Gale H. Leach - The Art of Pickleball: Techniques and Strategies for Everyone

Pickleball is a fun, fast-paced game that is hugely popular around the world. Easy to learn, it can be played by people of all ages in a relatively short period of time, and the small size of the court allows it to be played nearly anywhere.

While learning to play pickleball in 2004, I searched for books that would explain how to become a better player. The sport was still relatively new, and only a couple of books were available. After reading Bill Booths tips on the Sun City Grand Pickleball Club website, I began taking notes as better players shared their expertise.

Those notes formed the basis of this bookthe result of examining what excellent players do that novice players do not. I searched out information about other racket sports, watched videos, read online sources, and included the notes I took as I learned the sport and became a better player.

Also included is the distillation of interviews with many pickleball players, professional and aspiring. The people I interviewed didnt always agree about the best way to make a shot or the strategies that should be employed in certain situations. Because of that, youll find contradictory information in these pages. Ask five pickleball players what they do in a given situation or how they do it, and youll get five different answers.

As with any sport, pickleball seems to have many right ways to play. Because of that, Ive included differing methods when significant disagreement occurred, or when it seemed that multiple options might help you discover what would work best for you. It will be up to you do decide what you like.

Few of you will read this book from cover to cover. Books of this sort generally contain too much information for that kind of reading to be useful. Only the information youre ready forthat takes you from where you are today to a step abovewill make sense and be helpful.

I hope you will read the sections of this book that interest you and browse the rest from time to time. Perhaps youll leave this book sitting on your coffee table and pick it up periodically. Books like this can be read again as you learn more about the game and your skills improve. Perhaps later youll discover new things upon rereading a passage that you missed the first time, or youll find new interest in something you werent ready for earlier.

Thats the best reason to come back and read this book: as your game improves, you will need to change your techniques and strategies, and youll be seeking new information. Heres a general plan for learning and improving your pickleball game.

• Learn how to play and practice. New players should read the rules and learn the basics of how to hit the ball and move on the court. Then study new ways to hone your skills as you improve. Watch and talk with players who play better than you do. Analyze what theyre doing and why, and ask to play games with them. Have someone videotape your play and watch it to see what youre doingnot what you think you do. Make sure you do things correctly from the beginning, so you dont have to unlearn bad habits later. Practice against a wall or with a partner, so you get intensive training on specific strokes. Once you do that, your game will improve.