How About a Little Something for the Effort?

Plus: Our Latest Pod with a 40-Year-Old Pickleball Paddle Company

Nov 01, 2023

Hi Pickleballers -

Have you ever seen one of those lists of things you can do that require no talent? For example, being on time, work ethic, effort, body language, etc. Woody Allen famously said, “80 percent of success in life is just showing up”. I had a boss who told me the same thing early in my career, and I think he was right. You can cover a lot of ground with very little talent.

Believe it or not, the same is true in pickleball. I’m convinced most players can become 4.0+ players with minimal natural talent. Here are a few of my observations that can help you get started.

10 Ways to improve at pickleball that require (close to) zero talent:

Diet. Show up hydrated and nourished. If you’re hungry or dehydrated, it will adversely affect your play. And if you’re like me, you’ll also be grouchy and hangry.
Have the right footwear. Don’t play pickleball with running shoes. You will eventually slip, which will cause you to lose the point or injure yourself. I’ve seen this too many times to count. Check out our top men’s and women’s pickleball shoes.
Get the right paddle. A wooden or graphite paddle is a good introductory paddle to determine if you like the game. Once you’re hooked, upgrade your paddle. There are a lot of intermediate paddles for under $150 that will help you play better.
Add lead tape to your paddle. Most stock paddles don’t have enough weight. Check out our how-to article on adding lead tape to your pickleball paddle. I like a paddle that weighs at least 9 oz.
Clean your paddle. This is most relevant for raw carbon fiber paddles. Pieces of the ball can break off and easily get stuck inside the grooves, making the paddle lose a lot of spin.
Get your serve in every time. Okay, this one does require a little talent. What I mean is that you don’t need to swing out of your shoes to make an improbable ace. If you’re frequently hitting your serves out, you’re probably hitting too hard or with too much spin. Slow down your serve and get it in. There’s no reason to give your opponents free points.
Learn to hit a third-shot drop. Another one that requires minimal talent. If you can make contact with a pickleball, you can hit a drop shot. Why is it important? Because it gives you and your partner time to get to the kitchen line.
Get up to the kitchen line as fast as you can. Once you master step 7, you only need to walk, jog, or run to the kitchen line when you or your partner hits a drop shot. You must be at the kitchen line if you want to play with advanced pickleball players. Don’t get fooled by bangers who excel at the intermediate levels, hitting the ball as hard as possible. This strategy stops working against better players who are in position.
Learn the rules. Pickleball has a lot of rules. In certain situations, you could lose a point that should have been yours because you didn’t know the rules. Learn the rules, and the next time your opponents disagree on whether your shot was in or out, you’ll know it’s automatically your point.
Have a good attitude. If you’re fun to be around and make the game enjoyable, you’ll be invited to more games. You can even get into games where everyone is much better, and they just “need a 4th”. More games with better players means more practice, and you’ll get better.

This Week’s Simply Pickleball Podcast

Prolite invented the first composite pickleball paddle in 1984, made from scraps of Boeing airplane material. 40 years later, Prolite is reinventing pickleball paddle construction again with the K2 Power. CEO Neil Friedenberg explains what sets Prolite pickleball paddles apart and why the company has succeeded for four decades.