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In this blog post, we tackle what you should be covering when you teach Pickleball to beginners. By beginners, I mean people who literally have picked up a paddle for the first time and are taking a lesson for the first time to learn the game.
1. All Court Lines And Boxes
Typically after an introduction to the group class, I will identify all lines including kitchen line, center line, side lines and base lines. In addition I will also identify the service boxes. I won't go into too much depth on rules yet. Getting the students to identify is a perfect start.
2. No Volleys In Kitchen Rule
When I introduce this rule, I pair players up and have them dink the ball back and fourth from the kitchen line. I will have them practice 2 different things.
Simply dink the ball back and fourth with your partner and do your best and try to make the ball bounce in front of your partner or in the kitchen. This method is a great start to having them play immediately with a goal in mind.
Now, I will try and get the players to start taking the ball out of air. Obviously this is a greater challenge because they have to make decisions to take the ball out of the air or have it bounce. I like this type of practice because most players will break the rule immediately thus improving their decision making and understanding of the rule.
Do You Teach Technique or Form? Like Forehands and Backhands?
Yes and No....
Why Yes?
In a beginner crash course setting like this where you have 1 to 1 1/2 hour teaching the game I quickly introduce forehands and backhands without going into too much detail about grips. I will quickly introduce a low to high swing on both forehand and backhands with an Eastern Grip and have them start playing. This will take me about 2 min to teach.
Why No?
I do not want to take time and educate the students on the various types of grips for 1 main reason.....
Thats not what they signed up for.
Your students signed up to learn the game of Pickleball quickly. Your students are so excited about the sport so do not bore them with every grip they can use. As most of you know, you can spend hours and hours on grips. If your students want to learn more about grips, have them book a private lesson or host a group "Grip Clinic".
Remember, you only have an hour maybe and hour and half......get them playing and having fun.
3. Underhand Serve
At this time I will introduce the serve and quickly go over the serving rules.
Underhand serve | below the hip
Out of the air serve and drop serve
Hitting the serves in the correct boxes
Hitting the serve past the kitchen line
Feet behind the baseline.
This is quick rule to go over. Have your players serve on both the left and right sides of the court. DO NOT have them return the ball yet. You will probably get questions regarding the serve. It's ok to take a little time to answer and discuss.
4. Return Bounce Rule
When introducing this rule, I will first explain in the group and then set up a drill where I will have players serving and returning. Obviously the focus is on the server to hit the ball back AFTER the bounce because thats what they are learning.
For a more in depth look at how this works check out our Programs Section and watch the "Beginner Crash Course Program"
5. Playing and Scoring
At this point, I am half way into the lesson and am ready to utilize the remainder of the time having them actually playing and trying to keep score.
As we all know, scoring is not the easiest thing to learn when you first start playing Pickleball.
I will set up the players in a brand new game WITHOUT them knowing how the scoring actually works. Again, your goal is to get them playing.
Remember, at this point they already know the core rules of Pickleball.
I will have them call out the score and play their first point. You are going to get A LOT of questions about the score.
My advice to teaching pros is this.......
Have them play lots of points while you are there monitoring them. You will be there to help them with where to be, what the score is, and who's turn it is to serve.
Trust me when I say this.......
If you stop and try to explain the score, you will confuse most players and take up way too much time in the lesson.
I am going to remind you again...Your goal is to get them playing and having fun.
After a few rotations of playing points, your players will have some idea of where to be and how the score works.
At this time I would take a few questions and explain the scoring a little further.
Conclusion
After years of doing Pickleball Beginner Lessons, I have learned that getting your students to start playing and having fun is the most important part of your curriculum.
I have done lessons where I have tried to go into detail about scoring and I took way too much time in the lesson doing this. Although yes, you are doing your job as a teaching pro, you also need to understand goal and overall purpose of Beginner Classes like these.
Visit our "Programs" section on this site to find an in depth tutorial on "Beginner Classes".
In this tutorial, you will find the following:
Beginner Pickleball Curriculum
What You Will Need
How Much You Earn As An Instructor
Case Studies Of Actual Beginner Classes And How Much They Made.
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