These 25 pickleball tips for beginners will enable you to make tangible progress and allow you to continue to enjoy the game as you get better!
- Always stretch before your first match.
- When in between games, keep loose by stretching or jumping rope.
- Wear proper shoes to eliminate injuries.
- Hit your serve deep.
- No need for fancy serves. No spin, no gimmicks. Just placement.
- Faulting on serves is a controllable mistake. Simple, deep serves eliminate unnecessary errors.
- Don't attempt to skim your serve over the net. Accurate and consistent serves are best, even if they arc high.
- When returning a serve, hit it deep back to the server.
- Hit to your opponent's backhand whenever possible.
- Set yourself up for a forehand shot as often as possible.
- Play it safe, consistency leads to unforced errors by the other team.
- When volleying gets frantic, just keep the point alive.
- Hit to open areas or gaps between your opponents.
- Get to the net as fast as possible.
- Keep your opponents away from the kitchen for as long as possible.
- When running forward to smash, keep your momentum from carrying you into the kitchen. Perfect the jump stop.
- Don't be fooled into playing with power. At it's core, Pickleball is a finesse game.
- When hitting a shot from low to high, hit soft.
- When hitting a shot from high to low, hit hard.
- Always stand in the “ready position” - knees slightly bent, feet shoulder width apart and paddle in between your knees.
- When hitting with power (smashing), aim for the opponents feet or an open area of the court.
- As a beginner, don't lob. It's a high risk - low reward shot.
- Instead of a lob shot, try soft shots that arc the highest on your side of the net and land softly in the kitchen.
- Use the kitchen as a third teammate. Balls MUST land in the kitchen before your opponent can approach the net, which can effectively slow your opponent down, and keep them from overpowering you.
- Landing drop shots in the kitchen can dictate the pace of the match. The more balls you land in the kitchen, the more you control the match.