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I think most pickleball players may not know the answer to that question. For me the answer is very simple. I come from a competitive tennis background and in tennis the mental game is very important and usually the difference between winning and losing.

Raising your skill level requires overcoming the false belief that powering the ball on every shot will win games.  The goal for increasing your skill is to first become patient and disciplined in playing a soft game, always anticipating the correct time to “power the shot for the win.” Achieve the “Pickleball PHD (patiently happy dinker/dropper).”  Sound boring?  Maybe at first; but when you discover how effective it is,and how many more winning points it produces, it will become “stunningly boring.”

Training is extremely important and should form an integral part of an athlete’s daily routine. Creating good habits and developing muscle memory is so important in having consistency in your game.

Now that we have learned what the core is and how to use it to maximize our body mechanics, let’s now look at our footwork.

Part 1 - Cores

Many players (including pros) don’t understand what’s in a paddle so they don’t really know that a core or surface really is and WHY it makes a difference to THEM. It’s not about the type of core or type of surface- it’s about the notion that there are different materials that affect the way their paddle performs and we are the ONLY company that offers this to every player.

How important is warming up during a tournament?

I think most pickleball players rarely spend enough time warming up during recreation play, but do they spend enough time warming up during a tournament. The average warm up during recreation play is roughly 37 seconds. During most tournaments you have 8 minutes to start your match once your name is called. Does this give you ample time to warm up? The answer is most likely not.

Perhaps the MOST NEGLECTED part of improving your game is the most important part-- FOOTWORK!  No matter how great your dinks, volleys, and groundstrokes, lazy/sluggish/slow/sloppy footwork will frequently result in loss of the point, and ultimately keep you “stuck” at your current skill level.

Making less errors and hitting with power is predicated on your body being in a balanced stance and positioned to hit the ball in your power/comfort zone, which is one foot in front and no farther than one foot to either side.

Ashley Roberts here with Third Shot Drop Custom Paddles. I am a certified personal trainer with 17 years of experience.

Training is extremely important and should form an integral part of an athlete’s daily routine. Last month we talked about the foundation of your body. It is so critical to do corrective exercises and stretches to ensure the length/tension relationships between our muscles is balanced so that our Kinetic Chain is optimized to perform it’s best.

There are so many paddles each pickleball player has to choose from.
Some are suited for them, others are not.
We hear over and over from players - “I already have 5 paddles in my bag”. This tells us they are blindly searching, hoping to hit the bullseye in the dark with their eyes closed.

Is practicing (drilling) part of your tournament preparation?

I think most pickleball players will answer the question with a “No”. In my experience playing pickleball socially and competitively, I have seen that most players “play” more than they “practice”. Is it a pickleball thing? Maybe….. Probably…..

There is, in my opinion, a huge fallacy regarding the subject of forehands. It is, that a shot in question should always be taken by the partner with the forehand. Yielding to the forehand on shots just because it’s a forehand frequently creates poor court coverage and results in lost points. Also, MOST errors are made with forehands rather than backhands.

Hi, this is Ashley Roberts with Third Shot Drop Custom Paddles. I am a certified personal trainer with 17 years of experience. I am excited to share monthly blogposts with you about training. Training is extremely important and should form an integral part of an athlete’s daily routine.First we need to get down to the foundation of your body.

Finding the right paddle for you isn’t about what Bob or Sally plays with or which colors look best. It’s about building the right tool for the job. Players that understand their game and are educated in the playing characteristics of the materials that make their paddle and cause it to play a certain way, are better equipped to perform to the best of their abilities. Knowing about cores, surfaces, weights and handles/grips will enable you to build the paddle that will elevate your game. When you have confidence in your equipment, that translates into performance on the court!

Before you choose a pickleball paddle grip size, you should take into consideration some factors such as handle shape, type of grip, and whether or not you will be using an overgrip. Typically, an overgrip will add either half or one whole size (1/16 to 1/8 inch) to the racquet. That’s obviously something you’ll want to keep in mind when looking for a racquet, and if you do choose to use an overgrip, you’ll want to find a paddle that is half to one size lower depending on what kind of overgrip you’ll be using.