What comes to mind when you witness a great athletic play? Many people think of the speed or quickness of the player. But the element that is often overlooked is the preparation made immediately before the play.
Players in a defensive position must be ready to react to an opponent's action. The defender may have a good guess what is coming his way but cannot be 100% certain. Think about the positions taken by a shortstop on a baseball team, or a defending guard on a basketball team, or a cornerback on a football team. Their reactions are dictated by actions of the offensive opposition. They have to be ready to move in any direction. The same is true in pickleball.
We've talked in the past about the ready position and movement, primarily in The Ready Position at the Kitchen Line and Moving at the Kitchen Line. A post that is more relevant to today's topic was In Pickleball...Movement is Not Optional in which Mark Renneson discussed "the high energy of staying light on one's feet with athletic stances and active feet". In several of these past discussions, a brief mention was made about keeping weight on the balls of the feet. Now, we have a Pickleball Channel video called The Secret to Being Ready for Your Next Shot which focuses only on that aspect of being prepared.
The video features Dee Davison, a pickleball instructor from Arizona. She says that keeping your weight on toes makes you for finishing your shot and you will come back up on your toes and be ready for your next shot.
Do not allow your weight to settle on your heels or you are stuck, unprepared for the next shot.
No comments:
Post a Comment