If you’re interested in learning how to play pickleball, you may already know that it is a lot easier when you have played sports most of your life. But what if you didn’t grow up playing any sports regularly, let alone racket sports? Here are the most helpful things you can do as a beginner in pickleball to gain confidence and enjoy playing, even without a background in any sports.
Tips For A Beginner In Pickleball With No Sports Background
Start Easy
The first part of playing pickleball is your general movement on the court. Playing any sport requires you to be able to move up and down laterally, bend your knees, lunge, etcetera. Then, there is hand-eye coordination that’s required to track a ball and hit it with your paddle.
As someone completely new to sports, starting with doing simple ladder drills with a ladder will help you move athletically. There are exercises that come with the instruction manual so if you’re lacking in athletic movement, doing a warm-up with ladder drills before you start playing will help you move easier on the court.
Practice touch
Hitting a pickleball with your paddle may feel natural or unnatural at first. But you want to hit the ball back and forth with a friend to learn the hand-eye coordination required. You will also want to know how hard or soft you need to hit the ball to see how far or high the ball will travel.
Knowing the right touch requires a lot of practice. So before you jump in a game, give yourself enough time to make sure you’re hitting the ball back and forth. In pickleball, you will want to avoid a pop-up of the ball. If you pop the ball up, your opponents will have a downward angle to smash the ball.
So practice the touch to control the ball with your paddle from getting popped up.
Practice aiming
One of the first things you will learn as a beginner in pickleball is how to serve. If you find that you’re not able to aim in the opposite court, start against a high wall. Stand some 6 feet and aim your serve at the wall about 4 feet up from the ground. Then continually back up as you learn to hit the ball harder.
Once you feel comfortable practicing that way, you can move over to the court and practice.
Learn Basic Pickleball Shots
Next, you will want to learn the different pickleball shots. At this stage, you will want to do your best to control the ball so that it does not bounce high. This may take you weeks or even months of playing pickleball regularly depending on how fast you pick up the sport.
Even if it does take you longer, keep going at your own pace. Don’t compare your progress to anyone else’s. Start with one pickleball shot at a time. First, learn how to serve. Then to “drop” which is to hit the ball as softly as you can into the kitchen. And learn to “dink”, which is similar to dropping but takes place when you’re in the non-volley zone.
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Have Fun
The last and most important thing as a beginner in pickleball is to have fun. You’re outside, getting fresh air, and exercising. Or even if you play indoors, moving your body is still beneficial.
There may be stages where you’re not sure if you like playing pickleball. But give yourself the chance to get better. It is also one of the easier sports to become competent and even good in a short amount of time.
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