PICKLEBALL INSTRUCTION
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BY LUCY KITCHER
P
ickleball partnerships come in many shapes
and sizes. Finding the best partner isn’t as
easy as it seems. If you want to improve,
you’ll most likely need to find a drill partner
to practice with—as well as a female and
male partner to play with in tournaments. If
you can drill with your tournament partner, even better!
Your Drill/Practice Partner
While it’s a lot of fun just to play games, if you want to
improve your skills more rapidly, you have to drill. As Mark
Twain said, “Repetition is the mother of all skill.” While
it’s great to have a tournament partner to drill with, it’s
not always possible. Finding a player at a local court who
wants to improve his or her game will make for a great drill
partner, even if you can’t play together in tournaments.
Once you identify your areas of weakness and growth,
you can look online for information on improving your shots
or sign up for clinics/lessons with your local pro. The most
important thing is to practice, practice, practice. Have
your drill partner feed balls to you over and over while you
practice on a specific shot. Then find out what your partner
wants to work on and feed balls to him or her.
Your Tournament Partner
As I’ve improved my game, my partners have changed.
Not everyone improves at the same pace. Think of it as an
evolution—not a revolution.
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Here are some key elements I’ve used to cultivate a
successful partnership:
Communicate. Good communication is vital to success.
You’ll need to discuss many things with your partner. When
the ball is coming to the middle of the court, by saying “me”
or “you” there will be less chance of missing balls down the
middle. You’ll also want to talk about your opponents. One
of you may have played against them before and remember
their playing style. Or you may notice things during warm
up (for example, if one of the players is left handed). Be
sure to share these observations with your partner. Other
things to discuss are the wind, who’s going to gets the lobs
on which side of the court and when to switch sides.
Be positive
Having fun helps you relax, making it easier to make
good shots. If your partner makes a mistake, he or she
already feels bad. You don’t need to point it out! Instead,
be encouraging. Take some of the blame yourself. Maybe
you could have made a deeper serve or return, or kept your
dink lower! Some words of encouragement I use are: “Good
idea,” “nice try,” “that was the right sh