Hey Pickleballers,
Recent Blog Posts
Check out the News & Events section of the CatawbaPickleball.club website for these recent posts:- Professional Instructors Added to the Learn page- 26 More Courts!!!- The Fastest Way to Schedule Games
So Many New Courts!
We have 26 more courts available in the east Fort Mill and Indian Land area. I created a blog post for this, but I wanted to mention it here too.
The Town of Fort Mill completed 8 courts as part of the tennis court renovations at the YMCA at the Complex.
Pickleball Charlotte acquired Charlotte Indoor Tennis and Pickleball so 12 indoor and 6 outdoor courts are now available to Pickleball Charlotte Members. They also have plans to add even more courts at this Sharon Lakes location in the next couple months.
More info about then new courts available in this blog post.
How do I "Get to the Kitchen"?
The short description of an "intermediate" player is someone who gets to the kitchen more often than not. If you're not getting to the kitchen often, you're still a "beginner" player and the only way to get to the intermediate level is to get to the kitchen often.
I think the biggest issue people have getting to the kitchen is fear of not being able to react quick enough to hit the ball. The best antidote to that fear is having a good "ready position".
Make sure you finish every swing with the paddle in the ready position, which is comfortably out in front of your stomach. If your paddle is lower than your waist, you have very little chance of hitting a ball at chest height or higher and protecting yourself. Also, 70% of the balls you will hit out of the air at the kitchen will be backhands. If you prepare for a forehand, you'll only be ready for 30% of balls that come to you.
This Tyson McGuffin video does a great job of showing what a good ready position is and how to practice it.
I'm at the kitchen, now what?
This John Cincola video breaks down dinking strategies and how to win at the kitchen line.
To get to an intermediate level, you have to get to the kitchen, so understanding the strategies used at the kitchen line and what shots you should focus on is going to set a clear path to taking your game to the next level.
Kitchen Challenge!
The next time you play a game, count how many times you make it to the kitchen line when your team is serving. Next, count how many times you win a point after making it to the kitchen.
Being conscious of making it to the kitchen or not and whether or not you win the point when that happens helps identify the issues keeping you from the kitchen. After identifying those issues, you can work to resolve them, which will allow you to get to the kitchen more, and win more points. If you don't count it, you can't fix it.
Thanks,
Mike Drum
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