If you are finding yourself trading in one of these for one of these, I've got a
few tips to help you make the transition it's just a little bit easier. Stay Tuned.
Hey everybody it's CJ Johnson I'm sure that you've heard by now
pickleball is one of the fastest growing sports in the country. Why not?
It's fun to play. It's social, we're having a great time out here so if you haven't
played already I hope that you'll join us. What we're finding is that there's a
lot of people who are converting from tennis to pickleball. Pickleball is not
mini tennis and today I'm going to cover a few things that'll help you make the
transition from the tennis court to the pickleball court.
First of all let's talk about the grip. The preference for most people in
pickleball is a continental grip. It's a more neutral grip, it's easier to use on
both the forehand side as well as the backhand side in pickleball. There's not
as much time to switch grips especially once you get to the non-volley zone so
by using a continental grip you set yourself up for a little bit more
success. What you're going to notice in the Continental grip is the V on my
forehand is even with this bevel on the pickleball handle and the knuckle of my
forefinger is even with that bevel. It's true that some of the better players
use an Eastern forehand grip for ground strokes from the backcourt and then
switched to a more neutral grip who once they're at the net. If that's what you're
comfortable with from tennis go ahead give it a try. Just
keep in mind once you get to the net there's no time to be switching grips.
Number two in pickleball always keep the paddle out in front of you. In tennis
when we take a ground stroke we tend to move the paddle behind us to generate
power as we move forward. In pickleball we're going to be a lot better off if we
keep the paddle out in front of us and make a shorter stroke.
Number three is the footwork. In pickleball and tennis the footwork is
very similar. I think one of the things that you'll find is you'll be using
fewer crossover steps in part you have a shorter distance to cover. On the
forehand you'll also see that fewer players use a very closed setup they
tend to use a more open more forehand in the pickleball for hand versus tennis. But
those are pretty small differences. The one big difference is in the volley. In
tennis we're taught to volley by stepping forward to make contact. In
pickleball we have this thing called the non-volley zone or the kitchen line so
if you step forword and take a volley in the air you're in violation of the
kitchen rule. So what you'll need to do here is make sure that you're up on the
balls of the feet, keep the panel in front of you and volley with a very
stationary body. All the movement is coming from the shoulder and arm.
Number four this is not a baseline game you are going to need to learn to soften
the shot. In tennis especially singles it's played mainly
from the baseline. We use a lot of angles and power to gain an advantage and to
hit a winner. In pickleball you'll need to learn how to soften
the shot, be a little bit more patient and wait for a ball that comes above the net
take advantage of that and then make the put away. As I said in
the opening pickleball is not mini tennis there's a lot of things that are
going to transition from your tennis play on to the pickleball court but
pickleball is a game all on to its own with a lot of strategy and several
differences that make the two of them completely unique and different and can
be enjoyed by anyone. Tell me what have you learned in transitioning from tennis
to pickleball? Put it down in the comments below. If you got value from
this video if you wouldn't mind giving it a little thumbs up or if you would share
it with your pickleball playing friends because Together We Can
Train Smart, Live Bold and Age Well