Pickleball Tip of Week #24

Hey All,

This weeks tip is moving from baseline to NVZ after 3rd shot.

Deciding how to move up depends alot on your partners abilities. If i get stuck with a banger as my partner and he/she is going to hit the third shot, i dont even consider moving up to the NVZ as he bangs the third shot from the baseline.  Against great opponents, any movement up to the net now is a death wish. Great players will redirect my partners bang back at our feet if we are closer than the baseline. And the other downfall of banging the third shot from the baseline is that now , since we cant immediately come up to the net, we are susceptible to our opponents hitting a drop shot with us both back. Now staying back with a banger hitting the third shot does NOT apply if the banger is banging the third shot from "No mans land". He is close enough  now, that he may be able to overpower our opponents who are standing at the net. 

If i am lucky enough to be partnered with a great touch player who usually hits the third shot nicely into the opponents NVZ, i move up fairly quickly as my partner hits her third shot with the confidence that it wont get us killed.

If i play with a on again off again partner who sometimes hits a good third shot into the kitchen and sometimes gets it too high, i now have to think more. ( This is the application that requires the most decisions ). As i see the SERVE RETURN coming to my partner who is standing at the baseline ready to hit the third shot, i take about two steps into the court while i am watching closely how well my partner hits the third shot. If she hits a nice one that will drop into the kitchen i scoot QUICKLY up to the net. If my partner hits the ball too high which will allow our opponents to crack it back at our feet, i immediately recognize this and STOP ( about four or five feet into the court ) and split step and default to my backhand and get ready to a speedster coming my way.

Remember as you get more advanced and practice more and more the touch game, you are always looking for a ball that is smashed at you that you while you are stuck at the baseline that can still be hit softly back into the kitchen with no pace. This is the shot that takes you from a disadvantage situation (the baseline ) to a neutral one ( at the NVZ). .

So again............In a perfect world, this is how it should work. I see the serve return coming to my partner who is going to hit a nice soft shot into the kitchen. As soon as i see she hits a good one, i scoot up QUICKLY to the NVZ and she comes up quickly also , following her shot up.

jeff shank

Pickleball Tip of Week 23

Alright Gang,

This weeks tip is a little about the drop shot when your opponents are back at the baseline.

There are some players that actually like to stay back at the baseline and just keep lobbing the ball high to two opponents standing at the NVZ. NOT a great strategy. A good way to make them pay for this poor strategy is the soft drop shot into the kitchen instead of continuously hitting hard shots back.

The lobbers usually can handle your decent smashes straight back at them. And if that is all you are going to do, you could loose the point. So you have to NOT be predictable. If you never hit anything different back at them, they KNOW each time you smash it back at them, and they can get ready  for it.

Hence comes the soft drop shot. WAIT until you have a shot that you can take LOW. While standing right up to the NVZ with a short lob coming your way, you MUST wait for one that is fairly low. You want to disguise the shot by taking your normal backswing you have been using while smashing the balls back at their feet. However this time, at the last minute do your forward swing slow and drop the ball soft into the kitchen. Preferable on the side of the SLOWER opponent. They now have to bust butt to get up and get the ball. Even if they do get it back it will usually either be a pop up you can put away, or it will go deep out.

The shot you are going to do this on MUST be one you can hit with control when the ball is at shoulder height or lower. If you try and do this drop shot reaching way up in the air you wont have as much control and since you are taking the ball up high, it takes longer for this ball to travel down to the ground and gives your opponents extra time to get to it.

I generally try and put some backspin on this shot if possible as with backspin the ball will "DIE" on your opponents court and it will make it even more difficult for them to return it.

Even if you miss the shot, you are putting your opponents on notice that you have this shot in your arsenal and they have to be on guard for it. They can no longer just hang back at the baseline hitting lob after lob.

jeff shank

Pickleball Tip of Week #22

I got this article from Stu, one of our club members.

1. TRAIN HARD: Train hard now to get in phenomenal physical shape before competing 

during the hot summer months. Physically fit athletes handle the hot and humid 

conditions better because they are able to consume and utilize more oxygen per 

breath. Their ability to handle mild increases in core temperature gives them a 

distinct on-court advantage over opponents who are not in the same physical shape.

 

2. HYDRATE - Drinking high volumes of carbohydrate & electrolyte-enhanced fluids will 

prepare the athlete and help limit the severe loss of fluids and electrolytes during 

play. Since tennis players can lose between one-fourth of a gallon and three-fourths 

gallon per hour it is important to make sure they do not go onto the court already 

dehydrated. As much as 50 percent of tournament players go into matches already 

dehydrated. We as coaches need to educate our players on the importance of 

hydrating not only during the match, but also the night before and the morning of 

the match. For every 1 percent of body weight that is lost due to sweating, the 

athlete's heart rate rises approximately five to 10 beats per minute. This means that 

the athlete's body will need to work much harder to produce the same result. It is 

important to remember that the fluids consumed need to have appropriate levels of 

electrolytes, specifically sodium, so as not to dilute the electrolyte levels in the body 

(hyponatremia, see tip 3).

 

3. SODIUM - Consume high-sodium food and drink. Sodium is the major electrolyte lost 

in the sweat, and it is directly related to an athlete's likelihood of cramping. An easy 

way to tell if your players are "salty sweaters" is whether a white residue is left on 

dark-colored clothing or hats. This white residue is salt deposits released from the 

sweat. The higher the athlete's salt concentration in the sweat, the more this white 

residue will show up on their apparel during and after a long match or practice 

session in hot and humid conditions. Another important reason to consume enough 

sodium in the diet and fluids is that athletes who consume large amounts of plain 

water without enough sodium may experience a condition known as hyponatremia, 

or "water intoxication." Diluting the body's sodium stores can have potentially life threatening consequences.

Make sure that rehydration is performed with sodium enriched fluids. However, if the athlete has a medical condition that affects the 

kidneys, heart or blood pressure, it is important to speak to a physician prior to 

increasing the sodium in the diet.

 

4. BALANCED DIET - A balanced diet is important for all athletes from a general 

performance standpoint and especially in regard to heat-related issues. A balanced 

diet with the needed carbohydrates, fats and protein, as well as the required 

vitamins and minerals, ensures that the tennis player is not deficient in any one 

area. It may also be beneficial for athletes to have their blood work analyzed once or 

twice per year to make sure they are consuming appropriate nutrients (especially 

vitamins and minerals).

 

5. COOLING - Use ice and other cooling mechanisms to keep the core body 

temperature cool before, during and after practice and competition. Individuals who 

go into hot and humid environments with lower core body temperatures to start with 

have been shown to perform better than when they go into situations with slightly 

higher core temperatures. This process of pre-cooling has shown positive results and 

is something that can be accomplished by tennis players before they go onto the 

court for matches during the hot and humid summer months. Vests are available 

that can store ice for a long period of time and cover the core of the body to help 

lower body temperature. If pre-cooling techniques are used before practice or 

competition, it is advised not to put ice directly on the joints or limbs (arms and 

legs), but instead focus on the core of the body to help reduce core body 

temperature.

 

6. CARBOHYDRATES - Maintain blood glucose (sugar) levels throughout a 

match/practice. If an athlete does not consume enough carbohydrates before and 

during the match, energy that can be used for the working muscles is reduced, and 

this will result in the body using other processes to generate fuel for the working 

muscles. These other processes are not as efficient and require more steps to 

produce usable energy for the body. These extra steps require the body to work 

harder, resulting in greater core temperatures.

 

7. WEAR SUNSCREEN! Sunburn increases skin temperature and makes the body less 

efficient at body cooling. Most of us have been sunburned and had the feeling of heat 

dissipating from the skin. This process limits the amount of heat that will be moved 

from the core to the periphery (skin) and limits the ability to cool as efficiently as 

possible.

REFERENCES

1. Falk B. Effects of thermal stress during rest and exercise in the paediatric population. 

Sport Med. 1998;25:221-240.

2. Moran DS. Potential applications of heat and cold stress indices to sporting events. 

Sport Med. 2001;31:909-917.

Mark Kovacs, PhD, FACSM, CTPS, CSCS

Dr. Kovacs is a former All-American and NCAA tennis champion. His background involves

directing the sport science division for the USTA and is a founding member of the 

International Tennis Performance Association (www.itpa-tennis.org) which is the leading

organization in tennis fitness, performance education and certification. He is also an author 

of five books including Dynamic Stretching, Tennis Anatomy and Tennis Training: Enhancing 

On-Court Performance and is currently the Director of the Gatorade Sport Science Institute. 

Follow Mark on twitter @mkovacsphd

Pickleball Tip of Week #21

Ok guys,

We have another video this week to watch. It is myself ( in yellow ) partnered with Brian Staub ( who took fourth place in 2012 Nationals Mens Open Division when he partnered with Phil Bagley). We are playing against the team of Rob ( in the hat ) and Matt Staub ( Brians son ). Rob and Matt are practicing for this years Nationals.

There are a couple of things i want you to notice. First off I am the weakest player amongst the four. I am a weak 5.0, Matt and Rob are good 5.0 and Brian is a top 5.0. Being the weakest player on the court , partnered with the strongest player, my role is just to keep the ball low and in play. My opponents are VERY HIGHLY skilled. It is not good odds for me to hit winners against them unless i have a very high ball. So i just try and keep the ball low and in play and let my much better partner go for the winners. This good strategy is not what i see locally in open play. When intermediate players come to play against advanced players, the intermediate players seem to want to "proof" themselves by going for a lot of winners. Not a good strategy when you are hitting against much better opponents.

What you will see is the soft game that i preach so much about. When you get on the court with this high level of opponents, you HAVE TO KEEP THE BALL LOW. You just cant give your opponents a ball that is high because they are very skilled at putting it away. Notice that everyone has really good patience. We have confidence that we can hit dink after dink.

Notice that we try very hard to keep our opponents back. If they are back, hitting up to the kitchen and we have to hit it with a backhand, even if it is a little high, we just keep hitting it DEEP until our opponents get it high to our forehand or they just hit it into the net.

Notice the touch control you see when a opponent hits a hard ball , we have the abliity to do a couple of things with this ball hit hard at us. Either hit it back hard or take the pace off it and drop it in the kitchen. The same thing if we get get caught in no mans land and they hit at our feet, we just drop it back soft into the kitchen and work our way up to the NVZ.

Notice that Matt and Rob usually hit the serve return to my partner Brian instead of to me. They do this because when i hit the third shot, Brian likes to come up to the net and poach. He does this several times when they give me the third shot. Again, they are not doing this because I am a better third shot hitter, they are doing it because if they make brian hit the third shot, he cant come up and poach and overpower them.

You see a lot of CONTROL in this match. You learn control by starting to play the soft game. Hitting balls soft into the kitchen no matter how the ball is hit to you or where you are on the court. If you have a very good soft game, you can play competitively against ANY players in the world. You may not win, but you will be competitive.

This is classic good pickleball.

Deep serve

Deep serve return

Third shot soft into the kitchen

Dink dink dink until someone makes a mistake

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kPvYrBEre0

jeff shank

Pickleball Tip of Week #20

Ok,

This weeks tip is a little different. You have an assignment. Watch the following video. It is last weeks Tournament Of Champions in Utah. It was an invite only event which gave out $18000 in prize money.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPTR6kBJhwY

Print off this email and follow along as you watch the video.

What i want everyone to see most this week is the half volley Tim Nelson ( young man in Red and Black shirt and in my opinion the best pickleball player in the world)

does at both the return of serve and the third shot. He is half volleying or short hopping the ball.

What this does is two things. It gets him up to the net way quick and throws off the timing of his opponents because he is getting the ball back so quickly.

So understand that Tim and his partner Billy Jacobson ( who happens to be deaf) won the winners bracket and have probably been sitting for several hours waiting for Lavon Majors and Mike Gates to work their way thru the losers bracket. Hence see how many UNFORCED ERRORS Tim and Billy make early in the first game. They are down 1-5 and smartly take a time out to try and stop the momentum and get their game together.

You will see a LOT of advanced strategies in this match. You will see that on most points, the servers partner and the receivers partner are moving back and forth as the serve is made. Tim wants to play most of the points on the left side of the court. This gives him more room to poach with his forehand and cover more of the court. Their opponents are moving back and forth based on their own strategies and to try and get in the heads of Tim and Billy.

At 8:25 you will see Tim fake swing at the ball as Billy is actually hitting it. So early in the first game, Tim and Billy make the most unforced errors. In the middle of the first BOTH teams are making unforced errors and in the end of the first game, Lavon and Mike are making most of the unforced errors. At 8-3-2 Tim is behind and  starts the short hop or half volleys that i am talking about.

In the second game, again Tim and Billy make a lot of unforced errors. At 4-0-1 Tim and Billy again take a time out to try and change the momentum. They go down 0-5, but pull it together and Gates and Majors start making lots of unforced errors and Tim and Billy run out the match with 11 straight points.

Notice the ball catch Tim makes at 22:20 !!!!

Notice what we call the "Erne" poach that Tim does at 27:20. You will see that for about 5 seconds before Tim makes this incredible shot, he is wanting to do it. Unfortunately if you watch it a few times you will see that he does foot fault , but he does it so quickly and from out of nowhere, that the ref does not catch it.

Notice the incredible "misdirection" shot that Tim does at 32:53. A misdirection shot is where you are intentionally telling your opponents one thing with your body/head/hand positioning but then hit it the entirely different way.

So in conclusion, my main goal is for you to see what i am talking about with learning the soft game, limiting unforced errors and TRY OUT THIS SHORT HOP return of serve and third shot that you see Tim doing. When you do it on the return of serve, you want to hit it as deep as possible. When you do it on the third shot you want to drop it soft into the kitchen. Try it , You will be AMAZED at how much quicker this gets you up to the NVZ.

Pickleball Tip of Week #19

Ok Guys,

This weeks tip is on equipment, specifically paddles. Here in Florida, in the winter we play in 30 degree to 60 degree weather. In the summer we play in 80 to 97 degree weather with LOTS of hot sun beating on the ball.

In the winter time, our balls are nice and crisp when cold and POP off the paddle with little help. In the summer heat and sun, the balls tend to get soft and are much harder to generate a high rate of speed.

The past month i personally noticed that it was becoming much harder for me to hit winners on my serve. Usually it is not uncommon for my serve to win at least one outright winner per game ( receiver is not able to return the ball ). And smashes at the net were very difficult to overpower my highly skilled opponents.

Today , realizing these things, I remembered to switch back to my summer paddle. This summer paddle hits the ball much harder ( thus less control ) than my lighter , older winter paddle. But i need this extra power on the soft summer ball. Control is great, but when the opportunity arises, you need the power to win the point.

I  had 4 outright winners in one game today on my serve with the summer paddle.

Newer paddles, heavier paddles, composite paddles ( as opposed to light hitting graphite paddles ) and paddles that have had the Jim Carroll upgrade are all good choices for the soft summer ball. I personally like to use a lighter paddle, however  my summer paddle has the Jim Carroll upgrade. He takes an older paddle and applies a tough smooth coating to the surface. He can also put college info or grandkid photos on the paddle with this coating. It does NOT provide any trampoline effect which is against usapa rules, however it does give it a little more pop as it is a nice hard surface. And adds a little weight which also gives extra pop.

So a slow light winter paddle will give you about the same power and control in the winter as a heavier more powerful paddle in the summer.

jeff shank

Pickleball Tip of Week #18

Hey All,

This weeks tip is a short one.

As you are playing make sure that you are ALWAYS facing the ball while you are awaiting the shot from your opponents.  Your feet and shoulders should be SQUARE to the ball. This is true whether or not you are waiting for a dink, a ground stroke or a smash from your opponents.

If the ball is on the opponents right side of the court, that is the direction your feet and shoulders should be facing. Same if the ball is on the left side of the court. Dont get caught up or be lazy and just always be facing straight ahead.

jeff shank