Practice, Practice But How?? – Tips for Pickleball Drilling

Practice, Practice But How?? - Tips for Pickleball Drilling

We all know as amateurs and lovers of this game, to become a good pickleball player one must practice and drill. Most top players, when asked how they hone their skills, invariably the answer would be they follow the 80/20 rule. What does that mean?? They drill 80% of the time and only play 20% of the time. We have heard the popular adage “Practice, practice practice, but prefect practice makes you a better player”

I have recommended to multiple clubs over the years where I coach to implement a drill session in their calendar. And many have implemented a skill-based drill session.

Not all of us live in an area where there is a dedicated club or organization that can organize drill sessions. So, what do we do?

Don’t worry. Here are few options

There are multiple companies that sell these machines. My personal favorite is the ERNE.

This machine has a few pre-determined drills set up which are helpful. Its fun to drill drop shots, block volleys, cross court dinks, and many more.

As the title says, a willing partner not someone you drag out to drill. Over the years I have given a few number of tips and suggestions on drills that you can use to drill with your partner. I can guarantee you your game will improve. Set aside at least an hour of drill time. The more you focus on the fundamentals, the more consistent you become.

And finally, my FREE PICKLEBALL MACHINES

Unfortunately, most of the time we don’t really have a partner that wants to drill. I have heard a lot of my students who cannot invest in a ball machine or have a dedicated drill partner and they struggle to sharpen their skills.

This is a suggestion I gave them - I actually use my regular recreational games as my practice session.

Just go to your regular game, pick one drill you want to practice, and just focus on drilling that against your opponents. Don’t focus on the win but keep tabs on let’s say how many drop shots you hit in the first game to an area you determined to hit. Use that as a marker and continue the whole time on how many you hit over multiple games and hit a consistent number. You can focus on that for several days or until you feel you have mastery over that shot and then move onto a different shot you might need to work on. That is why I call my opponents “Free Ball Machines” 😊.

Now go out to the courts and start either drilling or being a free ball machine. Enjoy your game and remember - Its only Pickleball!