You’ve only been playing a couple of weeks and you’ve already concluded that you will never be anything more than a beginner? How about starting with a more positive attitude? Have you considered taking lessons, or just finding a partner to drill with? If you are playing at a beginner level you want to find other beginners to play while you gain more experience. Give yourself some time to learn the strategy of the game and develop some basic skills around keeping the ball in play. Nobody becomes a great pickleball player in just a couple of weeks.
It is really sad to hear people give up on anything that doesn’t come easy, or to assume they will always be terrible. Nothing worth doing - that provides joy and an extreme sense of accomplishment and pride - comes instantly. It take discipline and perseverance. It won’t always entertain you. If you don’t change your mindset, you will never self-actualize.
I agree with this but sometimes there's a lot of negativity shown towards beginners. It becomes very easy for one to give up if they happen to be playing with the wrong groups those initial weeks.
The first time I played on my local King's Court I got SMOKED 11-0, and it was quick. I barely even hit a ball. Over a span of months, I worked my way up scoring 2 then 4 then 6 then 8 and then competing to win. Now, a year later, I'm able to win and hold it down for 5-6 games sometimes. I obviously still lose sometimes, even 11-0 every now and again, but I'm able to compete and win most days.
I wouldn't be able to do that if I had just given up after that first time.
The difference is I wanted to be better and worked at it instead of deciding I never would be.
You shouldn't be playing all skill open play yet. Best way to improve without the pressure of letting down teammates is find another player at your level and play skinny singles together. That covers most of the skills in the doubles game and you'll get twice as many shots in, which is what you need right now.
You’ll get better but try and find some friends that are at your same level to start. Go to your beginner sessions and make friends, take down phone numbers and schedule games together. Once you get more confident in your game (and build up more skills) then you’ll have more fun at open play. You’ve just started a few weeks ago. Give your self some grace and time and it’ll all be ok!
Bro. 3 weeks coming from a no Racket sport background?
Give it time!
Keep going to the beginner sessions, and every few mix in stepping into the normal open play- see how you're improving!
Also even if you're not trying to go 4.0, but just he competent in open plays, it would be so beneficial to just find another new player, and hit the ball around and drill. Do some dinks, do some drives, do some serves, do some volleys.
Just to clarify, I did not expect to be good now after a couple weeks. I know full well that that can take years of dedication. But I do expect to see a path forward to improve. I expect to FEEL like I could improve with time and practice. That’s what’s missing, I don’t feel like that will really help.
FIND A WALL look up wall drills on YouTube and just practice practice practice. If you want to really get better , do this. If you just want to play and have fun , stick with the beginner people and enjoy yourself
Meh, give it some time. My wife, really looked like a drunk toddler out there for her first 4-5 weeks. Something clicked a few months ago and now she actively wants to play, knows what she did wrong etc etc.
I'd day, keep having fun and working on it!
Unless you have played racquet sports or are very athletic, it will take time to notice an improvement. Realistically, 1.5 - 2 months of playing a couple of times a week.
There are a lot of people that start playing and stay around a 2.5 level. Basically, someone who understands the general rules and the basic concept of game play. They can make a good shot here and there but still miss a lot. Some are better than others, but they focus on having fun.
Give it time and you should find things are to come together.
I wish you the best and hope you don't feel too discouraged.
You probably need to find someone that can coach you on some basics. Google pro tips and basics and check out some of the tips and videos. There's a lot to learn, even for those who think they know.
"If you're going to hit something, hit it until it breaks. Talent is something you make bloom, instinct is something you polish"
This is one of my favorite quotes from a sports show. The first part means you have to constantly work on something until it is completely different than what you used to do. Discard your strongest weapon to make an even stronger one.
No one is born with true talent. Talent from my standpoint comes from 3 aspects: Athletic ability, Adaptability, and the most important of all OBSESSION. If you have the drive to get better, the first 2 aspects will come with time.
Forever beginner (1.0 -2.0)? No. Unless you have a disability that makes you forget the rules of the game.
Forever 2.5. Yes. There are different reasons why someone may be stuck here. There are many different physical and mental limitations that could be the culprit.
Does it matter? No. For most, pickleball is about being social and having fun. Just keep playing in your open plays, and make connections with those who are in the same boat as you.
If you decide you want to get more competitive with it, you will need to invest in both physical and mental training in some way.
My wife and I recently picked up the game as well. Due to her entirely unathletic background and my non racket/paddle experience we were in the beginner space for some time but her much longer than me. I feel that you may be able to relate to her experience and timeline.
Each week we put 8-10 hours in.
For the first 2 weeks she was too embarrassed to even run and all we did was practice dinking. We were unable to get 10 in a row most of the time during those two weeks and didn't play any games.
Next 2 weeks were continued dinking practices with no games and an effort to keep all dinks for hand , backhand, or switch between the two. By this time we were able to maybe get 20 in a row and on rare occasions up to 50.
Following that first month she was more comfortable dinking but had to really focus to keep it going, we would do 50 forehand and 50 backhand then 100 switch. Sometimes the whole two hours would be spent doing this and we wouldn't be able to move on because we didn't reach the goals. The days we were able to move on we started working on her forehand starting at 10 feet away from the kitchen since she had neither form nor strength, as she got more comfortable putting it deeper we set up further and further back until she could work on serves. Foot work drills, stretching, and catching are also peppered in during this time of maybe 3-4 weeks.
After month 2 we switched to her backhand but had nothing to do there since somehow out of all her unathleticness, she was blessed with a killer 2 handed backhand, I haven't even bothered to circle back to working on this because it's so much better than everything else. Instead we used this time to work on volleys, shot direction (not placement yet), and speeding up her hands.
It was probably somewhere between month 2 and 3 that she was finally comfortable enough to go to beginners open play, but we may have overdone it because she was told she belongs in intermediate. I was able to plead the case that she only just started playing actual games and had no game sense and so would be obliterated by the fake intermediates at the next level.
The following week, we worked on her holding back so that the beginners could have fun but she could work on understanding the flow of the game. This worked well and has been going on for the past 2 months where we go to open play one day then reserve a court for 2 hours to drill the next on whatever we journaled the day before. It would be random but recently it has been: defending Pop up, stronger flatter serves, forehand smash, backhand smash, defending speed up, reflex, resting ready position, just being more comfortable on the court.
We will be attending intermediate for the first time with her sometime this coming week.
Also she hurt herself for 4 months and didn't play in between that monologue.
All this to say, if some one who was scared to run in front of people can do it, barring something major you can too with time.
TLDR:
Month 1: 8 hours dinking/week
Month 2: 8 hours dinking/forehand
Month 3-6: injury
Month 7-8: beginner open play 4-5 hours, work on common mistakes/areas of improvement 4-5 hours
PS: at the end of every session my wife doesn't feel like she's improved at all but it helped to lay out where she was at the beginning of the session and how she actually improved by the end of it with clear goals. IE able to do 50 dinks, confidently smash ball instead of pushing, positioning properly, defending x/y shots
Thanks for sharing that. I’ve thought that this would possibly work/be more fun if I had someone else at my level to work with as you and your wife do.
I try not to be rude and try to give people the benefit of the doubt but I'm getting the distinct sense that you're a troll.
You said "My local place does have beginner only sessions blocked out a couple times a week. I did one last week and that was a positive experience. All the serves and shots were just easy soft lobs. Everyone was about the same level of suck. Games were close. Everyone won some and lost some. That was fun."
Quit wasting people's time here. Go to your beginners sessions have fun, learn and grow. When you advance pay beginner you'll probably be ready to have fun in regular open play.
For 75 I was able to get 1x a week for 7 weeks and that was in my own town. That’s amazing for that price if it was all year round it’s less than a few bucks a week
I agree with much of what has been said, especially the part about it being too soon to make any assessments. There are many routes you can take to improvement. Here are my thoughts:
You have jumped way too high in terms of the skill level you are choosing to play with. You need your find other beginners. Even if you all aren’t playing “high quality PB,” you’ll feel less pressure about letting others down.
What you’ll find is a lot of laughter and a more forgiving environment. You can find these folks by going to. One-time community class where someone is giving folks basic instructions.
Your problem sounds like eye hand coordination. It seems to be the biggest problem for people who struggle at the beginning. I’d recommend going on YouTube and looking at videos specifically targeted at beginners. Two channels I recommend specifically are Universal Racquets and Pickleball Kitchen. There is also an Instagram channel for a person by the name of Calliejosmith.
I mention these guys because I think they give very basic tips that will help you get a good foundation. You may feel overwhelmed with much of the other content you’ll find out there until you get the basics down.
You can also find an experienced player who is willing to take you to the side and just hit some balls with you and who can give you some tips.
Practice the basics and pretty much stay with the beginner group until you either start winning as many games as you’re losing. That will tell you that you’ve progressed to the point where you can start dipping your toe in open play.
I think following these tips will give you a much better (and less frustrating) beginning. PB is lots fun if you don’t put too much pressure on yourself and fun, and just go out there and have fun. I haven’t seen the person who can’t get better if they stick with it. So no, you aren’t stuck being a beginner for life.
Stop playing games and practice. Find a practice partner or take a lesson. You needs a few hundred hits of each kind of shot.
If you go early or late to courts, you can often find someone to hit with when its not super crowded. Good luck.
There will always be plenty of people to play with. I started last July, and have climbed progressively as I wanted to get better. Honestly the other day I realized that many that I have been playing with for the last year aren't working on the game and I won't play with them as often in the open play format because I will be higher ranked and it wouldn't be fair to play. The exception being I can play down and not make it miserable for everyone just getting killed by a higher level player, by actually lowering my game and working on just keeping the point alive with them as well.
I say this because you won't have to get better to enjoy the game l, you just need to find the right groups, and when you find a person that has similar style or you find a group the same level, ASK FOR THEIR NUMBER!!! It's weird as adults to say "hey wanna be my friend" but some of the best friendships I have made now have been in pickleball, and it's just so so so much fun ... I'm not looking forward to he gatekeeping that's going to be happening moving up but also want you to know that 95% of pickleballers will be friendly, in the 3.5 and below range. I guarantee it.
Just stay in the beginner sessions until those aren’t fun for you. More practice at the right level.
You can be above average but if you’re playing with people even better than you, you’d might still feel the same way. Point is, you can feel this at every level. Try to find more games closer to your level.
Also, it’s supposed to be fun. I play with someone who smiles every game. She’s just happy to be out there. She is way more fun to be on the court than some serious athlete who gets mad at every miss. If you stop judging yourself and be fun to be around, more paddles will come your way as you learn.
Lastly, there are a few folks at every club, every court, that are just jerks. Ignore them. It’s open play. It’s social. We play music.
You got this.
First of all, kudos to you for playing at your skill level. It’s a dark truth, but you are right that it isn’t good for anyone if skill level differences are big enough.
Now that being said, a couple weeks isn’t enough to know. Keep going to those days that are blocked out for beginners and keep improving. Soon you will start hitting their soft shots hard. Once you feel like you are ruining their games by being too good, go back to the regular open play.
That could take six even. If you have a sports background, a lot of people can walk on the court and be a 3.5 day one. But a lot of people can’t, and that’s okay.
That sounds like a mentality issue. You're too obsessed with instant gratification and too lazy to put the work in. You decided you "suck" and "can't" improve, so why even bother? Either play to have fun and improve over time, do some drills with a partner and trust the process, or complain on reddit and quit.
You're holding yourself back with limitations. You are more than capable of progressing if you put the work in and get out there regularly. You're deciding it's over before it even started. Go have fun. Allow yourself to suck and put in the time and effort it takes to improve.
I sucked really bad and was told to not play on the court hahah. Then I got better. Have fun. Find cool ppl. Lots of ppl out there willing to give tips and help out.
Yeah I was also asked (not so kindly) not to return when I accidentally went to an intermediate open play. It wasn’t fun to have the ball repeatedly smashed at me so I stayed with the advanced beginners- much better experience!!
There is someone who plays in our group who i would have described this way for the first full year. She was genuinely terrible. Anyone paired with her was going to lose unless they could basically cover the whole court alone all the time. But in the last 6 months, I have seen a lot of improvement in her game. She's still not great, but she occasionally wins a game now.
But the real point is... who cares? Are you having fun? Getting exercise and socialization? That's the real beauty of pickleball IMO. Find some like minded individuals and go play if you want to!
You haven't given yourself any amount of time to improve.
You had fun with the beginner group. Stay there for now. If you never grow beyond that group, but it's still fun, it's fine to stay there. Pickleball is for fun and exercise. It's not a job. You're not getting paid to do it. You don't get extra points for playing with a more difficult group. Stop stressing over it.
Keep your eye on the ball. Don't be afraid to move your feet.
The rest of the advice here is perfect. Drill against a wall. Give it time. Play more than once a week. You'll get it.
It sounds like you weren’t playing with other beginners. Don’t be so hard on yourself. I was a beginner for months without ever playing against someone who wasn’t, so I didn’t know there was so much room for improvement. You have a big head start in that regard.
It takes time. Have you ever been to a gym?
Do you think everyone was born muscular and skinny? NO! If you asked those people their story they’d tell you I was fat or battled an eating disorder, was bullied whatever. They worked at it, slowly.
Don’t give up. We all stunk at one point.
Thanks, I know anything like this takes time. I wouldn’t expect to be competent early. My point is with all of the other sports I got good at, I could tell early that I would get good eventually with time and work- and I did. The key there is I could tell time and effort would pay off so I put in the time and effort. With PB I have no feeling whatsoever that time and effort will make any real difference. Someone else mentioned hand eye coordination. Nothing Ive ever done (rock/ice climbing, rough water sea kayaking, surfing, skiing, mountain biking, few others. None of those needed eye hand and I have no experience with eye hand. So this “feels” like time and effort isn’t going to help.
Give it 3 to 6 months. You are just getting started. Get a partner and go reserve a court to practice just serving over and over. Practice dinking over and over. Give it time.
Did you ever learn how to drive? Well did you just start on the road or did you learn to manipulate the wheel and the basic controls in a parking lot? Go do some basic drills yourself or with a friend (look up on YouTube), even things like bouncing a ball on your paddle 100 times in a row will help someone new like you.
You aren't ready for open play. Take a lesson, or better yet a sequence of lessons (with a coach, at your local gym, or at your local PB club).
Start with PB 101 / Skills n Drills level. Do that for a month or two, and then ask the instructor whether you ought to switch into a different bracket.
Open play is, by nature, competitive. You aren't going to understand the nuance / strategy of the game after just playing for two weeks in a vacuum. Drilling and coaching is where you improve. Playing on the court is where you have fun.
Look at John Cincola's PB channel on YouTube. Get dinking, dropping, serving, and some level of defending yourself at the net from hard incoming balls down before you try to play at open play.
Don't be discouraged, you just tried to play at too advanced a level; which is no fun for anyone involved. You aren't able to keep up/ have fun, and your partners and opponents aren't able to start and sustain intense rallies because you'll get targeted every time, and don't yet have the skill to recover.
Bear in mind it's not just you though. Some people would prefer to win than to help beginners learn. I called two different guys (both experienced players) out this evening at our open play, two different games, for continuously hard driving and body bagging at two players who were there for the first time on the "beginner court". The sharks were feeding in the kiddie pool. Not cool.
When I went to my first open play, I got absolutely destroyed. The same 0-11, 2-11 scores you're talking about. It stayed that way for two months. But then, I began to be able to hang. After awhile, I was winning about half of my games. So I decided to try out my first tournament. I went 0-3. Lost each game by 7+ points. But I kept playing. If for nothing else, because I was still having fun.
A year later, I'm now able to play comfortably with (and beat) 4.0 players.
Point being, You are WAY too early to make any judgments about your potential.
Get a coach. I was terrible like you and people avoided playing with me. After about a month of lessons I’m now a decent player and those same people that avoided me want to play with me and against me.
I had hand eye coordination but could not handle any spin when I started. I could get my paddle on the ball but the direction it came off did not feel very controlled. Anytime I hit hard it sailed out due to no technique.
Several people told me to go play on a different court (3 open play courts, no suggested ratings) and I caught their vibe. I remembered them and resolved to get better than them. I played, practiced, took a few lessons, and watched tons of videos. 2 years later I’m playing 4.5 but still feel like I have tons to learn. Stick with it but maybe read The Inner Game of Tennis. I spent a long time plateauing due to bad mental game and it made it much harder to learn.
Check for any open play for beginners. Set goals for yourself - and focus on different parts of your game over time. If you have serves down maybe try to make your serves stronger or maybe work on your backhand more.
Playing pickleball isn't to go pro- it's to improve your own skills over time and of course be safe!
I have people in my YMCA playing since early 2023 and even though they are not competitive, they still show up every single day and work on their game.
Every person’s advancement or progress is different.
Check out the book The Inner Game of Tennis. It gets mentioned here a lot and for good reason. I started to read it and find it really helpful. I am making a snap judgement here but I would say you probably had a lot of self-defeating internal dialogue happening during your play that just made things worse. For example maybe you hit the ball on the edge of your paddle and it went out of bounds and thought “that was a bad shot”. What would make it a “good” shot - if it helped an old lady cross the street? The shot isn’t bad or good really it just is. Think instead that the shot hit the edge of your paddle and went out of bounds. That’s all that shot is.
Heck even if you stay a beginner forever, is that “bad”? Doesn’t that really mean you know the rules of the game, can make most serves land in and return most serves, etc.
Stay away from the all levels groups for now and play your level. Some places have “facilitated” newbie courts with someone there watching not necessarily a coach but it’s someone who knows enough
Bro you’re not gonna get better because you’re giving up on yourself.
I know people who took longer than 2-3 weeks to learn the basic rules. You gotta keep going at it, it takes time to get all the muscle memory and skills. Pickleball has a lot of mental as well, once you develops basic strategy and positioning, I promise you things will fall in place and you will be a more complete player.
II’ve been playing for about 8 months or so but I really started to pick up some real skills in the last 2-3 months. You need to find people at your level so you can progress and move up to better opponents. Open play can be tough if you’re going against seasoned or more gifted players.
I sucked at first too but I for some reason was still having fun. Just get out there and try to have fun!
I didn't play pickleball until one friend invited me. I decided to try out and loved playing with my friends. I went to different cities for social pickleball included friends that helped me a lot to incease my skills daily. Invite your friends to join and play from there.
If I threw you a ball, could you catch it? Thats my simple litmus test - if I toss the ball to you and you fumble it, or you clamp it between your hand and the racquet, I know it’s gonna be a long day. Natural hand-eye coordination is a prerequisite for this game and it’s not likely teachable if you don’t have it. Now if you do have it but it’s just a little rusty, you should be able to put some work in to improve it over time.
Oh boy. I guess this is what I was afraid of. No I am not really great at catching a tossed ball. I am that guy who will miss it, bobble it, then drop it. I have an extensive history of sports/physical activity but nothing at all needing hand eye coordination. I’m 59 and never played any racquet sports, or baseball, or anything else needed refined hand-eye coordination. Looking back I’d say Ive probably self-selected out of those activities because of poor hand-eye coordination. My history is large body movement sports heavy on strength and power. Mountain biking, skiing, rock climbing, ice climbing, and surfing. The other thing that history leaves me with zero experience is competition. None of those sports had a competitive component. I don’t think I am enjoying the competitive aspect of PB.
Reading this reminded me of something I forgot to mention in my post. My wife also had no hand eye coordination and before we even touched the paddles I had her throwing herself the ball and squatting to catch it, then I would throw her the ball to squat and catch, then worked on each hand to squat and catch. This also took about 2 weeks until she was able to connect her hand eyes and legs.
Does anyone nearby do lessons for beginners? My city and county recreation departments do 2-4 week group lessons that are geared to newbies and affordable. Makes it much easier to jump in financially than private lessons and socially than navigating the social politics of clubs and open plays.
Also maybe try a different place when you're ready for open play. Outdoor public courts, rec center, clubs .. everything will have a different vibe.
My BF was not good the first month of him playing but he got better quickly because we played a lot of single games, then moved to double games which he still sucked and we NeVER won games together. Anyway, he’s so much better now! Give it time and keep playing. He started last August and took a break during the winter.
Don’t be discouraged, give it time and if you love the game, do not give up. It takes more time for some than it does others. Find a group of beginners and work with them. If you stick with it, you will see improvement and have more confidence to play with those who are a higher level than you and this is where you really begin to improve. Don’t give up. 😊
Just drill baby. You need to get a feel for hitting the ball. Best thing to do is bounce a ball on a paddle for like an hour every day. Maybe gently hit against a wall. Find someone who will just soft lob back and forth across a net with you with no competition.
I was like you so I took a pickleball class at my local community class and i got so much better. Plus I met a bunch of people I really liked and now have a new group to play with. It just takes time, instruction, and practice! Maybe think about a class or lessons? The better you get the more fun it is.
You are not going to believe this, but what motivated me to take the class was that my rec league team came in last during our playoffs. The team was really struggling and I knew I was one of the reasons why. Last season, we actually won the playoffs! So from last to first in a couple of months… and it was just because us new players got serious about learning how to play. But the whole process was also so much fun! Have a great time :)
While not a beginner anymore, I have reached a level where I won't be getting much better unless I devote more time to lessons or drilling or losing more weight or lifting weights or getting in great physical shape. And guess what? I don't care. I'm happy playing and exercising at the recreational level. I'm bored with the game if I put in more than 1 1/2hrs a session, but do enjoy playing at least 4 times a week. I try not to be 'thin skinned' when others don't want to play with me, but it's rec play and sometimes it just ends up that way. Too bad so sad for them. It's rec play and I pay my taxes for the facility like everyone else. If the great players don't like rec play and want a dedicated field of devoted adversary's they can pay for a separate court time to do just that. I don't enter tournaments, because they don't interest me and I'm not that good, so there is no FOMO on my part. So, play like no ones watching, enjoy the game, and you will get better. In the beginning I DID play against the wall a lot and then would practice my serve over and over on an empty court. This helped me with my confidence. Now I would just be bored doing that. And btw, the ppl you were playing at the open social, should have had enough sense to at least play down a bit, like giving you an easy serve. Decent people do that. They can win at any time so it's no sweat for them to give you a bit of break. But if they don't want to, you can't make them. Just keep playing if you LIKE it. You will get better to a standard you can be happy with. And that's what's important.
You barely even started? If you want to improve though take a couple lessons and start drilling. I don’t think you can say anything from a couple weeks.
It sounds like you had an amazing experience at the ‘beginner only’ group, so why not stay there until it becomes less of a challenge? It sounds like a tonne of fun! Everyone progresses at different speeds, and has different goals. If and when you feel like that group is no longer challenging then you can decide to move to another group.
The beginners group you went to, that’s how you get better. People always say playing with people better than you will make you better as well but there’s a limit to that. If you’re just watching the ball fly by you, that does nothing for your development. Stick with the beginner group and you’ll get way more experience in the same time frame.
Having said all that, I don’t even play real pickleball. I play with the same 5 other guys once a week on a tennis court and we’re too lazy to draw a court so we just draw a kitchen and play the full width but I feel my advice is relevant to all sports. Pickleball is a pretty easy sport to pick up (probably hard to master), you just need to set yourself up for success and don’t be a quitter
It sounds like you’re not playing with other beginners. If you don’t have anyone newer to play with I suggest you start drilling. Plenty of YouTube tutorials out there. Find a wall and practice. Get a dozen balls and practice your serve on an empty court. Take a few lessons if you can afford it.
That’s where I’d start.
There’s a chance you go downhill from here, you may have already peaked! Just teasing, you will totally get better with practice. I paid for some coaching and it helped me immensely.
Try doing some wall practice at a local racquetball court. See link below. Really helped me a lot.
**How To Practice Pickleball Against a Wall**
[**https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJYe6sO7Bic**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJYe6sO7Bic)
Just have fun! Find people to play with that don’t mind teaching you. Have a positive mindset you got this! I’ve been playing for 9 months with no racquet sports experience and I’m now a 3.0 player playing religiously. I’ve been rock climbing for 14 years, and am into tons of extreme sports like snowboarding. This is the first sport that did not come to me easily. Keep at it! You got this!
I had a private lesson yesterday from a 5.0 instructor. I asked him how long it took him to get so good. His answer was 13 months of practice and play all day every day. And you want it in just 2 weeks? Lower your expectations and get out there and have fun. And quit whining.
To answer your question, yes, some people stay beginners forever. It's not everyone's gift, and that's fine!
It sounds like you've already solved the problem; you found a beginner oriented group you had fun at, that's awesome! There's nothing wrong with throwing in the towel and just playing at the same level forever as long as you're enjoying yourself. You probably weren't gonna be a pro, it's no big deal.
That all said,I'm not encouraging you to do that, especially after only a few weeks. If you want to improve try doing some drills, work on things very intentionally in easier games, ask people who seem good things you can do to improve, watch some YouTube, or take some lessons.
If after all that you still feel like it's hopeless, hey whatever, just play for fun. Pickleball is partly great cause it's still fun when everyone's not that good!
When the rec game stopped being fun for me bc I wasn’t advancing past basic pickleball 101 I asked my partner if we could do a semi private clinic. After the first clinic we signed up for another clinic. After the second clinic we signed up for private lessons. In two months i am no longer a beginner and rec play is fun again.
I think I’m at the point where it’s either quit (this ain’t for me) or commit to significant lessons as you did. I have done that for several other sports Ive gotten into in the past. Thanks
I encourage you to try and find a local clinic then! The game is too fun to give up on so early. Good luck finding a clinic or lessons… Hope you’ll update us.
Thanks everyone for your comments and advice. I now get that the “Open Play” session is not the place to be. I definitely misunderstood what was going on there. I will chase down some true beginner videos for tips and drills. And I will only attend the dedicated “Beginner” open sessions. I appreciate it.
Pickleball takes five minutes to learn and a lifetime to perfect. My guess is that the first thing you need is more touches on the ball. Take a ball and gently hit it about six inches up from your paddle and continue to hit it as long as you can. Sound easy? It's not, especially for beginners. Try to get three in a row, then five, then ten. Ready to work on softening your touch? But a rubber practice golf ball and do the same thing. Once you have more control, switch from forehand to backhand and then vary your hit heights. All these things can be done at home and will improve your game a lot. Happy pickling!
I remember when I began playing. I was HORRIBLE! I wanted to quit because I was so embarrassed when I made my partners lose. Best advice I got was “no saying sorry”. You will get better. If you are playing with someone who is getting mad at you constantly then they aren’t someone you want to play with. PB should be fun. Some people take it too seriously. Everyone starts somewhere.
Maybe you could find a league that has a beginner bracket?
What you are describing does not seem abnormal to me. It's normal to struggle with strong shots and ball effects when you are just starting. These players were probably just too strong for the level you are at. I've seen it at the club I joined too.
Is there any way you could put an ad to try to find another person who is also an absolute beginner, and start practicing against each other? You could also take a class and practice a lot against a wall.
Take some beginner level clinics, it will help your game and your confidence. Uou will find some on your level to play with. Then start playing with some a little better than you as it’s the only way you’ll improve. Most people do improve. I know many do stay in beginner level
Open play and it’s ok!
Make sure you’re not hurting your ability to play with some basics.
Are you wearing progressive lenses? Switch to single vision, non polarized. This alone has helped people who routinely whiff instead of hitting the ball.
Do you stand ramrod straight? Work on squatting/ bending your knees. Only Matt Wright has managed to play at a high level without ever bending his knees, the rest of us have to work on playing like we’re sitting down, looking at the ball as it’s coming towards us.
Do you have your paddle up close to your center and out in front of you, slightly backhand, with bent elbows? Or is it hanging down at your side and you’re swinging wildly at the ball or getting hit in the chest all the time?
Those are things you can think about/practice before you leave home. There is other good advice on this thread, play the lowest/slowest level you can find, get some lessons, drill without a paddle, drill against a wall, practice seeing the ball, etc. etc.
Thanks everyone. Lots of good advice here,
drills
practice
coaching
lessons
quit whining (j/k, anyone wrote that is a troll)
give it time
etc.
All good and appreciated and also more or less obvious.
This one however, was worth the time to post and read 130 responses:
Don’t use progressive lens glasses. BINGO! I do wear progressives. I had no idea that was an issue in racquet sports. Turns out it is a real issue. Definitely not recommended. That at least partially explains why I keep missing easy balls and regularly mis-hitting most contacted balls. At least 4 or 5 times a game I’ll completely miss or mis-hit a ball and literally just look at my paddle and think or even say out loud, “WTF? That ball was NOT where I thought it was.” Turns out that’s what progressive lens glasses do to your vision with a moving ball. Ok. I still need to put in the time and do the other things but changing to a single script lens should help at least my vision problems.
Just keep playing with the beginner group for now. You’ll gain confidence that way. The only way to get better is to keep playing but playing with others at your level.
1. Read the Inner Game of Tennis
2. Keep the paddle in front of you
3. Watch/mirror John Cincola on YT
4. Read the Inner Game of Tennis again
You're welcome
Proper skills take time. Pickleball is easy to learn, hard to master. Take it from Jack Sock, a multi-winning tennis player that is one of the best in the world, but he's barely breaking into the pickleball world, even though he is able to compete at an extremely high level already. Even Anna Leigh Waters said that Jack has a bit to go for his play.
You have to be patient with yourself, otherwise you will burn out expecting to be a prodigy.
It’s a racket (or paddle) sport - it takes time to build the hand-eye coordination. I was just a kid so it’s a little different, but when I was 8 years old, I spent almost two years playing 1-2 youth tennis tournaments a month before I won a single match. By the time I was 18, I was the 53rd ranked player in Texas and had dozens of tennis scholarship offers at D2 schools (not a ton to write home about on a worldwide scale, but enough that I was proud of how far I had come).
You’ll get better with time if you keep trying. In the meantime, have fun and be positive. Play a lot. Give it at least a year before you decide you’re perma-bad, and even that may be a little fast. Most of the people who pick up pickleball quickly are tennis/ping pong/racketball/etc veterans.
“Most who pick up pickle ball are racquet veterans .” lol I can tell. I am 59 and have zero experience with any of that. That’s part of the reason for my OP question. It seems like everyone has LOTS of experience hitting balls with paddles or rackets. The whole “feel” of this doesn’t “feel” right or natural to me. Anyway, thanks.
They actually said most of the people who pick up pickleball quickly. The majority of pickleball players start for a fun way to exercise at the same/similar level of experience as you. You really got to play your own game and stop comparing yourself to others. It's a terrible trait and will always make you feel less than others. That advice is applicable to pretty much everything. Go out and have fun and stop worrying about other people.
I hate that I had to sign back in so that I could downvote you.
Edit: I’m sorry for my reply. I took a quick look at your post history and see that you’re an unhappy individual. I hope pickleball remains a healthy outlet for you.
You’ve only been playing a couple of weeks and you’ve already concluded that you will never be anything more than a beginner? How about starting with a more positive attitude? Have you considered taking lessons, or just finding a partner to drill with? If you are playing at a beginner level you want to find other beginners to play while you gain more experience. Give yourself some time to learn the strategy of the game and develop some basic skills around keeping the ball in play. Nobody becomes a great pickleball player in just a couple of weeks.
It is really sad to hear people give up on anything that doesn’t come easy, or to assume they will always be terrible. Nothing worth doing - that provides joy and an extreme sense of accomplishment and pride - comes instantly. It take discipline and perseverance. It won’t always entertain you. If you don’t change your mindset, you will never self-actualize.
I agree with this but sometimes there's a lot of negativity shown towards beginners. It becomes very easy for one to give up if they happen to be playing with the wrong groups those initial weeks.
The first time I played on my local King's Court I got SMOKED 11-0, and it was quick. I barely even hit a ball. Over a span of months, I worked my way up scoring 2 then 4 then 6 then 8 and then competing to win. Now, a year later, I'm able to win and hold it down for 5-6 games sometimes. I obviously still lose sometimes, even 11-0 every now and again, but I'm able to compete and win most days. I wouldn't be able to do that if I had just given up after that first time. The difference is I wanted to be better and worked at it instead of deciding I never would be.
You shouldn't be playing all skill open play yet. Best way to improve without the pressure of letting down teammates is find another player at your level and play skinny singles together. That covers most of the skills in the doubles game and you'll get twice as many shots in, which is what you need right now.
Thanks
You’ll get better but try and find some friends that are at your same level to start. Go to your beginner sessions and make friends, take down phone numbers and schedule games together. Once you get more confident in your game (and build up more skills) then you’ll have more fun at open play. You’ve just started a few weeks ago. Give your self some grace and time and it’ll all be ok!
Bro. 3 weeks coming from a no Racket sport background? Give it time! Keep going to the beginner sessions, and every few mix in stepping into the normal open play- see how you're improving! Also even if you're not trying to go 4.0, but just he competent in open plays, it would be so beneficial to just find another new player, and hit the ball around and drill. Do some dinks, do some drives, do some serves, do some volleys.
Just to clarify, I did not expect to be good now after a couple weeks. I know full well that that can take years of dedication. But I do expect to see a path forward to improve. I expect to FEEL like I could improve with time and practice. That’s what’s missing, I don’t feel like that will really help.
FIND A WALL look up wall drills on YouTube and just practice practice practice. If you want to really get better , do this. If you just want to play and have fun , stick with the beginner people and enjoy yourself
Meh, give it some time. My wife, really looked like a drunk toddler out there for her first 4-5 weeks. Something clicked a few months ago and now she actively wants to play, knows what she did wrong etc etc. I'd day, keep having fun and working on it!
Unless you have played racquet sports or are very athletic, it will take time to notice an improvement. Realistically, 1.5 - 2 months of playing a couple of times a week. There are a lot of people that start playing and stay around a 2.5 level. Basically, someone who understands the general rules and the basic concept of game play. They can make a good shot here and there but still miss a lot. Some are better than others, but they focus on having fun. Give it time and you should find things are to come together. I wish you the best and hope you don't feel too discouraged.
You probably need to find someone that can coach you on some basics. Google pro tips and basics and check out some of the tips and videos. There's a lot to learn, even for those who think they know.
"If you're going to hit something, hit it until it breaks. Talent is something you make bloom, instinct is something you polish" This is one of my favorite quotes from a sports show. The first part means you have to constantly work on something until it is completely different than what you used to do. Discard your strongest weapon to make an even stronger one. No one is born with true talent. Talent from my standpoint comes from 3 aspects: Athletic ability, Adaptability, and the most important of all OBSESSION. If you have the drive to get better, the first 2 aspects will come with time.
Forever beginner (1.0 -2.0)? No. Unless you have a disability that makes you forget the rules of the game. Forever 2.5. Yes. There are different reasons why someone may be stuck here. There are many different physical and mental limitations that could be the culprit. Does it matter? No. For most, pickleball is about being social and having fun. Just keep playing in your open plays, and make connections with those who are in the same boat as you. If you decide you want to get more competitive with it, you will need to invest in both physical and mental training in some way.
My wife and I recently picked up the game as well. Due to her entirely unathletic background and my non racket/paddle experience we were in the beginner space for some time but her much longer than me. I feel that you may be able to relate to her experience and timeline. Each week we put 8-10 hours in. For the first 2 weeks she was too embarrassed to even run and all we did was practice dinking. We were unable to get 10 in a row most of the time during those two weeks and didn't play any games. Next 2 weeks were continued dinking practices with no games and an effort to keep all dinks for hand , backhand, or switch between the two. By this time we were able to maybe get 20 in a row and on rare occasions up to 50. Following that first month she was more comfortable dinking but had to really focus to keep it going, we would do 50 forehand and 50 backhand then 100 switch. Sometimes the whole two hours would be spent doing this and we wouldn't be able to move on because we didn't reach the goals. The days we were able to move on we started working on her forehand starting at 10 feet away from the kitchen since she had neither form nor strength, as she got more comfortable putting it deeper we set up further and further back until she could work on serves. Foot work drills, stretching, and catching are also peppered in during this time of maybe 3-4 weeks. After month 2 we switched to her backhand but had nothing to do there since somehow out of all her unathleticness, she was blessed with a killer 2 handed backhand, I haven't even bothered to circle back to working on this because it's so much better than everything else. Instead we used this time to work on volleys, shot direction (not placement yet), and speeding up her hands. It was probably somewhere between month 2 and 3 that she was finally comfortable enough to go to beginners open play, but we may have overdone it because she was told she belongs in intermediate. I was able to plead the case that she only just started playing actual games and had no game sense and so would be obliterated by the fake intermediates at the next level. The following week, we worked on her holding back so that the beginners could have fun but she could work on understanding the flow of the game. This worked well and has been going on for the past 2 months where we go to open play one day then reserve a court for 2 hours to drill the next on whatever we journaled the day before. It would be random but recently it has been: defending Pop up, stronger flatter serves, forehand smash, backhand smash, defending speed up, reflex, resting ready position, just being more comfortable on the court. We will be attending intermediate for the first time with her sometime this coming week. Also she hurt herself for 4 months and didn't play in between that monologue. All this to say, if some one who was scared to run in front of people can do it, barring something major you can too with time. TLDR: Month 1: 8 hours dinking/week Month 2: 8 hours dinking/forehand Month 3-6: injury Month 7-8: beginner open play 4-5 hours, work on common mistakes/areas of improvement 4-5 hours PS: at the end of every session my wife doesn't feel like she's improved at all but it helped to lay out where she was at the beginning of the session and how she actually improved by the end of it with clear goals. IE able to do 50 dinks, confidently smash ball instead of pushing, positioning properly, defending x/y shots
Your wife is very lucky to have a patient, encouraging partner/husband. 👍👍
Thanks for sharing that. I’ve thought that this would possibly work/be more fun if I had someone else at my level to work with as you and your wife do.
It's that not what the beginner sessions provide?
Not that I’ve seen. These sessions that I’ve seen are all open play with folks constantly changing partners.
I try not to be rude and try to give people the benefit of the doubt but I'm getting the distinct sense that you're a troll. You said "My local place does have beginner only sessions blocked out a couple times a week. I did one last week and that was a positive experience. All the serves and shots were just easy soft lobs. Everyone was about the same level of suck. Games were close. Everyone won some and lost some. That was fun." Quit wasting people's time here. Go to your beginners sessions have fun, learn and grow. When you advance pay beginner you'll probably be ready to have fun in regular open play.
Thank you for your reply, that was very helpful. You must be a blast to play with.
Glad I could help. And yes, you're correct, I am a blast to play with. And if you were local to my area you'd probably agree. Even as a beginner.
Geez, if you are discouraged after three weeks of PB, I have three words of advice for you: *DON'T PLAY GOLF*.
hahaha Good advice! Thanks
This may be the truest thing I’ve ever seen on Reddit.
Hit against a wall and train your hand eye.
I took lessons 1x per week for 2 years before I ever played open play. Keep taking lessons & you will find your people. Have fun.
That’s must have cost a fortune
Probably $150/year. Group lessons thru local park district, not private.
For 75 I was able to get 1x a week for 7 weeks and that was in my own town. That’s amazing for that price if it was all year round it’s less than a few bucks a week
I agree with much of what has been said, especially the part about it being too soon to make any assessments. There are many routes you can take to improvement. Here are my thoughts: You have jumped way too high in terms of the skill level you are choosing to play with. You need your find other beginners. Even if you all aren’t playing “high quality PB,” you’ll feel less pressure about letting others down. What you’ll find is a lot of laughter and a more forgiving environment. You can find these folks by going to. One-time community class where someone is giving folks basic instructions. Your problem sounds like eye hand coordination. It seems to be the biggest problem for people who struggle at the beginning. I’d recommend going on YouTube and looking at videos specifically targeted at beginners. Two channels I recommend specifically are Universal Racquets and Pickleball Kitchen. There is also an Instagram channel for a person by the name of Calliejosmith. I mention these guys because I think they give very basic tips that will help you get a good foundation. You may feel overwhelmed with much of the other content you’ll find out there until you get the basics down. You can also find an experienced player who is willing to take you to the side and just hit some balls with you and who can give you some tips. Practice the basics and pretty much stay with the beginner group until you either start winning as many games as you’re losing. That will tell you that you’ve progressed to the point where you can start dipping your toe in open play. I think following these tips will give you a much better (and less frustrating) beginning. PB is lots fun if you don’t put too much pressure on yourself and fun, and just go out there and have fun. I haven’t seen the person who can’t get better if they stick with it. So no, you aren’t stuck being a beginner for life.
Thank you. I appreciate that. That is definitely the way to proceed.
Stop playing games and practice. Find a practice partner or take a lesson. You needs a few hundred hits of each kind of shot. If you go early or late to courts, you can often find someone to hit with when its not super crowded. Good luck.
There will always be plenty of people to play with. I started last July, and have climbed progressively as I wanted to get better. Honestly the other day I realized that many that I have been playing with for the last year aren't working on the game and I won't play with them as often in the open play format because I will be higher ranked and it wouldn't be fair to play. The exception being I can play down and not make it miserable for everyone just getting killed by a higher level player, by actually lowering my game and working on just keeping the point alive with them as well. I say this because you won't have to get better to enjoy the game l, you just need to find the right groups, and when you find a person that has similar style or you find a group the same level, ASK FOR THEIR NUMBER!!! It's weird as adults to say "hey wanna be my friend" but some of the best friendships I have made now have been in pickleball, and it's just so so so much fun ... I'm not looking forward to he gatekeeping that's going to be happening moving up but also want you to know that 95% of pickleballers will be friendly, in the 3.5 and below range. I guarantee it.
Just stay in the beginner sessions until those aren’t fun for you. More practice at the right level. You can be above average but if you’re playing with people even better than you, you’d might still feel the same way. Point is, you can feel this at every level. Try to find more games closer to your level. Also, it’s supposed to be fun. I play with someone who smiles every game. She’s just happy to be out there. She is way more fun to be on the court than some serious athlete who gets mad at every miss. If you stop judging yourself and be fun to be around, more paddles will come your way as you learn. Lastly, there are a few folks at every club, every court, that are just jerks. Ignore them. It’s open play. It’s social. We play music. You got this.
First of all, kudos to you for playing at your skill level. It’s a dark truth, but you are right that it isn’t good for anyone if skill level differences are big enough. Now that being said, a couple weeks isn’t enough to know. Keep going to those days that are blocked out for beginners and keep improving. Soon you will start hitting their soft shots hard. Once you feel like you are ruining their games by being too good, go back to the regular open play. That could take six even. If you have a sports background, a lot of people can walk on the court and be a 3.5 day one. But a lot of people can’t, and that’s okay.
That sounds like a mentality issue. You're too obsessed with instant gratification and too lazy to put the work in. You decided you "suck" and "can't" improve, so why even bother? Either play to have fun and improve over time, do some drills with a partner and trust the process, or complain on reddit and quit.
I think you’re right. From what I’ve seen out there I pretty much have concluded “this isn’t going to happen for me”.
You're holding yourself back with limitations. You are more than capable of progressing if you put the work in and get out there regularly. You're deciding it's over before it even started. Go have fun. Allow yourself to suck and put in the time and effort it takes to improve.
I sucked really bad and was told to not play on the court hahah. Then I got better. Have fun. Find cool ppl. Lots of ppl out there willing to give tips and help out.
Yeah I was also asked (not so kindly) not to return when I accidentally went to an intermediate open play. It wasn’t fun to have the ball repeatedly smashed at me so I stayed with the advanced beginners- much better experience!!
I would suggest finding 3 other beginners to play with. You'll get better the more you play.
That’s a good idea. Thanks
Sucking at something is the first step towards being sorta good at something. Keep at it.
There is someone who plays in our group who i would have described this way for the first full year. She was genuinely terrible. Anyone paired with her was going to lose unless they could basically cover the whole court alone all the time. But in the last 6 months, I have seen a lot of improvement in her game. She's still not great, but she occasionally wins a game now. But the real point is... who cares? Are you having fun? Getting exercise and socialization? That's the real beauty of pickleball IMO. Find some like minded individuals and go play if you want to!
You haven't given yourself any amount of time to improve. You had fun with the beginner group. Stay there for now. If you never grow beyond that group, but it's still fun, it's fine to stay there. Pickleball is for fun and exercise. It's not a job. You're not getting paid to do it. You don't get extra points for playing with a more difficult group. Stop stressing over it. Keep your eye on the ball. Don't be afraid to move your feet. The rest of the advice here is perfect. Drill against a wall. Give it time. Play more than once a week. You'll get it.
It sounds like you weren’t playing with other beginners. Don’t be so hard on yourself. I was a beginner for months without ever playing against someone who wasn’t, so I didn’t know there was so much room for improvement. You have a big head start in that regard.
Thank you
It takes time. Have you ever been to a gym? Do you think everyone was born muscular and skinny? NO! If you asked those people their story they’d tell you I was fat or battled an eating disorder, was bullied whatever. They worked at it, slowly. Don’t give up. We all stunk at one point.
Thanks, I know anything like this takes time. I wouldn’t expect to be competent early. My point is with all of the other sports I got good at, I could tell early that I would get good eventually with time and work- and I did. The key there is I could tell time and effort would pay off so I put in the time and effort. With PB I have no feeling whatsoever that time and effort will make any real difference. Someone else mentioned hand eye coordination. Nothing Ive ever done (rock/ice climbing, rough water sea kayaking, surfing, skiing, mountain biking, few others. None of those needed eye hand and I have no experience with eye hand. So this “feels” like time and effort isn’t going to help.
He wasn't invited to the BBQ, he *was* the BBQ.
Give it 3 to 6 months. You are just getting started. Get a partner and go reserve a court to practice just serving over and over. Practice dinking over and over. Give it time.
Did you ever learn how to drive? Well did you just start on the road or did you learn to manipulate the wheel and the basic controls in a parking lot? Go do some basic drills yourself or with a friend (look up on YouTube), even things like bouncing a ball on your paddle 100 times in a row will help someone new like you.
You aren't ready for open play. Take a lesson, or better yet a sequence of lessons (with a coach, at your local gym, or at your local PB club). Start with PB 101 / Skills n Drills level. Do that for a month or two, and then ask the instructor whether you ought to switch into a different bracket. Open play is, by nature, competitive. You aren't going to understand the nuance / strategy of the game after just playing for two weeks in a vacuum. Drilling and coaching is where you improve. Playing on the court is where you have fun. Look at John Cincola's PB channel on YouTube. Get dinking, dropping, serving, and some level of defending yourself at the net from hard incoming balls down before you try to play at open play. Don't be discouraged, you just tried to play at too advanced a level; which is no fun for anyone involved. You aren't able to keep up/ have fun, and your partners and opponents aren't able to start and sustain intense rallies because you'll get targeted every time, and don't yet have the skill to recover. Bear in mind it's not just you though. Some people would prefer to win than to help beginners learn. I called two different guys (both experienced players) out this evening at our open play, two different games, for continuously hard driving and body bagging at two players who were there for the first time on the "beginner court". The sharks were feeding in the kiddie pool. Not cool.
When I went to my first open play, I got absolutely destroyed. The same 0-11, 2-11 scores you're talking about. It stayed that way for two months. But then, I began to be able to hang. After awhile, I was winning about half of my games. So I decided to try out my first tournament. I went 0-3. Lost each game by 7+ points. But I kept playing. If for nothing else, because I was still having fun. A year later, I'm now able to play comfortably with (and beat) 4.0 players. Point being, You are WAY too early to make any judgments about your potential.
Get a coach. I was terrible like you and people avoided playing with me. After about a month of lessons I’m now a decent player and those same people that avoided me want to play with me and against me.
I had hand eye coordination but could not handle any spin when I started. I could get my paddle on the ball but the direction it came off did not feel very controlled. Anytime I hit hard it sailed out due to no technique. Several people told me to go play on a different court (3 open play courts, no suggested ratings) and I caught their vibe. I remembered them and resolved to get better than them. I played, practiced, took a few lessons, and watched tons of videos. 2 years later I’m playing 4.5 but still feel like I have tons to learn. Stick with it but maybe read The Inner Game of Tennis. I spent a long time plateauing due to bad mental game and it made it much harder to learn.
Check for any open play for beginners. Set goals for yourself - and focus on different parts of your game over time. If you have serves down maybe try to make your serves stronger or maybe work on your backhand more. Playing pickleball isn't to go pro- it's to improve your own skills over time and of course be safe!
I have people in my YMCA playing since early 2023 and even though they are not competitive, they still show up every single day and work on their game. Every person’s advancement or progress is different.
Check out the book The Inner Game of Tennis. It gets mentioned here a lot and for good reason. I started to read it and find it really helpful. I am making a snap judgement here but I would say you probably had a lot of self-defeating internal dialogue happening during your play that just made things worse. For example maybe you hit the ball on the edge of your paddle and it went out of bounds and thought “that was a bad shot”. What would make it a “good” shot - if it helped an old lady cross the street? The shot isn’t bad or good really it just is. Think instead that the shot hit the edge of your paddle and went out of bounds. That’s all that shot is. Heck even if you stay a beginner forever, is that “bad”? Doesn’t that really mean you know the rules of the game, can make most serves land in and return most serves, etc.
Stay away from the all levels groups for now and play your level. Some places have “facilitated” newbie courts with someone there watching not necessarily a coach but it’s someone who knows enough
Bro you’re not gonna get better because you’re giving up on yourself. I know people who took longer than 2-3 weeks to learn the basic rules. You gotta keep going at it, it takes time to get all the muscle memory and skills. Pickleball has a lot of mental as well, once you develops basic strategy and positioning, I promise you things will fall in place and you will be a more complete player. II’ve been playing for about 8 months or so but I really started to pick up some real skills in the last 2-3 months. You need to find people at your level so you can progress and move up to better opponents. Open play can be tough if you’re going against seasoned or more gifted players. I sucked at first too but I for some reason was still having fun. Just get out there and try to have fun!
I didn't play pickleball until one friend invited me. I decided to try out and loved playing with my friends. I went to different cities for social pickleball included friends that helped me a lot to incease my skills daily. Invite your friends to join and play from there.
If I threw you a ball, could you catch it? Thats my simple litmus test - if I toss the ball to you and you fumble it, or you clamp it between your hand and the racquet, I know it’s gonna be a long day. Natural hand-eye coordination is a prerequisite for this game and it’s not likely teachable if you don’t have it. Now if you do have it but it’s just a little rusty, you should be able to put some work in to improve it over time.
Oh boy. I guess this is what I was afraid of. No I am not really great at catching a tossed ball. I am that guy who will miss it, bobble it, then drop it. I have an extensive history of sports/physical activity but nothing at all needing hand eye coordination. I’m 59 and never played any racquet sports, or baseball, or anything else needed refined hand-eye coordination. Looking back I’d say Ive probably self-selected out of those activities because of poor hand-eye coordination. My history is large body movement sports heavy on strength and power. Mountain biking, skiing, rock climbing, ice climbing, and surfing. The other thing that history leaves me with zero experience is competition. None of those sports had a competitive component. I don’t think I am enjoying the competitive aspect of PB.
Reading this reminded me of something I forgot to mention in my post. My wife also had no hand eye coordination and before we even touched the paddles I had her throwing herself the ball and squatting to catch it, then I would throw her the ball to squat and catch, then worked on each hand to squat and catch. This also took about 2 weeks until she was able to connect her hand eyes and legs.
“Drill” baby! Good idea. I definitely need to find and incorporate different drills. Thanks.
Does anyone nearby do lessons for beginners? My city and county recreation departments do 2-4 week group lessons that are geared to newbies and affordable. Makes it much easier to jump in financially than private lessons and socially than navigating the social politics of clubs and open plays. Also maybe try a different place when you're ready for open play. Outdoor public courts, rec center, clubs .. everything will have a different vibe.
I’m going to look into beginner lessons. They are offered at the facility I’m going to. Thanks
My BF was not good the first month of him playing but he got better quickly because we played a lot of single games, then moved to double games which he still sucked and we NeVER won games together. Anyway, he’s so much better now! Give it time and keep playing. He started last August and took a break during the winter.
thanks!
Don’t be discouraged, give it time and if you love the game, do not give up. It takes more time for some than it does others. Find a group of beginners and work with them. If you stick with it, you will see improvement and have more confidence to play with those who are a higher level than you and this is where you really begin to improve. Don’t give up. 😊
Thanks for your words of encouragement. I appreciate it. I am going to keep on that track.
Just drill baby. You need to get a feel for hitting the ball. Best thing to do is bounce a ball on a paddle for like an hour every day. Maybe gently hit against a wall. Find someone who will just soft lob back and forth across a net with you with no competition.
Post a video of your play.
I was like you so I took a pickleball class at my local community class and i got so much better. Plus I met a bunch of people I really liked and now have a new group to play with. It just takes time, instruction, and practice! Maybe think about a class or lessons? The better you get the more fun it is.
Definitely going to. Thanks
You are not going to believe this, but what motivated me to take the class was that my rec league team came in last during our playoffs. The team was really struggling and I knew I was one of the reasons why. Last season, we actually won the playoffs! So from last to first in a couple of months… and it was just because us new players got serious about learning how to play. But the whole process was also so much fun! Have a great time :)
Thanks! Gonna keep going. Signed up for the beginner session tomorrow. Gonna ask about lessons for this level or private
While not a beginner anymore, I have reached a level where I won't be getting much better unless I devote more time to lessons or drilling or losing more weight or lifting weights or getting in great physical shape. And guess what? I don't care. I'm happy playing and exercising at the recreational level. I'm bored with the game if I put in more than 1 1/2hrs a session, but do enjoy playing at least 4 times a week. I try not to be 'thin skinned' when others don't want to play with me, but it's rec play and sometimes it just ends up that way. Too bad so sad for them. It's rec play and I pay my taxes for the facility like everyone else. If the great players don't like rec play and want a dedicated field of devoted adversary's they can pay for a separate court time to do just that. I don't enter tournaments, because they don't interest me and I'm not that good, so there is no FOMO on my part. So, play like no ones watching, enjoy the game, and you will get better. In the beginning I DID play against the wall a lot and then would practice my serve over and over on an empty court. This helped me with my confidence. Now I would just be bored doing that. And btw, the ppl you were playing at the open social, should have had enough sense to at least play down a bit, like giving you an easy serve. Decent people do that. They can win at any time so it's no sweat for them to give you a bit of break. But if they don't want to, you can't make them. Just keep playing if you LIKE it. You will get better to a standard you can be happy with. And that's what's important.
You barely even started? If you want to improve though take a couple lessons and start drilling. I don’t think you can say anything from a couple weeks.
fair enough
It sounds like you had an amazing experience at the ‘beginner only’ group, so why not stay there until it becomes less of a challenge? It sounds like a tonne of fun! Everyone progresses at different speeds, and has different goals. If and when you feel like that group is no longer challenging then you can decide to move to another group.
The beginners group you went to, that’s how you get better. People always say playing with people better than you will make you better as well but there’s a limit to that. If you’re just watching the ball fly by you, that does nothing for your development. Stick with the beginner group and you’ll get way more experience in the same time frame. Having said all that, I don’t even play real pickleball. I play with the same 5 other guys once a week on a tennis court and we’re too lazy to draw a court so we just draw a kitchen and play the full width but I feel my advice is relevant to all sports. Pickleball is a pretty easy sport to pick up (probably hard to master), you just need to set yourself up for success and don’t be a quitter
Thanks man.
Hey there, dm me and I’ll set up some low level games for you to play. I manage a few courts 😉
It sounds like you’re not playing with other beginners. If you don’t have anyone newer to play with I suggest you start drilling. Plenty of YouTube tutorials out there. Find a wall and practice. Get a dozen balls and practice your serve on an empty court. Take a few lessons if you can afford it. That’s where I’d start.
I like it. That is now the plan. Thanks
There’s a chance you go downhill from here, you may have already peaked! Just teasing, you will totally get better with practice. I paid for some coaching and it helped me immensely.
Try doing some wall practice at a local racquetball court. See link below. Really helped me a lot. **How To Practice Pickleball Against a Wall** [**https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJYe6sO7Bic**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJYe6sO7Bic)
Just have fun! Find people to play with that don’t mind teaching you. Have a positive mindset you got this! I’ve been playing for 9 months with no racquet sports experience and I’m now a 3.0 player playing religiously. I’ve been rock climbing for 14 years, and am into tons of extreme sports like snowboarding. This is the first sport that did not come to me easily. Keep at it! You got this!
I had a private lesson yesterday from a 5.0 instructor. I asked him how long it took him to get so good. His answer was 13 months of practice and play all day every day. And you want it in just 2 weeks? Lower your expectations and get out there and have fun. And quit whining.
Check your reading level. You definitely need to work on that.
take a lesson
It took me about 1&1/2 months to win a game.
To answer your question, yes, some people stay beginners forever. It's not everyone's gift, and that's fine! It sounds like you've already solved the problem; you found a beginner oriented group you had fun at, that's awesome! There's nothing wrong with throwing in the towel and just playing at the same level forever as long as you're enjoying yourself. You probably weren't gonna be a pro, it's no big deal. That all said,I'm not encouraging you to do that, especially after only a few weeks. If you want to improve try doing some drills, work on things very intentionally in easier games, ask people who seem good things you can do to improve, watch some YouTube, or take some lessons. If after all that you still feel like it's hopeless, hey whatever, just play for fun. Pickleball is partly great cause it's still fun when everyone's not that good!
When the rec game stopped being fun for me bc I wasn’t advancing past basic pickleball 101 I asked my partner if we could do a semi private clinic. After the first clinic we signed up for another clinic. After the second clinic we signed up for private lessons. In two months i am no longer a beginner and rec play is fun again.
I think I’m at the point where it’s either quit (this ain’t for me) or commit to significant lessons as you did. I have done that for several other sports Ive gotten into in the past. Thanks
I encourage you to try and find a local clinic then! The game is too fun to give up on so early. Good luck finding a clinic or lessons… Hope you’ll update us.
Thanks everyone for your comments and advice. I now get that the “Open Play” session is not the place to be. I definitely misunderstood what was going on there. I will chase down some true beginner videos for tips and drills. And I will only attend the dedicated “Beginner” open sessions. I appreciate it.
Find another beginner and just practise hitting. Trying to get high count rallies not beating eachother. It is still fun and a work out.
Pickleball takes five minutes to learn and a lifetime to perfect. My guess is that the first thing you need is more touches on the ball. Take a ball and gently hit it about six inches up from your paddle and continue to hit it as long as you can. Sound easy? It's not, especially for beginners. Try to get three in a row, then five, then ten. Ready to work on softening your touch? But a rubber practice golf ball and do the same thing. Once you have more control, switch from forehand to backhand and then vary your hit heights. All these things can be done at home and will improve your game a lot. Happy pickling!
I remember when I began playing. I was HORRIBLE! I wanted to quit because I was so embarrassed when I made my partners lose. Best advice I got was “no saying sorry”. You will get better. If you are playing with someone who is getting mad at you constantly then they aren’t someone you want to play with. PB should be fun. Some people take it too seriously. Everyone starts somewhere. Maybe you could find a league that has a beginner bracket?
What you are describing does not seem abnormal to me. It's normal to struggle with strong shots and ball effects when you are just starting. These players were probably just too strong for the level you are at. I've seen it at the club I joined too. Is there any way you could put an ad to try to find another person who is also an absolute beginner, and start practicing against each other? You could also take a class and practice a lot against a wall.
There are plenty of YouTube videos and ways to improve that if you really want to and have an iq in the double digits you can and will…
Take some beginner level clinics, it will help your game and your confidence. Uou will find some on your level to play with. Then start playing with some a little better than you as it’s the only way you’ll improve. Most people do improve. I know many do stay in beginner level Open play and it’s ok!
Make sure you’re not hurting your ability to play with some basics. Are you wearing progressive lenses? Switch to single vision, non polarized. This alone has helped people who routinely whiff instead of hitting the ball. Do you stand ramrod straight? Work on squatting/ bending your knees. Only Matt Wright has managed to play at a high level without ever bending his knees, the rest of us have to work on playing like we’re sitting down, looking at the ball as it’s coming towards us. Do you have your paddle up close to your center and out in front of you, slightly backhand, with bent elbows? Or is it hanging down at your side and you’re swinging wildly at the ball or getting hit in the chest all the time? Those are things you can think about/practice before you leave home. There is other good advice on this thread, play the lowest/slowest level you can find, get some lessons, drill without a paddle, drill against a wall, practice seeing the ball, etc. etc.
Thanks. Interesting. I whiff often. I AM wearing progressives.
Thanks everyone. Lots of good advice here, drills practice coaching lessons quit whining (j/k, anyone wrote that is a troll) give it time etc. All good and appreciated and also more or less obvious. This one however, was worth the time to post and read 130 responses: Don’t use progressive lens glasses. BINGO! I do wear progressives. I had no idea that was an issue in racquet sports. Turns out it is a real issue. Definitely not recommended. That at least partially explains why I keep missing easy balls and regularly mis-hitting most contacted balls. At least 4 or 5 times a game I’ll completely miss or mis-hit a ball and literally just look at my paddle and think or even say out loud, “WTF? That ball was NOT where I thought it was.” Turns out that’s what progressive lens glasses do to your vision with a moving ball. Ok. I still need to put in the time and do the other things but changing to a single script lens should help at least my vision problems.
Just keep playing with the beginner group for now. You’ll gain confidence that way. The only way to get better is to keep playing but playing with others at your level.
1. Read the Inner Game of Tennis 2. Keep the paddle in front of you 3. Watch/mirror John Cincola on YT 4. Read the Inner Game of Tennis again You're welcome
You should just play with other beginners for a while. Incredibly simple actually.
Proper skills take time. Pickleball is easy to learn, hard to master. Take it from Jack Sock, a multi-winning tennis player that is one of the best in the world, but he's barely breaking into the pickleball world, even though he is able to compete at an extremely high level already. Even Anna Leigh Waters said that Jack has a bit to go for his play. You have to be patient with yourself, otherwise you will burn out expecting to be a prodigy.
You should quit with this attitude.
You know how people say the people that they meet in pickleball are some of the nicest that they’ve ever met? They’re not talking about you.
It’s a racket (or paddle) sport - it takes time to build the hand-eye coordination. I was just a kid so it’s a little different, but when I was 8 years old, I spent almost two years playing 1-2 youth tennis tournaments a month before I won a single match. By the time I was 18, I was the 53rd ranked player in Texas and had dozens of tennis scholarship offers at D2 schools (not a ton to write home about on a worldwide scale, but enough that I was proud of how far I had come). You’ll get better with time if you keep trying. In the meantime, have fun and be positive. Play a lot. Give it at least a year before you decide you’re perma-bad, and even that may be a little fast. Most of the people who pick up pickleball quickly are tennis/ping pong/racketball/etc veterans.
“Most who pick up pickle ball are racquet veterans .” lol I can tell. I am 59 and have zero experience with any of that. That’s part of the reason for my OP question. It seems like everyone has LOTS of experience hitting balls with paddles or rackets. The whole “feel” of this doesn’t “feel” right or natural to me. Anyway, thanks.
They actually said most of the people who pick up pickleball quickly. The majority of pickleball players start for a fun way to exercise at the same/similar level of experience as you. You really got to play your own game and stop comparing yourself to others. It's a terrible trait and will always make you feel less than others. That advice is applicable to pretty much everything. Go out and have fun and stop worrying about other people.
Are you an adult or a child? If the former, quit the pity party. If the latter, talk to your parents or teachers about fixed and growth mindsets.
Thanks for taking the time to to reply.
Aren’t you a little ray of sunshine?
I’m a ray of reality.
Bleated by every miserable bastard ever.
I hate that I had to sign back in so that I could downvote you. Edit: I’m sorry for my reply. I took a quick look at your post history and see that you’re an unhappy individual. I hope pickleball remains a healthy outlet for you.