Indy

Action Plan

1. Try to have both feet planted when making contact with the ball

2.  When lobbing, assess it after you hit it, is it going deep enough? Is your opponent on the defense? Is their back to you? If yes, get to the NVZ line. Chances are, they won't lob or hit a good passing drive. They will try to hit into the middle and into the NVZ, that is the safest shot, so get to the line.

3. Stop running and split step before your opponent makes contact with the ball.

4. 11.19.24 - Your drives and consistency are much better than 3 months ago when we last played! Great job!

Week 1 - April 25, 2024 7:30-8:30

Topics:

1. Split Step

   • Before your opponent makes contact with the ball, stop moving and split step and get your paddle up.

   • The split step is like a little hop where your feet go out to the sides, and you bend your knees, raising your paddle, and facing your opponent, if doubles then the player making a play on the ball.

2. Ready Position - This is the position you are in whenever you aren't hitting the ball or moving to a ball. Open stance, feet 1.5 shoulder width apart, paddle up at 10 o'clock.

3. Paddle up - This is a key feature of Ready Position. Extend your arm but keep your elbow bent and arm relaxed. Hold the paddle between 10-12 o'clock if right handed or 12-2 if a leftie. Height - tip of paddle should be at chin height or a little below.

4. Keeping your eye on the ball - All the way into the paddle face and for a split second after contact. Beginners often don't follow the ball into their paddle face and mis-hit the ball not making contact in the sweet spot. Looking up before contact is complete can also cause changes in body posture and contact point so the ball doesn't go where intended.

5. Played games where Split Stepping and Eye on the Ball were the only 2 areas of concentration.

6. Indy did great in the drills and in the games not focusing on winning but on the two tasks at hand.

7. During the games I noticed 3 areas to address:

   • Not getting to the NVZ line and staying 2-3 feet off of it. Her partner was an advanced player hitting very well placed drops with backspin that were not attackable. Not sure why she stayed in the transition zone. This could be related to

   • Tip down volleys that are popped up. Several balls could have been attacked with a Punch or Roll Volley, but were hit with a tip down volley. We'll work on both next week.

   • Shots that are neither low hard drives or drops into the kitchen. These shots get attacked.

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Week 2 -, 2024  

1. Review of Week 1

2. Please watch and practice this footwork Drill:

3. If you feel comfortable with that drill, go on to the next Drill.

Note that you can do this at home. You don’t have to be on the court.

4. Next assignment is we need to work on your pop ups. This is how you lose several points. Please watch:

5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3lYzWGW4cw How to prevent pop ups.

6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_F2mEguawA

7. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZXdDjIvV6k

8. We are not playing to win. We are playing to get better at pickleball and practice what we learn in class in a game situation. If you play to win, then when you lose, you failed. But if you were playing an advanced player, you would most likely lose even if you did everything you were taught in class. If you win, then you succeed right? Not really. What if you made multiple mistakes throughout the game like the 15 Mistakes? Play to improve. If you win, great. If you don't, you worked on what you need to improve on. If you have a weak drop shot, work on that in a rec game and try to hit 10 out of 10 of your drops into the NVZ low enough so they aren't attackable. If you do this, then you accomplished your goal regardless of the score.

Week 3 - ?, 2024

1. Review of Week 1 and 2

2. Please read through The 15 Most Common Mistakes Beginners Make

Week 4 - ?, 2024 

1. Review Weeks 1, 2, 3

2. Ready position, split step discussion, balance

3. NVZ line footwork discussion, demo, drill. Basic NVZ line footwork. Intermediate and Advanced NVZ line footwork

4. Drives: Forehand, Backhand, Underhand if time allows.

5. Green, Yellow, Red Zones

6. Strategy: How to approach the NVZ. Assess your shot, your partners shot, and your opponents ability before moving up. Always stop before they make contact with the ball.

7. Play games

Week 5 - ?, 2024

8. Review Weeks 1, 2, 3, 4

9. Ready position, split step discussion, balance

10. NVZ line footwork discussion, demo, drill. Basic NVZ line footwork. Intermediate and Advanced NVZ line footwork

11. Drives: Forehand, Backhand, Underhand if time allows.

12. Green, Yellow, Red Zones

13. Strategy: How to approach the NVZ

14. Play games