SE Regional Ambassador Retreat - Beginner Clinics (Part 2)

The mountains are calling and I must go...

Saturday's post kicked off the discussion of beginner clinics. It included a handout from Dick Osman's presentation at the SE Region ambassador retreat at the Beech Mountain Club. Dick had additional handouts with more details on the clinic content. These are shown below.

Outline for Beginners Clinic

1. Introduction

• Introduce Instructors
• What is Pickleball?
• Invented in 1965 in Washington State
• A combination of tennis, badminton, ping pong, paddle tennis, paddleball
• A game which is easy to learn, FUN, ADDICTIVE, and CONTAGIOUS
• By the end of this clinic, you will be a pickleball player!

2. Safety and Movement

• Proper footwear: court shoes or cross-trainers
• Hydration and sun protection; eye protection is recommended
• The Ready Position: wider base = low COG = better stability and balance
• Warm up by practicing safe movement on the court:
• Lateral movement: space out on the court in several rows, practice moving side to side shuffling, not crossing, feet
• Moving forward: demo moving forward with split step to stop; line up at baseline, 4-6 feet wide, practice a couple times
• Moving back: demo with drop step, line up 4-6 feet wide at NVZ line, practice a couple times on both sides
• “Ball” – stop play immediately and play a let

3. Hitting the Ball

• Continental grip
• Three-quarter swing
• Control, not power
• Watch the ball hit your paddle
• Feet first – move to the ball

4. Groundstrokes

• Demo hitting forehand and backhand
• Drop step; watch the ball, not too much backswing or follow-through
• Practice in pairs, taking turns throwing the ball

5. Dinks & Volleys*** (Placement may vary)

• Demo dinking
• Line up in pairs across net, practice dinking
• Demo volleys
• Line up in pairs across net, practice “playing catch”
• Note: Don’t talk much about strategy at this point

6. The Court

• Show lines (back, side, center, NVZ): note NVZ line but explain NVZ later
• Call lines on your side of the net; “On is In”; benefit of the doubt to your opponents

7. The Serve

• Explain the elements of a legal serve: no bounce, underhand…upward motion, below the navel, paddle head below wrist
• Serving area: behind baseline, between centerline and sideline; foot faults
• Serve is diagonal; explain service court boundaries (side, center, NVZ)
• Demo serve
• Line up and hit 5 serves each, receiver catching ball

8. Return of Serve

• Explain Two-bounce Rule
• Return is a groundstroke (already covered)

9. Non-Volley Zone

• The area of the court bounded by the net, the non-volley zone line, and the two sidelines; 2 dimensional, does not include the space above it
• Can’t volley the ball while standing in the NV Zone or on the NVZ line
• To “volley” is to hit the ball before it bounces; includes the swing, the follow-through, and the momentum from the action. Your momentum cannot carry you into the NVZ, even if the ball is already dead
• If the ball bounces in the NVZ, you may step into the NVZ to return it
• You may enter the NVZ at any time, you just cannot volley the ball there

10. Positioning and Scoring – put 4 people on the court as “Chess Pieces” (hold the ball)

• Position Server and Server’s Partner, Receiver and Receiver’s Partner
• Explain:
• Serve always start from the right service court
• Server must call the score before beginning their service motion…3 numbers: your score, opponents’ score, server number (1 or 2)
• Server must make sure the Receiver is ready (they should turn their back or hold up paddle to signify not ready)
• Must be serving to score a point (no rally scoring)
• Mock Serve, Return, Two-Bounce Rule, Point
• Move players (chess pieces)
• Explain: Serving team players switch sides when they score a point; receiving team players stay in their positions
• Repeat through several points, and side outs; have server call score each time
• Explain: Both players on each team serve on each possession, EXCEPT for the first possession; score starts 0-0-2
• Games to 11, win by 2

11. Put It All Together: Start playing a game with 4 players on the court, frequent substitutions, coaching each point