If you love pickleball but want to improve your skills, drilling is the answer. Some people mistakenly believe that playing recreational games will continually improve their skills, but eventually, they will hit a growth cap. Drilling is the key to unlocking your full potential.
By drilling 1-2 times a week for an hour or two, you will improve significantly. Drilling allows you to focus on the little parts of the game and get more repetitions on shots that you won't be able to get as many reps on if you only play rec games.
If you only have one hour to drill, the most important things to focus on are dinks, mid-court resets, and hand speed. Why those three things? Because to truly level up your game and dominate, you need to be comfortable in long dink rallies. You also need to be able to move your opponent to set up for speed ups or pop ups. The transition zone is one of the toughest spots to be, but becoming good in this area means hitting thousands of balls over many drill sessions. Lastly, hand speed is crucial because the game is getting faster and players' hands are getting faster too.
If you really want to get better at pickleball, you need to learn to love drilling and practice with full intensity. If you have a bad attitude or don't give it your all while you drill, it won't be as beneficial. Someone who drills for one hour with full intensity and intent will improve more than someone who drills for two hours but doesn't really want to be there.
To make the most of your drilling, you have to implement the skills you're working on in your rec games. For example, if you're working on your resets, you must try to reset the balls that you should instead of hitting hard every time.
Ben Johns the number 1 player in the world his ratio is 90% drilling and 10% playing. In the last few years he has completely switched over to just drilling and now he has completely made himself the best player in the world. That shows why drilling is so important and why he is so good.
If you don't know where to start with drilling, I offer a video coaching program to help identify weaknesses in your game and design a personalized drill program tailored to your specific needs. Simply send me 30 minutes to 1 hour of footage of your gameplay, and I will carefully analyze your performance, identify your strengths and weaknesses, and provide you with a detailed list of areas you need to work on, along with a set of drills designed to help you improve at an effective rate. If you're interested, please email me at clayton0965@gmail.com or DM me on Instagram at claytonboydston.pb.
Clayton Boydston is a self proclaimed pickleball fanatic! A former semi-pro soccer player, he was looking for a new athletic outlet as he transitioned out of soccer. He discovered pickleball when he moved to Utah County in the summer of 2021. From the moment he stepped on the court he was addicted. He studied hours of professional pickleball matches, drilled for hours, and played matches every chance he got. He started as a 3.0 player and quickly advanced to the pro ranks. Clayton loves everything pickleball and loves writing about the latest news and events of this sport he loves.
He is also a pickleball instructor and of the founders of the Boydston Pickleball Academy where they teach beginners all the way up to advanced players.