I've been teaching for over thirty years. First as a tennis pro, then as a college professor, and now as an instructor of pickleball. One of the most important things I've learned over these years is that learning is more than just hearing and understanding. Learning is about creating a habit - and it takes intention.
If you learn something new to help your pickleball game whether it's through a lesson, watching others, or by reading an article or watching a video, it will do very little to improve your game unless you intentionally integrate it into your play. Once a match starts and you begin to fall into the flow of a game, you will do what you know best and what is comfortable. In other words, your autopilot will take over and all those great tips and strategies that you rightfully KNOW will help you, will vanish into the recesses of your brain. To improve your game, you have to keep your intended changes in the forefront of your consciousness.
This starts with writing down what you want to change.
I tell my students after each lesson to list on a notepad app on their phones the two or three things they heard that resonated. For example, "get low at the NVZ." "Return serve deep enough and slow enough to give you time to get to the line." "Come back to a strong, belly-protected backhand ready position after each shot at the net." "Hit low drives to the backhand-forehand seam of your opponent - the armpit of your opponent's paddle hand."
And read your list just before you step on the court every time you go out. And if you have your phone available, read the list between games.
Make your changes a habit.
If improving our pickleball games was easy, there would be a lot more 4.5+ players out on the courts. But the biggest challenge we face with improving is consistently committing ourselves to the changes we want to make. That starts, however, with creating the habit of regularly reminding ourselves of the few (no more than three) things you would like to do differently. Commit! Be willing to take a temporary step back in your game as you integrate the changes in your play. If you're committed to your changes and consistently remind yourself of what you're trying to do and why, the changes (and improvement) will come. But you have to be intentional.
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