Our very first lesson will be spent establishing exactly how much knowledge the student has about the game of pickleball. We will cover basic rules and etiquette before giving a basic example of each type of shot typically hit on a pickleball court. Afterwards, we will talk briefly about the different kinds of grips one may use in pickleball to see where the student is most comfortable holding the paddle. The student will then have a chance to demonstrate their ability to hit these basic shots to establish a baseline for which all of our future lessons.
Eventually, the student will be ready to play full games of pickleball at full speed. It is at this point we will look to have our student play full games against other beginners, and move from basic fundamentals to applying said fundamentals in more intermediate ways.
For our next few lessons, we will begin doing more drilling and games, with each drill or game prefaced by an explanation of what the purpose of the game is and why it is helpful. During this time, we will begin to start emphasizing more of the physical aspects of playing pickleball, such as movement and weight transfer.
For our next couple of lessons, I will be focusing on a handful of shots based on the results of the first lesson. In general, we will start at the baseline (serves, drives, drops), and work our way up to the kitchen (dinks, volleys, overheads). Along the way we will learn drills and/or games like "fast hands", "7-11", and more.
The first lesson will mostly serve as an assessment of the student's current skill level. We will test shot proficiency, movement capability, and game knowledge. Based on the results of these tests, we will craft a plan for the rest of our lessons.
If the student is ready for it, we will begin playing full games with other students. We will introduce a competitive element to the game to test all of the things worked on in previous lessons. I will supervise these games to answer questions and help identify mistakes that students are making.
Once we have established rapport, we will start doing more competitive drills to simulate game scenarios. We will move onto working on smaller and smaller concepts, continually refining the student's game. We will begin to work on the mental aspect of the game, starting from the serve all the way to analyzing opponents on the fly.
From this point on, every lesson will be incredibly focused on one shot or concept. We will drill to solidify fundamentals, increase the student's understanding of their form, and to increase the student's consistency under pressure.