INSTRUCTION by ALICE TYM
IMPROVING YOUR BODY MECHANICS IN PICKLEBALL
Body mechanics is the term used for the ways we move . In the old days it was your grandma telling you to “ sit up straight ” or “ Don ’ t slouch like that .” Young women practiced walking while balancing a book on their heads . Now it is the science of body mechanics , and pickleball players need all the help they can get . Whether you are a good player who wants to get better , or a new player who wants to avoid getting injured , an examination of your body mechanics is worthwhile . Yoga and tai chi classes are helpful , but let ’ s look at some specific pickleball positions . Your goal is to be specific and efficient .
Balance is critical in pickleball because you need a stable position to be able to direct the ball and direct it consistently . Think tripod , where your legs are comfortably apart and your head is over the path of the ball . Your eyes can maintain focus on the ball and your swing can be linear . You are still like a camera on a tripod . Now comes moving to the next shot .
Here is how to learn to move … Have a friend get a beach towel and put it around your waist like a belt . Have the friend hold both ends behind you as a restraint . Do this at the baseline . Your friend is holding you back , preventing you from running forward . She shouts “ Go !” and you dart forward while she provides resistance . In order for you to move forward , you have to bend your knees and line up in a pushing-off stance . That is good body mechanics . Your weight is forced into the ground with your knees flexed , shoulders square , and eyes forward .
Now apply that to a drill because pickleball has a lot of forward and lateral movement . Place cones or chalk X ’ s around the court where the ball commonly lands — service box , corners , deep crosscourts , wide crosscourts , and down the middle . Run the circuit . You can count as you hit your mark . Learn to keep your body over your feet and to achieve that stable tripod .
Ankle flexion is important in racket sports . Buy good court shoes . A helpful exercise is finding a good conicalshaped hill and running along the contours . Run where your left side is on the high side then reverse and run the other direction with your right side on the high side of the hill . Stretch your ankles on the downhill side , then reverse . In many years of coaching tennis , I never had a player have an ankle injury . Flexibility is important and balance is critical .
A common complaint of beginners is tennis elbow . The cause is your body mechanics — you are hitting your backhand too close to your body with a bent elbow . You probably do this because you did not prepare early enough and wound up hitting the ball too close to your body . You hit the ball with your elbow rather than with your legs and shoulder . Poor body mechanics . For a proper backhand that utilizes your large joints rather than your small ones , follow these steps :
1 . As soon as you see the ball is coming to your backhand side , take your paddle back .
2 . Move to the ball with your knees bent ( like the towel exercise ). 3 . Form the tripod . 4 . Full extension of your paddle arm while your head is still ( the tripod ), and you are watching the ball .
5 . Follow through in the path you want the ball to go , almost as if you are carrying the ball on your paddle . Knees bent and eyes still on the ball .
6 . Think about your weight going forward into the ball , not upward into the sky . This way you derive power from your legs , not from your elbow .
Volleys require flexibility of the spine , hips , knees , and ankles . And volleys require quick reactions . Because volley duels are often in close and so quick that players are not always in perfect position , players must emphasize good body mechanics . Preparation and footwork are key . Think prizefighter ready for a punch . Eyes on the ball , knees bent in preparation to hit one direction or another , hands in front to deflect a blow ( or in your case , a shot ) and attempt to meet the ball in order to control it and hopefully be offensive . Boxing drills would be helpful , but in lieu of boxing , a ball machine works well . The key to volley drills is to return to your original stance between each shot . No lingering . No cheating just because it is a drill . You relax and it is a knockout punch .
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