I start right at the beginning with everyone! That means the grip first, then we hit a bit at a short distance to see what you've got. And start talking about the mechanics of it all. Footwork, court placement, and the area you're responsible for. Then it's all about the short game. Dinking forward and cross court. We play a few dinking games. It's amazing what a little competition does to a person! If that's going well, we start with volleying. Understanding paddle position and how to improve hand speed. Now, if there's time, and I always go overtime, we will start to address serving. Rules, how to do it right and increasing power there.
On that second lesson, we will review what we worked on the first time in the form of a warm-up. Then start our short game drills. Dinking short and cross court complete with a few games. Then, onto volleying again. These areas take a long time to master so we do them at the start of every session. The short game is the number one way to score in this game, and players don't work hard enough at it! And we go back to the serve and work on getting that power up! And if there's time, we also play a bit to incorporate some of those new things we have learned. If it's my club, we get the ball machine involved so we can get a lot of reps in. If you're ready for that? And let us not forget scoring! If you're going to play out there with your friends, you must know how to keep score.
If all is going well, we start with the same short game drills and then start working our way through offensive ways to score and better technique. Dealing with the overheads and lobs. Offensively first. Then, if you're ready, we can start with defense. If you master those other things early, you will beat most other beginners! But as they get better, and they will. It's now time to start working on defense. The third and fourth shot drops. How to defend the overhead and proper positioning. Then maybe you're ready for speed up and rollovers. Or perhaps some back hand work? I can go as slow or as fast as you need.