This is the second in six part series where we are exploring the Quality Standards. This framework is used as part of Canada’s pickleball instructor certification course delivered collaboratively between Pickleball Canada and Tennis Canada. The concept of Quality Standards was developed by Wayne Elderton, one of Canada’s foremost coaching experts. I would argue that no matter what sport you teach — or even if you teach in a classroom setting — thinking about Quality Standards can be helpful. 

Definition of Active Participation: The proportion of time a player is engaged in meaningful activity.

What is it that makes a good pickleball lesson? Specifically, what qualities should be present during great group training?

In the six part series, we are going to introduce something called the Quality Standards. This framework is used as part of Canada’s instructor certification course delivered collaboratively between Pickleball Canada and Tennis Canada. It was developed by Wayne Elderton, one of Canada’s foremost coaching experts. I would argue that no matter what sport you teach — or even if you teach in a classroom setting — thinking about Quality Standards can be helpful. 

If you are like most people before you start playing a game, you hit some balls with your partner or opponents; probably a bunch of dinks, maybe a few volleys and smashes, some forehands and backhands from the back of the court, and possibly some drops and lobs.

But how deliberate is your warm-up, really? How focused are you during it? Again, if you're like most people, the answer is probably not very. You probably hit a few balls casually back and forth, maybe even while having a conversation. You are likely hitting a quality of ball that will hurt you in a game – too high, for example but don't think too much about it. Let's look at why the warm-up matters and what you can do to make it great.

Have you ever left a lesson feeling like a superstar, only to find yourself struggling to apply your new skills in a real game? It can be frustrating, demoralizing and even embarrassing. But fear not, because there might just be a simple yet crucial mistake lurking in your coaching experience: the lack of context. In this article, we delve into the importance of contextualizing skills in pickleball and explore how it can make all the difference in your game – and the game of your players.

Let’s face it, the sexy part of a pickleball shot is making contact with the ball; that fraction of a moment where the ball and the paddle come together to (hopefully) produce a magical result where the ball ends up exactly where it should. In all striking sports — games where players hit a ball with an implement like a racquet, stick, bat or paddle — announcers, camera operators and fans pay closest attention to the moment of contact and then what happens next (“Wow! Her ball landed just inside the line!”; “Look how great his drive was!”; “That ball had so much spin on it!”. It makes sense — contact and what happens next is the fun things to pay attention to!

If you want to play good pickleball it’s important that you know what is true. For example, it is useful to know that the distance your ball travels is related to the height, speed and spin you put on it. But it is also important to know about what’s not true — and pickleball sure has its fair share of myths. Let’s explore a few of them:

“Poacher!” That’s what someone – a spectator – yelled during a recent intermediate pickleball game I watched. It was meant not as an observation, but a reprimand of the man who crossed the centre of the court to put away an attempted dink that floated a little too high. With the tone she used, she might as well have yelled, “Ball hog!” (or something worse!. It was clear that this spectator viewed poaching as a kind of etiquette infraction, a pickleball sin that was both rude and obnoxious.  But is it?

Pickleball is a fast-paced, highly strategic game that requires a combination of finesse and power. However, many players, including coaches, make the mistake of focusing too much on dinking and third shot drops, ignoring the importance of other essential skills for beginners.

As a coach, I often see players fixated on these two shots, but they don't always realize that dinking and drops are advanced techniques that may not be useful for beginners who play with other beginners. Instead, players need to focus on mastering the fundamentals, such as serving and returning, which are crucial shots that new players hit every single point.

If you have watched any high-quality pickleball lately, there's a pretty good chance you've seen players hit backhands with two hands. And I'm not just talking about driving the ball from the baseline or hitting a return of serve. I'm talking about when players are at the net and hitting dinks.

Whether it fully deserves it or not, pickleball (for the most part) enjoys a reputation for being a welcoming sport. Stories abound of non-players showing up at local courts only to be met by a friendly crew of pickleheads with some extra paddles and nothing but enthusiasm. We hear of travellers welcomed with open arms when joining a drop-in session in a different city. And if you ever need a place to crash, just find a local pickleball club and doors will open.

This week marks International Women's Day, and it's a great opportunity to identify areas in pickleball where we need to continue to work to elevate women, as well as to acknowledge where good work has already been done.

In the pickleball clinics that I teach, I’d estimate 60% of the participants are women. Our newsletter, Inside Pickleball, has a roughly even distribution of men and women. However, on the coaching side of things, at Pickleball Coaching International we estimate that just 27% of our members are women.

When it comes down to it, pickleball is pretty simple: you want to put the ball in play once more than your opponents do. But executing on this is not so straightforward. Sending the ball with the right height, speed, spin, distance and direction, requires excellent control of the paddle. You have to get the vertical and horizontal angles just right, have the paddle moving at the perfect speed and make sure that the swing path is appropriate for the height and spin of the ball you are trying to send. That’s a lot to worry about!

Of all the pickleball lessons we give, one of the most sought after themes is being able to send balls with spin. People want their serves to be hit hard and high over the net, and then have topspin make it bite down into the court at the last second. They want their returns to have enough sidespin that they jump left or right as the opponent is preparing to hit a great third shot. They want their dinks to dip and their volleys to kick. In short, people are crazy about spin!

One thing that separates levels of player is their ability to finish the point when they have the chance. While it is great to work hard during a rally, the most satisfying moment is the payoff -- when you finish the point with a put-away. Here are some tips to help you be better at that.

The continental grip (CG) is dead — or at the very least, it’s on life-support. For years we have been advocating for the CG to be used in a range of different pickleball situations but most especially when up near the non-volley zone. But as pickleball has evolved, so has our perspective. This article is about why we are saying goodbye to the CG.

Have you ever wondered what it is that makes the good players so, well, good? We’ve compiled a quick little list to help you out.