Return of Serve Goals

A couple of weeks ago I did a series on drills. The last drills I discussed included the serve, the return of serve, the 3rd-shot drop, and the dink. Over the next several weeks, we will refocus on these basic shots. Today we will continue with the second shot - the return of serve.

A lot of information on the return of serve has already been included in previous articles. These are archived in Chapter 3: The Groundstroke & Return of Serve, the second chapter of the "book" from A Pickleball Life. It can be found along the left side of the blog. But there is now a constant stream of new materials available. We will examine some of those materials and add them to the archive. Today's article is called Return of Serve and it comes from Sarah Ansboury.

Return of Serve

Last week we talked about adding variety to your pickleball serve. This week we focus on the return of serve…  A shot I hate to miss!

The Return - Deep and High

A couple of weeks ago I did a series on drills. The last drills I discussed included the serve, the return of serve, the 3rd-shot drop, and the dink. Over the next several weeks, we will refocus on these basic shots. Today we will continue with the second shot - the return of serve.

A lot of information on the return of serve has already been included in previous articles. These are archived in Chapter 3: The Groundstroke & Return of Serve, the second chapter of the "book" from A Pickleball Life. It can be found along the left side of the blog. But there is now a constant stream of new materials available. We will examine some of those materials and add them to the archive. Today's first article is called Return Serves Deep and it comes from Jeff Napier.

Return Serves Deep

With practice, you can learn to return serves with some control. So where should you put the returns? In most cases, you should return deep – as close to the opponents’ baseline as you can.

There are three main reasons:

It is hard for the opponent to do anything offensive with a deep return. Their best bet is a drop shot into your non-volley zone, but it is difficult to do that accurately from the backcourt.

2016 North Carolina Holiday Smash Results

The North Carolina Holiday Smash was held recently at Carolina Courts in Concord, NC. Several players from the North Carolina mountain area participated and their results are shown below.

Scott Siewert of Xcel and Hal Neff of Asheville in the Men's Doubles 4.0

- Lost to Jon Post and Rick Allred 11-4

- Defeated Jonn Hendrickson and Donn Hendrickson 11-7

- Lost to Mike Vaccaro and Horace Whitaker 11-3

- Defeated Bob Nibarger and Terry Glenister 11-5

- Lost to Dennis Brennan and Chris Allen 11-9

- Lost to Peter Guss and Richard Holloman 11-2

- Lost to Rodney Allman and Mark Rankin 11-2

Chris Allen of Xcel amd Dennis Brennan in the Men's Doubles 4.0

Offbeat Sunday: Backyard Courts

Some backyard pickleball courts from the suboptimal to the sublime.

The first pickleball court

USAPA Nationals VIII Results

The USAPA National tournament has concluded in Arizona. It is one of the biggest tournaments on the pickleball calendar since it is sponsored by the overarching organization of the sport in the USA. This year's tournament had over 900 players, including a couple from the North Carolina mountains.

Jerry Peterson of Xcel and Pat Kane in the Men's Doubles 70+

- Defeated Larry Miller and Ron Stiers 11-4, 11-4

- Defeated Hugh Bohm and Bill Marshall 11-6, 11-0

- Defeated Marc Rinehart and Jeff Stone 12-10, 11-9

- Defeated Lynn Carlson and Bob Youngren 11-7, 11-1

- Defeated Marc Rinehart and Jeff Stone 11-2, 13-11

Jerry and Pat win the gold medal! Congratulations!

2016 Piggleball Tournament Results

The inaugural Piggleball Tournament was recently held in Lexington, NC. A couple of players from the North Carolina mountains were participants.

Rick Ezrol of Xcel and Ed Bailey in the Men's Doubles 50+ Open Skill

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving

 from

A Pickleball Life

The Serve - Summary #1

I have noted in the last couple of posts that more pickleball information becomes available daily. I try to keep the blog updated with both new ideas and new perspectives on old ideas. Those pertinent to the serve are archived in Chapter 2: The Serve, the second chapter of the "book" from A Pickleball Life that can be found along the left side of the blog. While I like the idea of the book chapters - it was mine, after all - I love the idea of an occasional synopsis of where we are...based on the archive to-date. This is the first synopsis and it is about the serve. We'll start with a list of the most important learnings and then summarize their sources.

The 10 Commandments about the Serve

1. Keep the serve in-bounds.
2. Hit the serve deep.
3. Stay behind the baseline until the return of serve is struck.
4. Target the returner's backhand.
5. Add speed and/or spin to the serve.
6. Flatten the service motion to add depth and speed.
7. Keep it legal.
8. Vary the speed and direction of the serve.
9. Choose an offensive or defensive position from where to serve.
10. Practice serves...with a purpose.

Rules

Advanced Serving

As discussed in yesterday's post, a couple of weeks ago I did a series on drills. The last drills I discussed included the serve, the return of serve, the 3rd-shot drop, and the dink. Over the next several weeks, we will refocus on these basic shots. Today we will continue with the serve.

A lot of information on the serve has already been included in previous articles. These are archived in Chapter 2: The Serve, the second chapter of the "book" from A Pickleball Life. It can be found along the left side of the blog. But there is now a constant stream of new materials available. We will examine some of those materials and add them to the archive. Today's videos are from Mark Renneson. The first is called Forehand Pickleball Serve and its focus is on the mechanics of the advanced serve. The second video is called How to Serve Like the Pros and it illustrates the advanced serve techniques used by some of the top players.

You might recall that the basic serve technique about which I have previously written is similar to a bowling motion. The traditional serve is a straight low-to-high arcing movement. This motion allows the server to make adjustments to the height of the serve. But adjusting to hit a low serve that is also deep - our objective as noted in yesterday's post - requires contorting the wrist to an unnatural angle. The advanced serve technique allows a low hard serve to be more easily hit.

Serve Deep

A couple of weeks ago I did a series on drills. The last drills I discussed included the serve, the return of serve, the 3rd-shot drop, and the dink. Over the next several weeks, we will refocus on these basic shots. Today we will start with the serve.

A lot of information on the serve has already been included in previous articles. These are archived in Chapter 2: The Serve, the second chapter of the "book" from A Pickleball Life. It can be found along the left side of the blog. But there is now a constant stream of new materials available. We will examine some of those materials and add them to the archive. Today's article is called Serve Deep and it comes from Jeff Napier.

Serve Deep

The beginning pickleball player feels lucky to get the serve anywhere within legal bounds. With experience, the player can start to serve to specific places. So, once you have the skill to serve the ball where you want it, where is the best place to serve?

Sometimes you can serve very short, and the beginner and intermediate players will not run to the net in time to return the ball. But the advanced players are all over short serves. With an especially short serve, they can often win on the return shot – no more volleying needed, since they’ll put it soft and diagonally into the kitchen, where you can’t return it.

Offbeat Sunday: Blondie

How do you know when a product reaches the mainstream? One indicator is when it makes the comics, especially traditional comics that have been around for many years. In January, I posted about a series in the comic strip Baby Blues. Now, the Blondie comic strip has a pickleball mention.

Playing Against Stackers

After the past several days' posts, you should have some idea of how and when to use stacking to your advantage. But what happens when your opponents use stacking? Is there a good way to attack it? Sarah Ansboury and the RV Picklers have an answer in their article Playing Against Stackers: Focus and Strategy.

Playing Against Stackers: Focus and Strategy

Playing against stackers is becoming more and more common at all levels. So I’ve been to address strategies to use against stackers.

I’ve written about why people stack. It is a technique often used when you have one left and one right-handed team member. It may also be used, simply because a player prefers a particular side of the court….or to give their opponents a different look. Nancy wrote last week about stacking basics. If you have any questions about stacking rules or how to keep track of where you are “supposed to be”, you’ll want to take some time to read those posts.

Keep Them Thinking

Where Am I?

Of all the confusing aspects related to stacking, the single most problematic issue is whether players are in the proper position to start a rally. This is especially true after several points have been played and players have moved all over the court. About a year ago, I posted Doubles Scoring and Player Positioning in which I wrote a simple rule thumb to help determine proper positioning:

One simple rule of thumb to start in the proper position is to remember which team member started the game as the server and returner, respectively, for each team. That respective team member will always be in the starting (right) court on even points. Each started in the right court on zero and should be there when their team has 2, 4, 6, etc. points. Obviously, when their team score is an odd number (1, 3, 5, 7, etc.), that player should be in the left court. Rather than relying on memory (and to assist referees), many tournaments will give the first server and returner wrist bands to help identify their proper positioning.

The RV Picklers have tried to help ease the confusion with a similar description in an article called Pickleball Court Position: Am I in the Right Place?

Pickleball Court Position: Am I in the Right Place?

I love refereeing beginner pickleball tournaments. Players often have “a-ha” moments. Such was the case recently as it relates to pickleball court position.

I had refereed the same male team on three occasions that day. During the semi-final, I could see a light bulb go on behind the eyes of one of the players. He looked at the yellow armband he was wearing, to signify that he was the first or start server, and said, “Since I’m even I should be here.”

Alleviating Stacking Confusion

Stacking is such a different way to align teams that it is very hard for some to grasp. I hope that the reasons for stacking were clarified in yesterday's post One Way to Play with Lefty. I tried to explain how stacking works in my post Stacking. But it is always a good idea to have more than one point of view on a complex topic. Therefore, I will highlight the RV Pickler description of stacking appropriately called Pickleball Stacking 101: If You Are Confused.

Pickleball Stacking 101: If You Are Confused

I was refereeing a beginner’s tournament in The Villages. The concept of stacking is new to many players, and that was the case this particular day.

A female team (right and left-handed) were playing two right-handed male players. When the female team was down 4-9-2 they decided to stack for the first time. The guys across the net, both looked confused and one finally said to me, “What are they doing?….Can they do that?”

I answered “Yes” and offered to explain it to them after the game.  If you are new to pickleball, or have not been exposed to pickleball stacking, read on.

What is Stacking

One Way to Play with Lefty

Yesterday, we talked about the difficulty of playing with a lefthanded partner in the post Playing with Lefty...or Not. One way to handle it is to stack, meaning players stay on the side of the court that takes advantage of their strengths. Stacking is vary specific strategy that I discussed only once - in my post Stacking. First, I will highlight Sarah Ansboury's discussing stacking called Stacking: When and Why. Then, I will show a Mark Rennson video also conveniently called Stacking.

Stacking: When and Why

I have received a number of questions from readers about stacking. I have also heard it can stress you out.  If you have questions about stacking strategy, this is for you!

Why do we use stacking?

Playing with Lefty...or Not

For some unknown reason, I have rarely played with or against a lefthanded player. When I have, it changes the way I play. Playing against a lefty means taking an extra second to remember where to hit to the backhand side. Playing with a left typically means I am more often out of position as I either cover his forehand with my own or forget his backhand is down the middle. Based on the article Pickleball Leftie: It is Not My Fault You are Left Handed, the RV Picklers have similar issues.

Pickleball Leftie: It is Not My Fault You are Left Handed

I’ll admit it, I typically shy away from playing competitively with a pickleball leftie. Of course, Wes Gabrielsen is an exception to this “rule”. I would gladly partner with him anytime!

But Wes is an exception. Besides, when he wants to, he plays right-handed better than me. So as far as I am concern, nearly all the balls are his. Let me amend that…all the balls are his.

Pickleball Lefties…But What’s the Point

2016 Atlanta Pickleball Fall Brawl Results

Several local players participated in the 2016 Fall Brawl in Cumming, GA recently. Those results are shown below.

Lucia Delchamps of Brevard and Crosswalk and Teri Siewert of Waynesville and Crosswalk in the Women's Doubles 3.0.

Offbeat Sunday: Pickleball Halloween

Since Halloween was last Monday, it is a good time to highlight the fun pickleballers have on the occasion.

Are You Willing to Work?

Part 4 of our series on clinic views has another article from Sarah Ansboury in the RV Pickler blog called Getting the Most From Your Pickleball Lesson. Sarah explains that the benefits from a lesson are maximized only if they are practiced after the lesson. The commitment to improve extends well past the time spent with an instructor.

Getting the Most From Your Pickleball Lesson

This week I was teaching a pickleball lesson and I kept hearing over and over “I’ll never get that overhead smash because I don’t come from tennis”. I’m also told, “I don’t know how to hit groundstrokes because I never played tennis”. The list goes on and on. We all know a lot of the top players came from tennis. And yes it is an easier transition having experience with a racket in your hand. But if there is one thing I hate to hear is “I can’t”. The reality is anyone can! You just need a little instruction and the right kind of instruction. The great thing about pickleball is it’s such an easy sport to learn. And as we continue to play, our love for the game only grows.

One Thing at a Time

Part 3 of our series discussing a range of thoughts about pickleball clinics comes from Sarah Ansboury in an article titled Pickleball Clinics, Rights and Wrongs. When I give pickleball advice - both here and in clinics - I try to couch that advice with the qualifier that there is a generlly accepted technique and then there is the technique that works for you. In other words, the best way for most is not the best way for all. Sarah seems to agree with this article.

Pickleball Clinics, Rights and Wrongs

Have you ever come away from pickleball clinics confused? When I started playing pickleball, people told me all the things I was supposed to do. I held my paddle in ready position, as I do in tennis, and I was told that was wrong. I was told not to hit a backhand, “You want to run around it, and hit more forehands.”

Context Matters

This is the second of a short series of articles on teaching clinics and drills. This post will feature another article from Mark Renneson called Context-Based Coaching.

Context-Based Coaching

Have you ever taken a lesson (in pickleball or anything else), felt really good about your progress and then failed miserably when trying to apply your new skills in a game? This can be a frustrating and even demoralizing situation and very often it stems from a simple coaching mistake: the failure to contextualize the skills being learned.

How do you hit a good volley? That's a reasonable question that a pickleball or tennis player might ask. But before answering the question, the coach should ask one of her own: which volley are we talking about? Are we discussing volleying when the ball is driven hard right at you (e.g. when playing bangers)? Or are we talking about playing a volley when the ball is slow and high? What if it is a volley off an opponent's third shot drop or dink and is now below net level?

Teaching Pickleball

I have mentioned in past posts that I am in the process of becoming a certified instructor through the IPTPA. I have been researching clinic and drill teaching methods and have discovered that there are plenty of opinions out there. Over the next several days, I will share some of these thoughts in preparation for future drill days at Crosswalk as I discussed in Deep, Deep, Drop, Dink. We will start with some ideas from the instructor perspective and move toward ideas from the student perspective. The first comes from Mark Renneson in an article called Teaching Pickleball to Beginners: 6 Do’s and 5 Don’ts for the First 20 Minutes.

Teaching Pickleball to Beginners: 6 Do’s and 5 Don’ts for the First 20 Minutes

As community centres, athletic clubs and local schools look to jump on the pickleball bandwagon, more and more people are providing organized instruction for new players. Here’s a quick guide as to how you can spend the first 20 minutes in a way that is safe, fun and effective. 

North Carolina Pickleball Featured in Pickleball Magazine

Pickleball Magazine is the official magazine of the USAPA and the electronic version is free to USAPA members. The August issue did a feature story on the growth of pickleball in our home state. I thought you might be interested so it is shown below. Join the USAPA and you can see articles like this every other month for free.

2017 US Open to get MORE TV Coverage

Did you watch any of the CBS Sports coverage of the 2016 US Open? The network covered the men's final match in a 1-hour telecast shortly after the tournament ended. Well, CBS Sports just announced their coverage for the 2017 tournament:

WHAT'S NEW IN 2017? CBS Sports Network will expand it's coverage of the Minto US Open Pickleball Championships to two full hours! We are committed to re investing into the sport, by showcasing the best players in the world to a potential audience of over 50 million viewers! Produced by Digital Wave Productions.TV this exciting telecast will feature the finals of select Pro matches.

Offbeat Sunday: Pickleball Factory

From Coach Mo:

Pickleball Ball Machine & Factory Revealed!

A Matter of Feet

One of my axioms for both playing and teaching is "hit it hard when hitting down and hit it soft when hitting up". This is a simplification of many lessons studied and learned the hard way...on the courts. I'm thinking about an even simpler way of communicating that principle, but I'll explain it only after setting it up with an article from Jeff Napier called Aim For The Feet.

Aim For The Feet

As I was moving up from beginning to intermediate pickleball, I was told many times that with an offensive shot I should “aim for the shoes,” or “aim for the feet.” It’s good advice, but it took me a while to realize just how good it is.

When you can develop the habit of noticing where your opponent is standing, and try to put the ball right at your opponent’s feet, they can seldom return it well. Consider your opponent’s shoes a target. If you can smash the ball to their feet, it is an almost guaranteed win. But even dinks and backcourt shots that land at their feet are hard to return offensively.

Deep, Deep, Drop, Dink

"You have to pay your dues: Confidence comes from training. It comes from knowing that you have trained harder and longer than your opponent. It comes from drilling, and knowing that you can return a dink 20 or 30 times in a row. We trust because we have trained." - Sarah Ansboury

Yesterday's post, 1-2-3 Drill, described a drill from Sarah Ansboury intended to work on the first 3 shots of a rally - the serve, the return of serve, and the third shot. This drill can be adapted into a more fun exercise as described in my post from January called The 3D Game. The requires the serve and return of serve to land in a marked "deep zone" and the third shot to land in the kitchen. Failure to accomplish any of these objectives results in a fault.

I have been thinking about a 4-person drill extending the similar concepts of these 2 drill/games to include a fourth shot - the dink. Thus the name of this post Deep (serve), Deep (return of serve), Drop (into the kitchen), and Dink.

Before beginning the exercise, some preparation is required as described in the 3D Game. Use painter's tape to divide the service court in half from front to back on both sides of the court. The tape should be placed parallel to the baseline about 7 1/2 feet away. This tape represents the Deep zone in which both the serve and return of serve must land.

1-2-3 Drill

"The game is just an extension of practice." - Coach Mo

"If You Want to Get Better, Drill.  If You Don’t, Don’t." - Prem Carnot

In short, practice is important, even if it isn't fun. I have made that point in past articles - Drill, Baby, Drill and Practice Makes you Better. But I have neglected that aspect of skill development for quite a while, primarily because I've been focused on playing in tournaments. While skills can - and should - be fine-tuned for tournament play, major changes such as grip changes or introducing new skills such as drop volleys are not advisable. I firmly believe that such changes would temporarily hurt my overall game until they were mastered. Therefore, I wait for the tournament off-season to work on major changes.

My tournament season is now over for several months and I'm ready to work on problem areas. But I won't be in this effort alone. I will be developing some practice routines and drills for myself as well as for others, particularly those who play at Crosswalk. Those players are aware that the mission of Crosswalk is to provide an opportunity for competitive players to drill, play, and improve their game. That work will be fleshed out over the next several weeks. Today's post will focus on a drill that can also be used to identify problems in 3 fundamental aspects of pickleball. The drill comes from an article by Sarah Ansboury called 3 Ball Pickleball Drill: 1-2-3 Drill.

3 Ball Pickleball Drill: 1-2-3 Drill

In recent weeks we have reviewed the serve and the return of serve. Today we add the third shot, bringing it all together with the 3 ball or 1-2-3 drill.