Pickleball is addicting and, like the United States Postal Service, “[n]either snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night” will keep you from drilling and playing pickleball. Even if you are stuck in the house, you can work on your pickleball game with the following drill ideas (and, of course, continue with your My Pro Pickleball Coach written and online lessons):

1. Bounce the Ball – Practice your hand-eye coordination when striking the pickleball with your paddle. The goal is for your paddle to feel like an extension of your hand. Hit short little bounces of the pickleball with your paddle without flicking your wrist, while keeping your paddle comfortably extended away from your body. Once you feel comfortable, try rotating your paddle and wrist so that you hit alternating forehand and backhand bounces. As you master the rotating bounces, try to have a little more movement in your paddle and put a little spin on the ball, while still hitting small bounces in front of your body.

2. Sticky Paddle – Practice your touch and feel of the paddle by tossing the pickleball into the air and catching the pickleball with your paddle without the pickleball bouncing off of your paddle. This drill will help you to improve your touch and feel, which is of extra importance for dinks, drops, lobs, and other finesse shots.

In other words, don’t sit on the couch, pickle inside your house! But, be careful not to break anything!

Key Takeaway:

1. No matter the weather, you can always find something to do to improve your pickleball game. Try the Bounce the Ball and Sticky Paddle drills to help your touch and feel with your paddle, and continue with your My Pro Pickleball Coach lessons.