I think another big mistake is when players do not get back to their paddle ready position fast enough. And then they get jammed up during a speed up or fire fight.
All good. #1 to me is rushing the serve by announcing score during the serve (instead try to announce, look at opponent for feedback, setup, serve). Missing your serve wrecks games. #2 is not split stepping early (momentum should be zero during opponent contact). #3 is driving very low, midcourt returns that should be drops (its going into the net or out). I would argue that lobs are completely unnecessary until you reach 4+.
Out of all the vids on YT, this channel is by far the best for all levels, but especially beginners. Clear and easy to understand information and tips. thanks so much
1,000% agree with #7. I teach a pickleball conditioning class for seniors in the South Bay and we drill on ready position, split step stance, side steps, and lunges. Proper footwork and positioning not only wins more points, but helps us be safer.
I’m new to pickle ball and I have to say that the production value of these videos is so top notch! Thanks for making such clear and easy to understand tutorials!
Thanks for a great teaching video. The LOB...interesting. I was playing in a 4.0-4.5 round robin match today with somebody I don't play with often. She is more like a 3.9. I threw up a 3rd shot lob (which I'm pretty good at) to my opponent. He had an excellent overhead. Many times I will do that with lower level players because they don't have a particularly great overhead. I also want to test my 4.0+ opponents to see how they handle lobs. However, my partner said, "Never do a third shot lob." I don't agree with that and if I know my opponents are tall men or players who have great overheads, naturally, I won't do lobs. She wanted to argue with me which wasn't a way to have a good partner relationship, so I chose not to engage further. Through the years, opinions on lobs have changed considerably. It used to be only lower level players lob. Now it's a shot that can be very effective at the kitchen as you mentioned or at the baseline, especially if you are out of position. I'd love your opinions on a third shot lob. Thanks again!
Two more big mistakes: 1) I mentioned to is above, but not getting your paddle bag to the proper ready position. Then you get easily jammed up during a speed up or fast hands exchange. 2) hitting balls that are flying around out too often. At typical rec levels, this is probably worth 2-3 points alone. 3) trying too many tricky spin shots. I see people trying so hard to add spin that they sacrifice control and accuracy. Save the spin for when you’re accurate enough.
Great vid for improving. Reminded my to "drill" lobs. My weakest shot. Good luck with your paddle launch. Heard the submission prices for approval just went up. Looking into using the "HESACORE" to help me with grip "changing" for different shots.
Been playing one year recreationally. Use Selkirk Halo paddle (described as “intermediate “). Got this SweetSpot, but says it’s for beginners. Would you say it’s a good upgrade to the Selkirk Halo???
Just got this paddle in today and man the thing looks great! My Selkirk Luxx just has no put away power, hoping the sweet spot pro keeps a lot of that control but offers a little more power.
I have roughly five different serves, plus some variation in pace. Not very often I do a high soft lob serve to the back foot of the court. A player with a strong drive can feast on the high bounce, but it's hard to get the timing right if you haven't played one of these for five or ten minutes. Because the technique is identical to my dink, my precision getting the ball deep is excellent. Even with a confident drive, it's hard to walk into this ball during the swing (the apex of the bounce is well behind the baseline), so it doesn't feed into running up court on the follow through, either. The whole package is disruptive to the cohesion of the other side, if not used too often. For my main variants, I have two different levels of motion. I have one level of motion where my feet don't move very much, and another level of motion where I take a pretty big stomp forward. For both of these motions, I have a fixed-wrist version and a flexible-wrist version. For the flexible wrist version, my contact point is a flat paddle brushing the top of the ball, and whipping through involuntarily as the ball rolls down my paddle face. I say involuntarily, because my wrist is already at maximum bend when it contacts the ball. It has nowhere else to go other than to begin the whip motion. The timing requirement for this serve is difficult, so I don't use it much for the first half-hour of any play session, or at least nowhere near full mash. The flexible-wrist serve with the small motion sends the ball to about the same place as my fixed-wrist serve with my big motion. But one ball is flat and the other ball is heavy. This ambiguity creates worry on the part of the opponent. If they prefer to hit the return flat, they make their return less flat. If they prefer to return high and deep, they make their return less deep. In both cases this increases their margin of error, but it also gives you a leg up on your 3rd shot. I also swing a little bit faster and slower so the depth is not totally consistent. The only combination of all this that qualifies as a heavy serve is the big stomp with the flexible wrist and the fast swing. If I pick a deep corner, I can push that serve right past some decent players from time to time. I must say, though, that at the level I'm now playing, centered around 3.75, I get a lot of easy miles out of my serve's variability. It's never a totally different swing (other than the lob) which announces itself on a PA system. The fixed-wrist serve has its uses, but it should not be your bread and butter.
Mistake #9. You do not follow the ball with your eyes. Your face follows the ball. That includes when you hit it. Every second of the game, your face is following the ball. Let's you read the player's paddle, how they are hitting it, how hard it was hit and if there was slice applied. And whether you or your partner hits it, you will always have the ball visible and how you should react. What is good is that if a ball is popped up, most people are gonna pound it where their opponents are. If you scoot back, they are still going to do it, but now you can do two things. One, hit it back comfortably. Two, step behind your teammate quickly enough to return something that they may have no chance of touching. The key though is to always track with your face and not your eyes alone.
Wrong. People wanna enjoy their lollypop volleys and not hop around like they have ants in their shoes. Split steps are for show offs. It's all about conserving energy and looking chill and relaxed. Specially teenagers lol.. Kidding!!. Great video!!. All great points. It confirms how much tennis skills transfer to pickleball which is visible looking at the pros. I'll probably share it with the next person who wants some advise. But not with those who need it but don't want it.
Mistake #11 (and this is for most likely rec play): When you see your partner may hit a speed-up ball that would normally go out, don't yell "IT'S OUT!!!" or "LET IT GO!!!" because everyone's brain is wired to hit the ball. Letting it fly by requires a split-second more time to process and move your paddle away from the ball; that person is going to hit the ball. You yelling LET IT GO!!! only serves to 1) make them still hit the ball but likely fumble it, causing an easy point for the opposing team; and 2) you, the screamer, ends up taking time to react to your partner hitting the ball when you didn't want them to, staring at them all mad....and lose your attention on the ball; and 3) your yelling just unnerves your partner and they mess up their game as well. Just shut up please. By the time you yell "let it go!!!" it's too late. Get over that urge. Not everyone has a quick mind that can process letting a fast ball go out when they're hard-wired to be ready to hit the ball. When it's a lob, or there's time to process, MAYBE give it a yell. But geez, get over it. People tend to hit fast balls that would ordinarily go out. Quit the yelling and stay in the game. Oh, P.S.: GREAT advice, excellent video!!!
I disagree. Do people sometimes not process quick enough? Sure, but I’d much rather my partner had my back and told me to let a shot go then to sit by silently. I’ve been saved many a time by a partner giving me a heads up. And if I happen to blow it and hit it anyway, so be it. We’ll get through it as a team.
@@dmills7375 It is probably person and situation specific, but I think the point they are trying to make is that there can be a downside. If the yell comes late (and for fast balls it often will be), it can add more cognitive load for the person tracking the ball and may cause distraction more than it helps. Communication is usually good, but has to be evaluated to determine if it is actually helpful.
One word- "No"...or better yet, "out"..is easy to process and should be communicated ASAP whenever the ball is flying out. You may be unable to react, but good partners / partnerships rely on each other and communication is fundamental for success.
Sometimes I'm not able to keep track of the ball from the angle especially if it's being sped up at me. I appreciate my partner calling out if they can see the angle better from where they're standing. OUT is all they have to say. I do the same for my partner especially if they're in the heat of it and don't realize where their feet are because the hands battle has pulled them wide or pushed them back etc
Here's my issue: the person yelling "Let it GO!!!" ends up unprepared for the opponent's shot occurring after said screamer's partner hits the fast incoming ball, because they're distracted by their partner hitting the ball. Point will almost always be lost. Again, this is when there's a speed-up, the ball is racing to the screamer's partner who often doesn't have the time to process "oh thanks partner, this is going out, move aside". Screaming partner always screams a split-second too late, partner hits the ball anyway, screamer gets discombobulated because partner hit an out ball, and can't get their head back in the game for the fast shot coming back because they're flustered because partner hit the ball. Just let it go, screamer....It's different when the ball is a lob, when there's time to process, etc etc. Yes, a scream may help WHEN THERE IS TIME FOR PARTNER TO PROCESS AND STOP. But I've seen this over and over when the screamer/out-ball-hitter partners lose the point after because the vibe was shaken due to the screaming partner, usually due to the screaming partner. Really want to get screamed at when the ball is coming WAY too fast to change your game? Ugh!
No, you don't continue to look at where you hit the ball after you hit it. You do not have time to do this. As soon as the ball leaves the paddle, one must look to see where it is going. Reaction times are fast. You must see here the ball is going, how the opponents are moving, and what shot the opponent is preparing to make.
This is a tennis technique, obviously pb is mini tennis. A good forehand MUST use all tennis techniques (footwork, coil/uncoil, lag…), the style he’s showing is like Roger Fed’s technique. This doesn’t take a second, we’re talking about a mere nano second…
Argue with me in the comments if you don't agree with anything that I said👇I'll respond to everyone,
The #1 mistake new players make is NOT SUBSCRIBING TO ENHANCE PICKLEBALL
@@brenguy333 I love it
I think another big mistake is when players do not get back to their paddle ready position fast enough.
And then they get jammed up during a speed up or fire fight.
All good. #1 to me is rushing the serve by announcing score during the serve (instead try to announce, look at opponent for feedback, setup, serve). Missing your serve wrecks games. #2 is not split stepping early (momentum should be zero during opponent contact). #3 is driving very low, midcourt returns that should be drops (its going into the net or out). I would argue that lobs are completely unnecessary until you reach 4+.
@@CareyFanthat’s extremely true happens to us all
Out of all the vids on YT, this channel is by far the best for all levels, but especially beginners. Clear and easy to understand information and tips. thanks so much
1,000% agree with #7. I teach a pickleball conditioning class for seniors in the South Bay and we drill on ready position, split step stance, side steps, and lunges. Proper footwork and positioning not only wins more points, but helps us be safer.
What about playing with walkers. Any tips on that?
Where in South Bay do you teach? Curious if I could join. I'm 58 yrs old
I’m new to pickle ball and I have to say that the production value of these videos is so top notch! Thanks for making such clear and easy to understand tutorials!
I’m glad you’re enjoying them! Hope they help you out!
Dude. Such good advice. Especially the head movement!
lets go! glad you like the vid
Just like golf. Keep your head down.
@@EnhancePickleball What is your competition experience and rating?
Awesome information especially for those of us who teaches Fitness and more and more people wanting to learnt this game. 🙏🏼
I’m glad you found it helpful!
I like Kenadi's grin at the end of the video of you explaining how to hit volleys & resets. She had just zipped one past you. 😂
Thanks for a great teaching video. The LOB...interesting. I was playing in a 4.0-4.5 round robin match today with somebody I don't play with often. She is more like a 3.9. I threw up a 3rd shot lob (which I'm pretty good at) to my opponent. He had an excellent overhead. Many times I will do that with lower level players because they don't have a particularly great overhead. I also want to test my 4.0+ opponents to see how they handle lobs. However, my partner said, "Never do a third shot lob." I don't agree with that and if I know my opponents are tall men or players who have great overheads, naturally, I won't do lobs. She wanted to argue with me which wasn't a way to have a good partner relationship, so I chose not to engage further. Through the years, opinions on lobs have changed considerably. It used to be only lower level players lob. Now it's a shot that can be very effective at the kitchen as you mentioned or at the baseline, especially if you are out of position. I'd love your opinions on a third shot lob. Thanks again!
Two more big mistakes:
1) I mentioned to is above, but not getting your paddle bag to the proper ready position. Then you get easily jammed up during a speed up or fast hands exchange.
2) hitting balls that are flying around out too often. At typical rec levels, this is probably worth 2-3 points alone.
3) trying too many tricky spin shots. I see people trying so hard to add spin that they sacrifice control and accuracy. Save the spin for when you’re accurate enough.
Thank you for all your tips. I have enjoyed watching them. I am looking to upgrade my paddle.
Great vid for improving. Reminded my to "drill" lobs. My weakest shot. Good luck with your paddle launch. Heard the submission prices for approval just went up.
Looking into using the "HESACORE" to help me with grip "changing" for different shots.
Great advice about foot work. Is there any way to defend against a player that is constantly aiming shots at your feet?
You have to work on your resets (keeping them low and dropping them in kitchen) and getting to the kitchen quicker using good drops.
@@EnhancePickleball Thank you Connor
Been playing one year recreationally. Use Selkirk Halo paddle (described as “intermediate “). Got this SweetSpot, but says it’s for beginners. Would you say it’s a good upgrade to the Selkirk Halo???
The sweetspot and halo are really similar and use the same technology. Would not be an upgrade or downgrade from one to the other
Just got this paddle in today and man the thing looks great! My Selkirk Luxx just has no put away power, hoping the sweet spot pro keeps a lot of that control but offers a little more power.
Awesome super happy you got it and confident you’ll love it
The mine and stay thing is good!
great points..
Great video good sir 👍
Great video! I like the serve tip/keep a loose wrist. Makes a huge difference. I also think your paddle weights are excellent!
Thanks for tuning in 🏆
I disagree with the “yours”. Only call a ball you want. “Yours” creates confusion.
Communication #5: Switch!
6:50 "It's" means "it is". The possessive of "it" is "its", no apostrophe. C'mon Caiden!
Split step 0:36 0:38
What do you think of new power gearbox?
It's def powerful haha. We also have a power paddle coming out soon, stay tuned,
I have roughly five different serves, plus some variation in pace.
Not very often I do a high soft lob serve to the back foot of the court. A player with a strong drive can feast on the high bounce, but it's hard to get the timing right if you haven't played one of these for five or ten minutes. Because the technique is identical to my dink, my precision getting the ball deep is excellent. Even with a confident drive, it's hard to walk into this ball during the swing (the apex of the bounce is well behind the baseline), so it doesn't feed into running up court on the follow through, either. The whole package is disruptive to the cohesion of the other side, if not used too often.
For my main variants, I have two different levels of motion. I have one level of motion where my feet don't move very much, and another level of motion where I take a pretty big stomp forward.
For both of these motions, I have a fixed-wrist version and a flexible-wrist version.
For the flexible wrist version, my contact point is a flat paddle brushing the top of the ball, and whipping through involuntarily as the ball rolls down my paddle face. I say involuntarily, because my wrist is already at maximum bend when it contacts the ball. It has nowhere else to go other than to begin the whip motion. The timing requirement for this serve is difficult, so I don't use it much for the first half-hour of any play session, or at least nowhere near full mash.
The flexible-wrist serve with the small motion sends the ball to about the same place as my fixed-wrist serve with my big motion. But one ball is flat and the other ball is heavy. This ambiguity creates worry on the part of the opponent. If they prefer to hit the return flat, they make their return less flat. If they prefer to return high and deep, they make their return less deep. In both cases this increases their margin of error, but it also gives you a leg up on your 3rd shot.
I also swing a little bit faster and slower so the depth is not totally consistent.
The only combination of all this that qualifies as a heavy serve is the big stomp with the flexible wrist and the fast swing. If I pick a deep corner, I can push that serve right past some decent players from time to time.
I must say, though, that at the level I'm now playing, centered around 3.75, I get a lot of easy miles out of my serve's variability. It's never a totally different swing (other than the lob) which announces itself on a PA system.
The fixed-wrist serve has its uses, but it should not be your bread and butter.
Before the game starts communicate with partner to establish whoever has forehand gets the middle shots!! Forehand has middle ....easy peasy
I assume weights go on both side the paddle to balance it out???
Yes
Tried using your links to order a paddle and get an error message "cannot be shipped to South Carolina" !!??
That shouldn’t be happening. Please email me what is in your cart, what is happening and a screenshot: info@enhancepickleball.com
Mistake #9. You do not follow the ball with your eyes. Your face follows the ball. That includes when you hit it.
Every second of the game, your face is following the ball. Let's you read the player's paddle, how they are hitting it, how hard it was hit and if there was slice applied. And whether you or your partner hits it, you will always have the ball visible and how you should react.
What is good is that if a ball is popped up, most people are gonna pound it where their opponents are. If you scoot back, they are still going to do it, but now you can do two things. One, hit it back comfortably. Two, step behind your teammate quickly enough to return something that they may have no chance of touching.
The key though is to always track with your face and not your eyes alone.
Split step
“You don’t have want to be high like a school bus” … excuse me? 😅
Wondering if that is smog or a rainstorm coming in ...
How about communicating with your partner, telling them to ‘Let it Go’ when the ball goes over their head and it is going out of bounds.
He almost missed the ez drive ❤
"sit!"
Yours mine! Kaboom
Don't try to lob over someone 6' 5" tall. It just doesn't work.
It gets on my nerves when my partner says “yours” when it’s obvious that it’s my shot. 😜
😁😁
Good indicia but Slow down your speech. You talk too fast.
just slow down the speed of the video for .75 or .5 ;)
👀 🎂 🎂 🍰
She is stellar but I can't hear a word your saying. lol.
Wrong. People wanna enjoy their lollypop volleys and not hop around like they have ants in their shoes. Split steps are for show offs. It's all about conserving energy and looking chill and relaxed. Specially teenagers lol.. Kidding!!. Great video!!. All great points. It confirms how much tennis skills transfer to pickleball which is visible looking at the pros. I'll probably share it with the next person who wants some advise. But not with those who need it but don't want it.
Mistake #11 (and this is for most likely rec play): When you see your partner may hit a speed-up ball that would normally go out, don't yell "IT'S OUT!!!" or "LET IT GO!!!" because everyone's brain is wired to hit the ball. Letting it fly by requires a split-second more time to process and move your paddle away from the ball; that person is going to hit the ball. You yelling LET IT GO!!! only serves to 1) make them still hit the ball but likely fumble it, causing an easy point for the opposing team; and 2) you, the screamer, ends up taking time to react to your partner hitting the ball when you didn't want them to, staring at them all mad....and lose your attention on the ball; and 3) your yelling just unnerves your partner and they mess up their game as well. Just shut up please. By the time you yell "let it go!!!" it's too late. Get over that urge. Not everyone has a quick mind that can process letting a fast ball go out when they're hard-wired to be ready to hit the ball. When it's a lob, or there's time to process, MAYBE give it a yell. But geez, get over it. People tend to hit fast balls that would ordinarily go out. Quit the yelling and stay in the game. Oh, P.S.: GREAT advice, excellent video!!!
I disagree. Do people sometimes not process quick enough? Sure, but I’d much rather my partner had my back and told me to let a shot go then to sit by silently.
I’ve been saved many a time by a partner giving me a heads up. And if I happen to blow it and hit it anyway, so be it. We’ll get through it as a team.
@@dmills7375 It is probably person and situation specific, but I think the point they are trying to make is that there can be a downside. If the yell comes late (and for fast balls it often will be), it can add more cognitive load for the person tracking the ball and may cause distraction more than it helps.
Communication is usually good, but has to be evaluated to determine if it is actually helpful.
One word- "No"...or better yet, "out"..is easy to process and should be communicated ASAP whenever the ball is flying out. You may be unable to react, but good partners / partnerships rely on each other and communication is fundamental for success.
Sometimes I'm not able to keep track of the ball from the angle especially if it's being sped up at me. I appreciate my partner calling out if they can see the angle better from where they're standing. OUT is all they have to say. I do the same for my partner especially if they're in the heat of it and don't realize where their feet are because the hands battle has pulled them wide or pushed them back etc
Here's my issue: the person yelling "Let it GO!!!" ends up unprepared for the opponent's shot occurring after said screamer's partner hits the fast incoming ball, because they're distracted by their partner hitting the ball. Point will almost always be lost. Again, this is when there's a speed-up, the ball is racing to the screamer's partner who often doesn't have the time to process "oh thanks partner, this is going out, move aside". Screaming partner always screams a split-second too late, partner hits the ball anyway, screamer gets discombobulated because partner hit an out ball, and can't get their head back in the game for the fast shot coming back because they're flustered because partner hit the ball. Just let it go, screamer....It's different when the ball is a lob, when there's time to process, etc etc. Yes, a scream may help WHEN THERE IS TIME FOR PARTNER TO PROCESS AND STOP. But I've seen this over and over when the screamer/out-ball-hitter partners lose the point after because the vibe was shaken due to the screaming partner, usually due to the screaming partner. Really want to get screamed at when the ball is coming WAY too fast to change your game? Ugh!
Good training or instruction does not try to teach 10 things. You should teach two or three at most.
Agree for an in person lesson. Good thing is you can rewatch this.
@@EnhancePickleballhomie talking like he can’t pause lol
No, you don't continue to look at where you hit the ball after you hit it. You do not have time to do this. As soon as the ball leaves the paddle, one must look to see where it is going. Reaction times are fast. You must see here the ball is going, how the opponents are moving, and what shot the opponent is preparing to make.
This is a tennis technique, obviously pb is mini tennis. A good forehand MUST use all tennis techniques (footwork, coil/uncoil, lag…), the style he’s showing is like Roger Fed’s technique. This doesn’t take a second, we’re talking about a mere nano second…
Roger Federer