Get Better This Season

As we begin to transition to warmer and longer days, I want to challenge you to make it a goal this outdoor season to improve your pickleball game.

I realize setting pickleball goals isn’t for everyone. We all have our own relationship with the game – what we want to put into it and what we want to get out of it. If you’re content with how you play, with the time you’re investing and the benefits and joy it’s providing, then setting a goal to improve may not be for you.

But if you feel like you’d enjoy the game more if you played it better, you should commit to improving this season. And here’s how to do it.

For the next thirty days, take note of everything you do that will help you play better pickleball. Everything.

Anything you do that will make you hurt less and move more easily on the court, improve a couple of key shots, better understand strategy, or help you keep your focus longer and your emotions in check, will improve your pickleball game. Using a note-taking app on your phone or a notepad, for the next thirty days keep track of everything you do that helps in any of these areas. You can write down the specifics of what you did or just make a mark indicating something was done. The important thing is that everything you do to help you improve is noted.

It Starts with Moving Better

For the over-whelming majority of players, moving better means playing better. It’s really that simple. Moving better is about strength, flexibility, fitness level, diet, sleep, and pain, among other things. Anything you do that makes you stronger, more flexible, more cardiovascularly fit, more rested and in less pain – mark it down – because it will help you move better and thus improve your game.

If you take the steps into work one day instead of the elevator, mark it down. If you stretch your hamstrings for two minutes while watching the evening news one night, mark it down. If you go for a walk, a hike, a bike ride – any cardio – mark it down. When you play pickleball, mark it down.

If you choose a healthy side for lunch one day when you’d normally go with fries, mark it down. Anytime you eat foods known to reduce inflammation (leafy greens, blueberries, etc.), or make food choices that will increase your muscle to fat ratio, mark it down.

If you make an appointment with your doctor to address your achy knee, hip, shoulder, or back, mark it down. Give yourself another mark when you actually go to the appointment. If you’ve already seen a doctor and know what exercises to do to heal your injuries, mark it down when you do them. If you apply ice or heat to your injury after you play, mark it down.

Anytime you get a full night’s sleep – say eight hours – mark it down.

Improve Your Focus

I’m taking some liberties here, but an empty mind is a full paddle.

If your mind is racing while you play – constantly reminding you of how to hit the ball correctly or where to be on the court, or noticing every distraction around you or worrying about what your partner thinks about how you’re playing – you won’t play your best pickleball. If your game gets worse when the match is close or you frequently get over-excited and miss easy put-aways; or your temper boils over when you’re struggling to find your game, you need to work on settling your mind and increasing your focus.

Like everything else, you can improve your concentration and focus levels. Nearly every great sports psychologist of our time recommends meditation and mindfulness as helpful ways to train the mind not to respond to every thought that emerges in the brain. If you’re not grabbing onto thoughts as they pass through your head, you won’t be affected by the score, the bad shot you just hit, the easiness of the put-away you’re about to hit, or how you may be disappointing your partner. Your mind will be both quiet and alert, and you’ll more easily and frequently fall into a state of flow – into "the zone" – where the game slows down and feels effortless. The more you can learn to quiet your mind and remain fully immersed in the game, the easier it is to find that state. Meditation and mindfulness help us do that.

Each time you meditate or practice mindfulness, give yourself a mark. There are books and podcasts on the mental side of sports. Each time you read or listen on the subject, give yourself a mark. And every time you go play with the intention of keeping your mind settled and focused – to practice better focus - give yourself a mark. Anything you do (or refrain from doing) that helps you keep your concentration longer, give yourself a mark.

Learn the Game

In addition to moving better and focusing more, mark down things that help you better understand and execute the game.

Everyone I know who has gotten better at pickleball will tell you that somewhere along their path to improvement they learned something that really helped them. Sometimes they learned how to hit a stroke properly – how far to take the paddle back, where to make contact with the ball, where to follow-through, etc. Sometimes they learned how to move into their shots more effectively by improving their footwork and balance. Sometimes the improvement came because they learned where to be on the court, and where to hit their shots.

Having someone watch you play who is qualified to assess what you’re doing correctly and what needs improving is one of the best things you can do for your game. Mark down any clinics or private lessons you take. If you watch videos or read books or articles on areas of your game that need improving, mark it down. If you do drills with a partner or at home, mark it down. If you go to play with the intention of working on a particular shot, movement, or strategy, give yourself a mark. Anything you do to better learn the game, mark it down.

The Goal

Keeping track of the different ways you’re helping improve your game will increase your awareness of all the different ways you can improve your game. Improvement in pickleball occasionally comes in spurts, but it mostly comes from adding a lot of small, seemingly inconsequential things together. Brick by brick, the intentional choices you make to improve will add up to better play. It won’t happen overnight, but it will come.

As you track even the smallest things you do, feel proud that you’re doing something to improve. Be impressed by the number of marks you put down. Let it build your confidence. You’re being intentional about getting better, and that’s what most pickleball players who want to improve fail to do.