The Pickleball Student Of The Game Analysis Blog is for beginner-to-advanced players who want to reduce unforced errors, get to the next level, increase their appreciation for the game and connect with like minded individuals. NOTE: To access the series of web-based learning sessions, click on the "Assignment" label on the sidebar.
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Muscle Memory Drill Session Goals -develop text book stroke mechanics - Art Of Pickleball -hit the ball on the paddle as much as possible - relax -develop hand/eye coordination -develop stamina -sweat (workout) Forehand Volley: 10+ minutes Activity Goals Consistency - 60+/60 seconds Repetition/Get into a rhythm
Stroke Key Points -get ready early -bend knees - light paddle grip 2/3 out of 10 (10 being a tight grip) - use non dominant arm for balance - hit ball in front of you - stroke through the ball -get in ready position Muscle Memory Drill Session From NVZ Line Activity List
10+ Minutes Per Activity
Standing at the NVZ line, how long can you volley a ball over the net with a partner without missing?
What are the number of times the ball hits the paddles?
1) Publish the video on YouTube so it can be included into the #PickleballVolley Challenge Playlist
2) Post the YouTube video on this thread.
A kinetic chain is the notion that these joints and segments have an effect on one another during movement. When one is in motion, it creates a chain of events that affects the movement of neighboring joints and segments. (Kinetic Chain Exercises: Open and Closed - Healthline) The kinetic chain is a system of links from which energy is generated. Each link transfers power to the next from the ground up. It includes leg drive, trunk rotation, upper arm elevation, forearm extension and hand flexion. Without body rotation and range of motion, we don’t have the power and control needed to perform. (Sarah Ansboury: Pickleball's Evolution)
DJ Weekly Tip: Engage your core. (March 2018)
Many people equate quality pickleball play with good hands or possibly good hands in combination with quick feet. However, while it is helpful to have good touch with your hands and quick feet, it is more important to have good core stability. (Read More) It all starts from the legs! Bending the knees and the core/shoulder/upper body rotation gives the power in every shot. The torque from the unit turn adds all the power. - Damon Little, 3.5, Junior Sequim Picklers
Irena Tereschenko uses the kinetic chain to hit a winner from the baseline during the 2019 Hawaii Open Championships Women's Singles Open Match. Irena Tereschenko vs. Lindsey Newman. Watch The Point
A great visual example of using the kinetic chain in the forehand stroke. Notice how the feet and arms work together as the body weight is transfered from back to front foot. When the kinetic chain is engaged, the stroke is one fluid seamless motion. Assignment: Make a video of yourself hitting forehand/backhand storkes and break down your use of the kinetic chain.
Mike Owens asked Jack Olmsted to look at the above video and comment on what Mike could do to improve his game. Jack suggested that I take a look at it and make comments too. What follows is a very detailed analysis that I did as I watched Mike in the above video, which I originally did as comments on the video's YouTube page, so my comments below are addressed to Mike. Although my comments are specific to Mike's play in this game, I see all of the things I commented on below in the game play of pretty much everyone I watch play Pickleball...
When you watch your video again, it's a big help to use some YouTube playback shortcuts:
1. The space bar toggles between play and pause.
2. The left arrow key jumps back 5 seconds in the video each time it's pressed (and the right arrow key jumps forward 5 seconds).
3. The period/right-angle-bracket key (./>) advances a paused video 1 frame each time it's pressed.
4. The comma/left-angle-bracket key (,/<) backs up a paused video 1 frame each time it's pressed.
After watching the first point it's clear that you are very agile and
are fast getting to the ball, so I watched the whole video to see if I
could see something worth commenting on.
What stands out is that your weight transfer during your forehands
is inconsistent. Although you transferred your weight from your back
foot to your front foot (which is the best way to do it) on every one of
your 16 serves (which are forehands), only about 50% of the rest of
your forehands had that weight transfer (great examples of good weight transfer are at 0:27 and 0:46) and during about 50% of them you instead transferred your weight from your front foot to your back foot (at 1:02, 1:05, 1:20, 2:35, 3:08, 3:45, 3:56, 6:43, 7:44, 7:46, and 8:36).
This second best way is OK if it's the only way you can get the ball
back, but it's a much weaker shot, so you should avoid it if you can.
It's a weaker shot because stepping from the front foot to the back foot
means you are moving away from the net, and the speed with which you do
so is subtracted from the speed you hit the ball, resulting in a
slower ball, giving your opponent more time to get to the ball and hit
it. If your desire is to hit the ball slower, it's much better to just
slow your swing down -- not back up while you're moving (it's easier to
hit the ball while standing still rather than while you're moving). In
reviewing the video, it appears that you're having to back up because
your opponent is hitting the ball deep to you and you're not standing
far enough back (e.g., behind the baseline) to return his shot without backing up. You're very
fast on your feet, so I don't think you have to stand inside the
baseline in order for you to run in if your opponent dinks the ball -- you should only stand inside the baseline if your particular opponent never hits the ball deep, or if it's a good gamble that a ball you hit to your opponent is likely to come back short.
Here's your proper weight transfer at 0:46, starting with a split-step:
Next, you started moving towards where the ball was going to be at ball contact:
Then, you set your back (away from the net) foot, which you'll step off of to hit the ball:
Next, you have stepped off your back foot, and just before ball contact you are about to land on your front foot, which is the foot you should balance on while making ball contact:
Finally, you can see that you're still balancing on your front as you follow-through:
This was a very-well-executed weight transfer (from your back foot to your front foot)...
I'm going to use the above video that Jack Olmsted recorded to compare different types of Pickleball serves. I'll start with a typical beginner serve. The typical beginner prepares for the serve by facing the net -- this is called an "open" stance -- the hips and the shoulders are roughly parallel with the net (and the baseline), as shown in the first picture:
This stance has two major shortcomings. It reduces the amount of power you can hit the ball with, and if you want horizontal directional accuracy you have to avoid the natural across-the-body follow-through.
You can put more power into the ball by using a "square" stance (also called a "neutral" stance). It's called a square stance because the hips and shoulders are at right angles to the net (a square is made up of lines that meet at right angles), rather than parallel to the baseline (for an open stance). The square stance has a back foot (the foot farthest from the net) that you push off of at the start of the serve, and that push gets transmitted to the ball, and a front foot (closest to the net) that you balance on at ball contact. After ball contact the back foot is brought up even with the front foot to put you into a neutral stance, which is the stance required for being in the "ready" position.
The square stance also enables horizontal directional accuracy by allowing you to have the natural across-the-body follow-through without disturbing the desired pendulum motion of the arm in the vicinity of ball contact. If you have an open stance instead, your follow-through has to continue in the direction that you want the ball to travel, because an across-the-body follow-through will tend to cause the ball to be pulled in the direction of the follow-through (because ball contact is typically out in front of the body, at which point the arm has started swinging across the body). The next picture shows the server at the end of the backswing:
Notice that this server has stepped forward while taking the paddle back. This results in an advanced version of a beginner's serve, because it produces a front foot and a back foot, which allows the server to produce more power. It's not a fully advanced serve though, because the open stance requires avoiding an across-the-body follow-through so that horizontal directional accuracy can be maintained. Another advanced aspect of this serve is the large backswing, which results in generating more power than when using a short backswing because the paddle head accelerates over a longer distance, yielding a greater paddle head speed at ball contact for the same swing force.
The next picture shows the server just before contact. She is still moving forward, which is good, because that forward movement is added to the ball speed. She is looking down at the ball, which is also essential, as she can then see the paddle hit the ball, and adjust the swing to make sure that the ball hits the center of the paddle:
Notice that the arm holding the paddle is bent significantly at the elbow (it's hard to see because of the blur, but you can see that her shirt sleeve of her hitting arm is roughly pointing down, which means that her arm must be significantly bent just before ball contact, which hasn't quite happened yet, as indicated by the ball not being a blur), resulting in a smaller arc for the paddle head travel, which results in less power.
The last picture shows the end of the follow-through. Notice that the follow-through is NOT across-the-body. This maintains horizontal directional accuracy, and is another indicator that this is an advanced beginner serve:
Two other advanced aspects of this serve are that the server isn't bending the wrist up during the serve (notice the wrist is straight at the end of the follow-through), which yields good vertical directional accuracy; and that the follow-through is long, which, along with the long backswing, provides a more uniform paddle head speed in the ball contact zone than a short swing. One other thing to notice is that the arm that tossed the ball has swung backwards, which twisted the shoulders horizontally. Since this moves the shoulder of the hitting arm forward during the swing, it adds a bit of racket head speed, giving the server a bit more power. Since this server has an open stance, the shoulder twist doesn't pull the shoulder out of the intended path of the ball much, so it's relatively harmless.
