David Zapatka This ‘12-common-mistakes’ column recently began after playing with some very excited, highly motivated, new pickleball players at our community courts. After playing a couple games, this question was posed to me: “What should we do to improve and become 3.5 players?” Last month we reviewed the first two mistakes. This month we take…
Tag: Relishing Pickleball
Sports, January 2021
Relishing Pickleball: 12 Common Mistakes and How to Fix Them (Mistakes 1 and 2)
David Zapatka While playing at the IronOaks courts in Sun Lakes for the first time last month, I ran into a group of very excited, highly motivated, new pickleball players. We played a couple games together and when we departed, this question was posed to me, “What should we do to improve and become 3.5…
Sports, November 2020
Relishing Pickleball: Dink Responsibly
David Zapatka Often called the most important shot in all of pickleball, the dink is the critical shot aspiring players must learn to improve their game. The dink is a shot hit slowly and softly into the opponents’ non-volley zone as close to the net as possible. If the opponent hits this ball hard, it…
Sports, September 2020
Relishing Pickleball: Pickleball Bangers
David Zapatka Are you getting tired of playing the bangers? They have one strategy, hit the ball as hard as they can. They rarely hit third shot drop shots. What can you do? There are two options. The first is the punch volley, a volley hit hard and deep. The second is the soft volley,…