Coming soon - Purposeful Pickleball© - The philosophy behind the system

Teaching Tips & Tricks

What's in your closet that you can use on a budget?

Hula Hoops, Paper Plates, Dowel Rods, and Elastic string. SIMON the Pickleball Machine, A paddle with stick pointer, Traffic Cones, Ball on a stick, A rope, the wall, Ribbon, Boxes, Standup Cutout Posters, Foam tubes, Ball on a string, large bed sheets, Electric leaf blower, PVC piping, Netting, bungee cords or clips, Place mats, Clothes pins, Hose hangers Beach paddles, Whiffle golf balls, Whiffle softballs

AND MUCH, MORE

Body Zones

I like to teach my students about footwork and body zones. In the diagram above, you can see three zones of attack and defense.

The primary zone — what I affectionately call the "Tai Chi Zone" — is where most balls will be hit at or from. This area is defended with your paddle up in front of you and your feet in a ready-stance position. Don't look at the standing man as the ready position; he's simply there to help you visualize the area that's reachable with minimal or no footwork. He's up on the balls of his feet, ready to move. We've discussed ready position before: knees bent as if sitting, weight on the balls of your feet, paddle up in front, ready to receive.

So, the green zone is the primary area of defense or offensive attack. The red zone, or secondary zone, is the area just outside the primary zone, where footwork starts to come into play — sliding, gliding, and shuffling left or right of the primary position, keeping your belly button as square to the net as possible. Your paddle should stay out in front of you, with your feet moving in rhythm with the ball to cut off the short angles.

The tertiary zone, or third zone of attack, comes into play when your opponent is trying to move you out of position and get you to reach. This yellow area is where it's extremely important to get your feet moving, reach the ball, and re-square yourself to the net quickly after your return. If you don't recover quickly and your shot sails too high over the net... well, your backside is now exposed, and you'll be an easy target with poor or slow footwork to recover. Yes, use the crossover step to reach the ball, but be sure to recover back into position for the next shot.

SIMON the Pickleball Machine

Not a low-budget item, but if you have access to a ball machine, there are unlimited possibilities for what you can do. I've been fortunate enough to own a Simon pickleball machine. There are competitors out there, but Simon is by far the best-quality machine on the market. Made in the USA, sturdy, and capable of holding up to 160 balls in one load, it makes for an awesome workout. With rubber wheels to deliver the balls — rather than plastic, which wears out quickly — Simon delivers consistent performance every time. With the recent upgrades, Simon outshines anything else out there.

I keep my Simon in a portable grocery cart, the kind you can pick up at a Family Dollar store for around $25. It slides right into the back of the SUV, and away we go to the courts.

With a ball machine, I can run nearly all of my drills from the Pickleball CPR Drills book. I don't need a coach or a partner to do the drills I run regularly, whether on my own or with my students. The remote fob lets you stop and start the feed so you're not wasting balls, or so you can pause the action to teach. The lob and dink ramps deliver consistent set-up shots for lob returns, overhead attacks, and straight-on or cross-court dink practice. With adjustable speed and feed controls, you can dial in anything from rapid-fire cross-net drills to steady, controlled feeds for drop-shot practice.

If you get the chance, pick one up from pickleballmachine.com — tell them Claudia sent you. They're great to work with and will give you a good deal.

Several of my top 3.5–5.0 students get hundreds of reps per hour while I stand right next to them, helping tweak their skills.

If it weren't for Simon, my arm would have fallen off by now.

Keep an eye out for Simon 2 — I hear a smaller version is in the works. Can't wait.

Hula Hoops

Not the way you'd use them to slim your waist down — but as targets, hula hoops are great. You can pick them up at the dollar store these days, and they don't need to be large either.

Using the PB9/PB13-Grids, you can place hoops in specific zones on the floor, and the practicing player directs and places their shots at these targets. This can be done on the coach's command, in sequential order, or — if you only have one hoop — by drilling to that single location 50 or more times, until you can successfully land 10–25 shots in that zone without a miss (or whatever goal you set). These hoops are versatile and can also be used as net targets.

Using some sort of removable clamp, string, or carabiner, you can attach a hoop at half the height of the net and use it as a target for serves, dinks, drives, or drop shots.

See below.

Get creative — I'm sure you'll find even more ways to use them. Share what you've come up with, and let me know!

rgetsElectric Leaf Blower

Someone once told me the story of Andre Agassi's father using a leaf blower to collect balls during Andre's practice sessions. Well, I'm no fool — anything that makes practice more efficient, with faster collection and less bending over, is worth trying. I use a sheet, or a small net with 1"x1" squares, roughly 2'x3', and place it in the corner of the court or gym space. When it's time to collect balls, I simply blow them toward the sheet. They gather up neatly, and I just lift the whole thing into the bucket — see the picture above for the setup. I use a small, battery-powered 18V WORX blower; it works great and is light enough to carry around easily.

Try it next time you've got 100+ balls scattered across the court. Don't waste time picking them up one by one — gather them in a bunch and lift them in. It takes about 3 minutes on my own, or less with someone helping push balls toward the wall. From there, I just blow them into the corner, sweep the stragglers onto the net or sheet, and we're back to practice in no time.

Happy hunting!

A Paddle with a Stick Pointer: A Simple Tool for a Big "Aha" Moment

You'd be surprised how many players — even seasoned ones — struggle to visualize the directionality of a hit ball. To help them understand flight angle, ball path, and the different planes of motion, I use a simple, low-tech tool: a paddle with a short dowel rod mounted in the center.

When I'm explaining angles and planes of motion, that dowel rod becomes an instant visual aid, showing exactly how the paddle face translates into the ball's flight path. It's amazing how quickly the concept clicks — I get a lot of "oh, that's what you mean!" moments.

Don't have a paddle with holes in it? No problem. Tape a pencil to the top of any paddle, and you've got the same effect — a simple, hands-on way to show direction that just makes sense.

ELASTIC CORD "KEEP IT LOW" NET TRAINER

Use an elastic cord stretched between two ½" dowel rods, placed inside the end poles after removing the cap, or along the net support sleeve. This simple tool helps train yourself or your students to keep the ball low over the net by hitting below the stretched-out line. The elastic cord gives slightly on contact, so it won't deflect the ball too far off course. See the pictures below.

To build it, use a dowel rod (or similar stick) with a stopper of some kind to keep it from sliding down the pole. Screw a small eye bolt into the top, exposed end of the rod to hold the cord in place.

Drill holes at various heights along the rod for a cotter pin or hitch pin to pass through — this will keep the rod from sliding down the pole and hold it at your designated training height. A large, sturdy rubber band wrapped around the rod will do the same job if you don't want to drill holes.

Stretch an elastic band, about ⅛"–¼" thick, from one rod to the other. Six feet of cord is ideal, giving you enough to pull it tight across the top. Adjust as needed, and always leave yourself extra cord length — it comes in handy for other uses too, like hanging targets to hit through or at.

You can vary the height of the "net" using the hitch pins on your poles.

Players will hit the ball below and through the stretched-out cord, making it a great tool for dink drills, drop shot drills, and driving ground strokes alike.

Have fun with it, and adjust the challenge to match the skill level you're teaching.

The Wall

The wall can be your best partner. It never talks back, never complains, never gives up, and always gives you the ball back in one way or another.

A hard-surfaced wall — brick, or a firmly secured plywood panel — gives you the return partner you've always wanted. Find a space with about 8'–10' of clearance, and you can do just about anything you can think of, from a soft tap dink to a hard, smashing drive, and even lob practice if your wall is tall enough.

Hitting against the wall will sharpen your eye-hand coordination and give you the repetitions you need. I'd suggest heading over to the CPR Video Clinic to check out some of the wall drills I've posted there.

Don't just sit and chat on the bench — find that wall calling out to be hit against, and get your paddle on the ball for some wall drills. The more contact you get, the better your contact will be when it's time to play for real.

Remember, you can also use a high-density foam ball to hit against drywall indoors. Just because it's raining doesn't mean you have to stop practicing — these balls are available at your local sporting goods store or online.

Get in the game and use the wall. There's no excuse for skipping practice just because you don't have a partner.

Ball on a String?

Sounds a bit unusual, but this is actually a great way to help players internalize body position. When demonstrating with a loose or tossed ball, players who are unskilled — or simply refreshing old skills — sometimes need a little "freeze frame" action to really see what's happening.

In my setup, I have a ball tied to a string and threaded through a sturdy foam swim noodle, cut down to about 2'–3' in length. Any longer, and it starts to bend. The string is attached to one end of the tube and is easily adjustable for targeted demonstrations.

For instance, I'll have the player stand in an "X" position for an overhead smash, or a backhand position for a groundstroke. I use the ball-on-a-stick to show exactly where the ball should be at contact. The length of the tube also keeps me at a safe distance from wide swingers — I've learned the hard way to stay clear of anxious swingers.

I can "walk" the player through the stroke, using the ball to demonstrate precisely where the paddle should make contact. For taller players especially, the tube really comes in handy when working on the overhead strike position.

Traffic Cones

Small cones make great targets to hit too, at, or between. Place them at various positions on the court and have your players focus on ball placement as they direct shots to the targeted areas.

Small cones are also useful for footwork drills — running forward, backward, sideways, or in mixed patterns. Use them with stroke attacks, or on their own for pure footwork practice.

Large cones are great for simulating player positioning when you don't have a partner to practice against. Place them where opponents or partners would stand, and have the attacking player hit away from those cone placements.

You're only limited by what you don't try.

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