When a player serves a ball, they also ask questions. The first of those questions is: “Can you return my serve?” Some associated questions are:
“How deep can you return my serve?”
“Will you put some kind of spin on your return?”
“Will you need to hit the return high to buy extra time to get to the kitchen line?”
Etc.
When the return is played, the server's questions are answered and the tables are turned. The return is not just an answer, it comes with questions also:
“Yes, I can return your serve and I can do it with depth and pace.”
“Can you successfully play a 3rd shot?”
“Will you be able to force me or my partner to hit up over the net?”
“Will you drop or drive?”
These are examples of the initial Q&A of a pickleball point. Higher levels of play involve more predictable answers ... ie, returns are typically successful, low, and with good depth.
Therein lies the problem.
When players get used to their level of play, they get comfortable predicting responses to their questions. After all, if the question “Will you be able to force me or my partner to hit up over the net?” is routinely answered with a resounding “No, my 3rd shot looks a lot like a weak lob. Can you finish the point with a powerful volley?” then players learn to anticipate this, and most points end before all four players reach the kitchen.
How will a player fare when encountering a new type of response? When that question is suddenly met with “Yes, easily, I’ll drop it in the kitchen and see if you can still keep us back!” How can a player switch gears, anticipate these high-level responses, and adjust accordingly? The answer of course, usually, is not well.
Overcoming the pickleball language barrier
The problem isn't always a lack of ability to play the correct shots (response/questions), it’s the language barrier. It’s as though they’ve been dropped in a foreign country without an interpreter. These players are often made to feel like illegal aliens in this foreign country, with little to no understanding of the language or customs. The players that progress the fastest are the ones that learn the new language the quickest. They soon realize that better players can easily capitalize on high balls, return deep against weak serves, and punish extra wide dinks by hitting around the post.
The good news is that you don’t need to live in a foreign country to learn the language. You don’t need to play better players to improve. Introducing the new Rosetta Stone for Pickleball, available now on iOS and Android! ;-). While it certainly helps to visit a foreign country to learn the language of better players, it’s not always necessary to start speaking and be accepted by the locals.
Watching vs. playing pickleball
I’m reminded of a study that took a large group of people, all of whom had roughly equal ability to shoot free throws on a basketball court. They got a baseline average score and then divided the group in two. Group A were told they must practice free throws for three hours a week, for a month. Group B was told they couldn’t shoot a single ball. However, three hours a week they were instructed to watch free throws and visualize themselves making the shot.
After one month both groups were once again tested and to everyone’s surprise, there was no significant difference in the level of improvement between the two groups. Both groups improved their performance roughly equally while group B never touched a single ball. Now, shooting free throws is almost the epitome of a closed skill: little to no external influences (like an opponent's play, movement, etc.) impact the outcome of the shot, making it perfect for this kind of study. Pickleball, in contrast, is an open skill (aside from the serve), largely determined by an opponent's actions. Regardless, I’ve noticed a clear link between the development of players, how much pickleball they watch, and more importantly, what level of pickleball they watch.
Morgan, did you write all that just to tell me to watch pro pickleball? No. Well, sort of:
If you are a 3.0 then watch 4.0.
If you’re 4.0, then watch 5.0.
If you’re 4.5 - 5.0 then watch APP qualifiers.
If you are 5.0 - 5.5 then watch APP main draw.
If you are higher than that then watch PPA and MLP.
Nurse your way towards complete language proficiency step-by-step as your brain will have a much easier time joining the dots — if the next dot isn’t a mile away. Imagine trying to make a free throw if you never made a basket from two feet away. An adult complete beginner trying to pick up professional pickleball language would be like a monolingual adult learning Italian. If you wish to speak Italian like a native, then first learn linguistically similar but simpler languages.
English (3.0) -> Spanish (4.0) -> French (5.0) -> Italian (Pro).
Watching vs. observing pickleball
Are you watching the right level of pickleball for your development? If you are, how do you watch it? Are you seeing the point or observing it? There’s a big difference. Observation takes visual processing and applies thought to discern what is happening, what questions are being asked and answered, what language the players are speaking, and who’s winning the argument. See what I did there! ;-) I venture to say that you can often learn more from one single point than an entire match if you have a keen eye and the language isn’t over your head.
Here’s what I want you to do:
Give yourself a break from your normal schedule of morning open play followed by lunch and an organized game. Your body will thank you and you’ll get to use your brain in the morning, when it’s particularly receptive to learning things.
I want you to audit a game that is slightly higher than your level. Trust me when I tell you that those players will not mind, they will likely be brimming with pride, having an admirer taking notes.
As you are watching the play, observe. What should you observe? You’ll know it when you see it. Something will stick out like a sore thumb. It will seem odd because it will be one word from the foreign language you’re trying to learn.
Write down what happened, and mark the score and player/s involved. Here’s where it gets tricky.
When the game is over, talk to the players. Ask them why they hit that shot. Why did they drive the ball and not drop the 3rd? Why did they target that player repeatedly?
If you’re shy and don’t want to intrude, just keep observing and hope it happens often enough so your brain naturally joins the dots for you.
Once you learn the ‘why’, this new word, you’re on your way! Soon you will be understanding complete sentences.
If I were to say 23 random letters to you in a row, could you remember them?
nkesraodsmdpwlfeerkauls
Very tough to remember that mess right? However, if I reorganized that mess into the sentence ‘Selkirk makes wonderful paddles‘, you could easily remember them. By breaking the letters into words you understand, and sequencing those words to have meaning, your brain has a far easier time remembering the sequence of letters.
On a related note, if you are seeing a coach and they are not explaining why you should do certain things, then it’s time to move on, as they’re not addressing the meaning behind the words.
The key to understanding the language of pickleball
“I thought my dink was safe,” “I’ll just run to the kitchen after my 3rd,” etc.
These are the statements of the pickleball illiterate. Don’t let a language barrier stop you any longer. You don’t need to play with better players to get better. Yes, it helps, but remember: they want to play with you as much as you want to play with lower-level players.
If you can understand how to speak, what questions your shots need to ask, and how their shots will likely respond, you will develop far more quickly. When the time comes that your physical ability matches your court IQ, and you arrive in that foreign country armed with a well-rounded vocabulary, then you will experience rapid growth.
Every shot that is hit on that higher-level court has a meaning that you understand. You learned the language on the sideline before you moved to Tuscany, and now you own a lovely vineyard. Well done, please send me wine.
I think we can all agree I flogged that analogy to death. I hope you enjoyed reading it and more importantly, you decide to take my advice to heart.
Buongiorno!
- Morgan Evans