LevelUp
Level Up
January 25-26, 2025 - Campbell, CA.
Venue: The Hub
Cost: $695
Hours: 9:00-16:00 with a one hour lunch, so 6x2=12 hours of instruction/playing. $58/hour
This is my second Level Up camp. The venue is the Hub in Campbell, Ca. This is a private indoor club so no worries about sun, wind, cold or heat. I had trouble hearing though since the sound reverberates off the walls. Just get close to the speaker. The courts and nets were all top quality. There's lots of places to eat, but I recommend bringing your lunch to save time. The Hub has a room with tables where you can sit and eat.
Cohort - There were 14 of us, so 7 to each coach. The company and coaches have no control who signs up for the camp. There were 2 campers who were around 3.5 and were having difficulty with the drills. When you pair up with them, just back off on the pace. Everyone else was around the same 3.75-4.25 level so that worked out well.
Coaches - Joel and Betty.
Both great. This is my second camp with Joel. The drills and shots were all the same from the last camp, but I wanted to see if I improved after 18 months and what I still need to work on.
High level players - So most campers I’d guess have never played with or against players as good as Joel and Betty. Joel hit 2 shots that stunned me. We were both on the left and I hit a 2HBH top spin dink, a little high, and he jumped over the kitchen and ripped a forehand. I had never seen that on YouTube much less in real life, so it was a bit like, “What the hell just happened?” I plan to try that shot.
The other one was I step back on dinks and then speed up off the bounce. This usually generates a forced error or pop up from the people I play against. Joel absolutely crushed it with a backhand punch! That was eye opening. You may have shots that work fine against the level of players you play against, but they totally fail against a 5.0 and higher player. You never know until you play them but how many 5.0+ players are even around?
The red and yellow dots were pretty important on court positioning when serving. I like my bh more than my fh so I set up differently, but I’ll incorporate this into my classes.
Before and After video - At the beginning of camp they record you dinking, dropping, serving, returning. Not driving for some reason. At the end of the camp they then record you doing the same drills. They send you a video showing the 2 side by side so you can see any improvement. This is really helpful to see and hear what you need to improve on.
The video is a product differentiator since no other camp at this price point does this. It’s a great idea too.
Training videos: The $299 discount code to all their instructional videos was pretty cool. The videos are quite good, so this is another product differentiator that makes Levelup a good value compared to their competitors.
Take aways - One of the main reasons I took this camp was to find out what a shove and blitz were. I plan to use shoves in my games and drill it. The blitz or shake and bake, I dunno, my partner needs really good drops or drives for me to commit to running up like that.
Could improve: The one change I would make would be to spend time on driving. The forehand, backhand, and 2 handed backhand. The game has evolved in the last 2 years and driving a third from the baseline and from the transition zone is really important and a necessary weapon to have in your arsenal.
Do I recommend Levelup camps? Yes! If you are a 2.0-4.0 and there is a camp nearby, then yes. Sign up for your level or a little higher. However, the coaches are critical. Besides Joel and Betty I don't know about the other coaches. I had one in Newport Beach that was just average. Your cohort also is important but that is just luck.
Oct 2023 - Newport Beach, CA.
Venue: The Tennis Club at Newport Beach
The lead instructor was Joel Ickes. Joel is great and highly recommended. This was an advanced camp, so 3.9-4.5 players. In reality, there were about 20 campers around the 4.0 level and at least that many intermediate 3.0-3.9 campers. There is one coach to 2 courts or 8 people. So Joel would demonstrate, but then another coach would help you out and supervise. This can be hit or miss. Some coaches do very little coaching or correcting mistakes. This is why it's important to take video of yourself that you can view months later as you improve and spot areas you need to improve on.
The email that was sent out explicitly says to bring a folding chair. I was only 1 of 2 people that actually did that. Please bring a folding chair! You will use it constantly. One cool activity is the coaches will play with the students at the end of the last day so you can see what a 5.0+ level player is like. Another differentiator for this camp was a video they take at the beginning and the end of the camp of you playing so that they can show you how you improved and what you still need to work on. This is really valuable. They also send you a manual of everything that was taught after the camp is over. Maybe they should send it before? The Houdini and Tornado trick shots were pretty cool. The hours were 12-7 with lunch from 3-4 which were weird hours during the hottest part of the day and the last hour it started to get dark. The venue the camp was held at, The Tennis Club at Newport Beach had a cafe so we pre ordered and paid for a sandwich or wrap and they were ready at the lunch break. This set up is so much more convenient than going off site.
LevelUp
https://www.leveluppickleballcamps.com/
About Your LevelUp Camp:
Since 2016, LevelUP has been the world's largest and highest rated Pickleball instructional camp. Sponsored by Pickleball Magazine, 100+ camps are run each year across the US.
The program features the best instructors and touring professionals in the sport and offers:
• 12-hours of High-quality Instruction
• Low 8 Students to 1 Pro Ratio
• Individual Pre-camp Video Review
• Free Gift
• One-year subscription to Pickleball Magazine
Our Comprehensive 2-Day / 12-Hour Program Covers the Following:
• Videotaping: Pre-camp and Post-camp Individual Videos
• Dinking (Strategy, Form, Shifting and Communication)
• Third shot drops and Transitioning up to the Kitchen
• Volleys: Roll Volleys, Punch Volleys, and Block Volleys
• Kitchen Tricks: Attack Shots Off the Bounce and Out of the Air
• Lobbing and Running Shots Down
• Overheads
• Serving and Returning
• Just for Fun: Around the Post and Erne Shot
Our Camp Structure:
The LevelUp Program is built around a 4-section system:
1) Pro Demonstration of New Skills
2) Pros Analyze the Campers Through Drills
3) Campers Play Semi-Competitive Games Reinforcing the New Skill
4) Rotations Allow Campers to Play Different People
Demo Equipment:
Having the right paddle makes a difference, so LevelUP partners with the top manufacturers to offer a full line of onsite paddles and equipment for demo testing
(Selkirk, Paddletek, Franklin, Engage, Head, Gearbox, Babolat, Theragun, Sports Tutor, Takeya, Crosscourt Jewelry)
Camp Daily Hours:
This camp is two days (6 hours per day). It begins at 10:30am until 1:30 pm, breaks for 1 hour, then resumes at 2:30pm to 5:30pm each day.
Nike ussportscamps.com
CAMP SCHEDULE
Daily Schedule: Friday-Sunday 7:45am-3:00pm (Campers check-in each day at 7:45am)
- Day 1
8:00am-11:00am (front court): Dink form, dink grips, dink placement, dink spins, dink strategy, dink drills, and dink competition. Airborne attacks, bounced kitchen attacks, lob attacks, chicken wings
11:00am-1:00pm: Lunch, free time
1:00pm-3:00pm (mid court): Mid court mastery, short hops, re sets, mid court airborne attacks, mid court drills, mid court positioning, mid court competitions
- Day 2
8:00am-11:00am (back court): Baseline power, generating power, defending power, drilling on power, competing with power, developing power, baseline drives, serves, defending power, covering the middle
11:00am-1:00pm: Lunch, free time
1:00pm-3:00pm: 3rd shot drops, 3rd shot drills, 3rd shot techniques, progressing to mid court, team positioning, team and individual competition, putting the plan together
- Day 3
8:00am-11:00am: disguises and fakes, tricks and plays, ernie's, atp's, drilling on fakes, head fakes, fake dink attacks, fake attack dinks, drilling on disguises
11:00am-1:00pm: Lunch, free time
1:00pm-3:00pm: lectures on competition, tournament, awards presentation (not what you think), hugs, pics and goodbyes!