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This Week Would Have Been the USA National Championships
Indian Wells Tennis Garden in California is home to the PNB Paribas Open tennis tournament and for the past two years has also been home to the USA Pickleball National Championships. USA Pickleball - formerly USAPA - signed a 4 year contract with the facility to host the National Championships on the PNB Paribas tournament grounds. 2020 and 2021 would have completed the 4 year contract.
I’ve been extremely fortunate to have attended the inaugural year in 2018 and last year’s event, and although it was cancelled for good reason this year, I’m so sad it’s not happening. This week I should have been there...
Double Checking Court Dimensions!
It’s pretty standard to come to a pickleball court with a measuring tape to ensure the height of the net is 34 inches in the middle and 36 inches on the sides, yea? Well, the other day some friends and I decided to check the measurements of one of our local pickleball courts. It might sound silly - or a waste of time - but we decided to do so because the court had just been resurfaced. Just to paint the picture in your mind, this park has three tennis courts and one pickleball court, all in rough shape. They resurfaced the area to accommodate three tennis courts with lines for pickleball on all three and...
Are You a Lobber?
The lob is a type of shot in pickleball. It’s a high, arching shot meant to displace your opponent from their position at the non-volley zone. Technically, it can be executed from anywhere on the court with the shot landing near your opponents baseline. Although, often criticized by the pickleball community, I have to say, my perception of the lob is that it can be effective at very specific times in a game. First of all, some folks use the lob shot while they’re standing at the baseline. This is the riskiest time to use it and least effective because it’s the longest distance you are trying to send the ball. If you’re playing...
The "Net Cord" Ball
Right now in our sport, there’s portable pickleball nets and permanent pickleball nets. The portable nets have a 1-inch white seam running the length of the net. Let's call that part of the net the "headband" of the net. The proper tension should create a tight band. Permanent nets have a thicker, wider band and the tension creates an even more firm headband. Obviously there are a few scenarios in a pickleball game when the ball might clip this part of the net but do you know what to do when it does, and if so, are you able to force yourself to react?
First of all, on the serve, the ball must land beyond the non-volley zone, but when a ball has...
Always Improve Your Game!
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the different ways to get a player rating, which had me thinking about how players are choosing to elevate their skill level. Because, whether you’re a player focused on increasing your rating or just interested in becoming a better rec player, everyone wants to improve and becoming stronger… am I right?
Practice and drilling make everything better. Repetitions of a shot will develop your ability to execute at a higher skill level during gameplay. It’s the same in tennis and other racquet sports and pickleball is no exception. The hardest part is finding a drilling partner. During rec play, I would recommend you...
How to Rate Your Skill Level
If you've recently picked up the game of pickleball and are starting to think about where your skills sit in comparison to your friends or maybe the top professional players, there are ways to rate how good you are!
In pickleball there are currently three ways to rate your skills:
- Self-rating
- Tournament rating
- Club rating
A player’s rating is a reflection of one’s skills. The scale starts at 1 and used to go up to 5, but it’s been adapted so that now there’s no limit (currently the top professional players have a rating of 6.0+). The scale goes up in 0.5 increments with 1.0 being a beginner or someone who's never played before, and 5.0+...
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