COPY THE PROS?
MOVING TOGETHER WITH YOUR PARTNER
This is something that all good teams do. Watch Jennifer
Lucore and Alex Hamner and you will see what I am talking
about. These champions played many years together as a
tennis team before turning to pickleball and they know
how to keep the spacing between them just right. They
move up to the kitchen together and they move side to
side together.
SIMPLE AND EFFICIENT
MECHANICS
Another reason the top
players make the game
look so easy is that they
are using very efficient
mechanics. Usually, the
top players have fewer
moving parts. Their paddle
face stays toward their
target for a longer period
of time and the angle of
their paddle also remains
constant through impact.
Notice how well the pros can block a hard-hit ball just by
using a small blocking motion.
COME INTO EVERY
MATCH WITH A GAME
PLAN
I assure you that every
top team goes into every
match with an agreedupon game plan. Much
of this game plan will be
determined by the strengths
and weaknesses they have assessed in their opponents.
Now if this game plan is not working, that is a good time
to call a time-out and make a new game plan.
COMMUNICATION WITH PARTNER
You will rarely see a ball go down the middle between
a top doubles team. Partly this is because they know that
the forehand player should hit it, and the other reason
is communication. You will oftentimes hear good teams
yelling “Yours,” “Mine,” “Switch!”
USING PROBABILITY
TO YOUR FAVOR
The top players have
great shot selection based
on probability. Notice
how often the top players
choose to hit a dink on
the third shot. They know
that most of the time this
is the best way for them to
work up to the no-volley
line. You will seldom see
a top player lob from
behind the baseline or
try to hit winners down
the line. They avoid those types of shots and wait for the
opportunity to hit the ball down at their opponents’ feet,
a good chance to pop a ball right at them, or they just keep
dinking until the other team makes an error.
POSITIVE AND ENCOURAGING TO YOUR
PARTNER
Just by simply doing this and showing a trust in your
partner can be worth a couple of points each game. Also,
you don’t want to get the reputation of being negative
to your partner or you may have trouble getting future
partners. •
JULY/AUGUST 2016 |
MAGAZINE
27