LevelUp
Level Up
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. This was better than the Tyson camp since I got to play with several different people at my level. There was more free time to just play compared to the Tyson camp. 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!