball, you are pulled with him to cover the middle. If that link is broken, you leave a big gap up the middle. It is very common to see players protecting their side of the court instead of moving with the ball and their partner.

In the same way that the link pulls you laterally, it should also pull you forward and back. When your partner moves up to the no-volley line, that link is pulling you along to establish a position of strength. When your partner is forced to the back court to retrieve a ball, it is much more likely that he will hit a return that can be slammed back at you. So the link should be pulling you back with him, at least part of the way, until you see what type of return that your partner is making. That link has some flexibility, but should never break completely.

Watch for those broken links on the other side of the net. That creates an opening for you to hit a winner.”

Take advantage of the Arizona Pickleball Playing Tips by visiting the page and reviewing some of suggestions offered.

Pickleball – Not All Serves Are Created Equal

Jeff

When playing pickleball, one way to gain the advantage when serving to a right-handed person when you are serving from the left service court is to hit the ball to their backhand. Most beginning and average players have a weaker backhand and will return a backhand shot that is easier to handle if they are forced to use their backhand. This is easier said than done in some cases, but you can try to stack the odds in your favor by standing in a better location before serving.

Look at diagram 1 below:

XXXXXX

If the serve hits anywhere near the red dot; even a foot or two farther back, the person returning serve (green square) will have great difficulty running around it to hit a forehand. They will most likely have to hit a backhand resulting in a weaker return.

Notice where the server is standing in this drawing. They are aligned fairly close to the center line and the angle to hit that spot is very narrow and unlikely to achieve the goal as the line of trajectory shows.

Look at diagram 2:

XXXXXX

In this scenario, the server has moved far to their left and has increased the angle and margin of error so they have a much better chance of serving the ball near the target area. This would make it very difficult for the receiving player to hit a forehand shot.

The video below from Third Shot Sports, demonstrates this in real time. Watch the demonstration and see if this is something you would like to try.

“Quick improvement of service by standing all the way to the side when serving from the “odd” court.”

 

To See Pickleball Videos Covering Many Aspects of the Game Click Here

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Pickleball Doubles Strategy 101 & 102 from Joe Baker

Jeff

In October of last year, I blogged about Joe Baker’s video – Doubles Pickleball Strategy 101-How to Play Smart Pickleball, Ten Tips

If you haven’t watched it and you are interested in raising the level of your doubles play, I suggest you read the post and review the video. It is an excellent video and Joe Baker teaches the strategies in a very understandable and deliberate manner. Diagrams and game footage are interspersed to make the concepts clear.

You can find this blog post, including Pickleball Strategy 101, at the link below – [Video is at the Bottom of the Page]:

Pickleball Strategy – 10 Tips to Help Win the Point

For those who have already watched the 101 series of tips, here is the follow up:

Joe Baker’s Tips for Doubles Strategy in Pickleball – 102 (Below)

Joe starts out by emphasizing that smart play that often leads to winning points and not necessarily strokes or shots.

As Joe points out, most pickleball points are lost and not won. The improper use of force causes many balls to go errant. That is to say, players often hit the ball hard when they should hit it soft and hit it soft when they should hit it hard and thus lose the point.

As Joe Baker points out, power and control are opposites:

  • Hitting the ball harder reduces control – increases errors
  • Hitting the ball softer increases control – reduces errors

Two Rules of Thumb:

  • When you must hit up on the ball, hit softly
  • When you hit down on the ball, hit harder

Watch the video for complete explanations of the above ideas! I hope you learn some great points as I did!