Sunshine Coast Pickleball Association

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Clinic #1: Footwork & Positioning

The key to improved play is 0n-court preparedness. This is achieved through the correct footwork to allow the player to make the best shot possible. At levels below 4.0, the vast majority of points are lost on “unforced errors,” in other words, a player’s own error causes the loss because he or she hits the net or hits out. Shot-making is vastly improved when the player is well balanced. This clinic begins with balance and footwork fundamentals for ground strokes and volleys.

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Clinic#2: The Art of Strategy

The quickest and easiest way to improve your game is by playing more strategically. The more time-consuming and harder way to improve your game is practice, practice, practice. Put them together and you have a formula for success. The goal of the clinic is to get your mind in the “strategy zone.” Think like a strategist and play like one through an entire match and you will improve the result. In competitive play, you need to find a strategic mindset and get comfortable with it.

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Clinic #3: Ground Strokes and Dinks

The better the skill level, the greater the need and the opportunity to master the dink shot. This shot is usually set up by the serving side on the third shot – the soft shot that lands in the opponent’s kitchen and brings both sides to the net. Dinking also comes in handy as a defensive shot when the opponent has smashed one at your feet. In this case a dink return neutralizes play. How important is dinking? At the most advance levels, the team that dinks the best usually wins the match.

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Clinic #4: Lobs, Smashes & Volleys

Because 80% of the points are made at the net, volleys, like dink shots, are critical to success as one’s skill level advances. In addition, we concentrate on the right footwork to help students make a high/lob, a powerful overhead smash and a solid volley. We’ll begin with the fundamentals of grip, set-up stance, “push” versus the “swing” volley, the step over, shoulder turn, and basic footwork.

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Clinic #5: Playing Fundamentals (for players under 3.0)

When assisting new players or those below 3.0, our instructors adhere to 7 core principles. These principles represent the techniques that we wish to instill early and often, so that new and less experienced players advance quicker and carry sound fundamentals with them to higher levels of play. Every principle (except for one) also applies to advanced players. Our goal is to teach and demonstrate these playing fundamentals.

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