IPTPA ANNOUNCES
MASTER TEACHING
PROFESSIONAL
DESIGNATION AND
‘TEACH THE TEACHER’
WORKSHOPS.
I
paddles does not set them up for success in the game and that
polymer honeycomb performs better. Our entry-level, made-
in-the-USA paddles should help new players better break into
the sport.”
It doesn’t hurt with sales that Selkirk also has a growing
stable of top-tier professional players using signature brand
Selkirk paddles including Enrique Ruiz, Glen Peterson,
Morgan Evans, Tyson McGuffin, Tonja Major, Miok Lee, Tony
Tollenaar, Tyler Dawson, Lynn Syler, Kurtis Campbell, and
Kim Jagd.
And while Selkirk is growing by leaps and bounds to meet
the demands of the sport, that doesn’t mean the Barnes
family is on Easy Street. The young brothers both have
growing families—Rob with a 3-year-old and a 10-month-
old, and Mike with a 2-month-old—manage to put in 60 to
70 hours a week and still find time for church and ultimate
frisbee. Their pickleball play has been pared back to mainly
tournaments, but they try to get out into the community
to play when they can. They attribute their ability to keep
everything in balance to a shared love of large volumes of
coffee.
Despite the late hours and the unending challenges of
creating paddles that meet all aspects of player demands, the
Barnes family says they are loving their role in the growth of
the sport.
“When we develop a paddle, we look at who are we
developing for, get pro player input and then the prototyping,
design... everything after that is geared toward the pros. If
they like it, everyone will,” Rob said. “This is all we do. As
pickleball keeps growing, it’s going to great places as it hits
mass market, and the innovation over the next 10 years will
be incredible. And we’ll be working hard to stay in there.” •
PTPA introduces Certified Master Teaching
Professionals (MTP) who will facilitate the first-
ever “Teach the Teacher” seminars across the United
States and internationally.
IPTPA has also completed its first handbook
consisting of lesson plans, teaching progressions
and videos pertaining to Level 1 certification.
These handbooks will be made available free of
charge in PDF form to all current IPTPA Teaching
Professionals. Level 1 Certification is a program
geared for the beginner through intermediate levels
of play. Level 2 Certification and its curriculum
will be introduced later this year and will aid IPTPA
Teaching Professionals with their ability to instruct
intermediate through pro level play.
Staring this August, there will be a series of “Teach
the Teacher” program workshops across North
America. This one-day, six-hour seminar is geared
toward introducing coaches to the IPTPA teaching
curriculum, and will review all the basic fundamentals
of pickleball. Lesson plans, demonstrations by an
MTP and critiques of participant coaches will be
part of the program. The seminar will be led by
an IPTPA Master Teaching Professional who has
extensive teaching experience and can lead a group of
instructors in best teaching practices.
The IPTPA Level One Handbook has been modeled
after much of the criteria set by national sport
organizations throughout the world.
The six-hour seminar will be available to current
IPTPA Certified Coaches as well as those wishing to
pursue pickleball coaching in general. Should those
participants who are not currently members of the
IPTPA decide to complete the IPTPA Certification
Process, a portion of the seminar fee will be credited
toward the IPTPA certification.
Visit the IPTPA website at IPTPA.com for dates,
locations and fees for upcoming seminars. •
JULY/AUGUST 2017 |
MAGAZINE
37