PICKLEBALL INSTRUCTION
HOW
TO
(Graciously)
GET TO PLAY WITH
BETTER PLAYERS
(And Make Sure You’re NOT That Person Everyone Hates to Play With)
As a full-time pickleball coach, I often
tell my students that one of the best ways
to improve is to play with better players.
It forces you to play at the top of your
ability, makes you pay for your mistakes,
and puts you on the fast track to a higher
skill level.
All of that is GREAT for you, but how
about for those “better players” who are
playing WITH you? It does almost the
40
OPPOSITE for them. Playing with YOU
keeps them from having to play at the
top of their ability, from paying for their
mistakes, and from improving their skill
level as quickly. But everyone has to start
somewhere, and even the best players in
the world were beginners at one point.
The culture of pickleball has always
been very welcoming and inclusive of new
players, but as you focus on improving
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your game, you DON’T always want to
play with weaker players.
As a newer player, how can you
graciously get to play with better players
so as to improve your game? As a better
player, when is it fair to ask others to
step aside so you can get a higher-level
play, while still “remembering your roots”
and making time to play with lower-level
players?