I think it was a Marine Corps drill instructor who instilled the five P’s of Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance into my head.
It has served me well in some of life’s situations and although you could apply it to Pickleball improvement, there is a better 5-P. Unfortunately, I do not have a catchy phrase but perhaps one of the readers can suggest one!
Plan – Practice – Play – Perform – Pleasure.
Plan Your Practice Sessions
Do you specifically know what you will do during your next practice session?
Not only should you spend time drilling it must be PLANNED! Plan the time, plan the date and plan the content. It is not enough to go out, dink for 10 minutes and say you drilled. You must be able to state clearly, what you worked on while you drilled. Did you work on hitting spots or moving your opponent side to side? How about short hopping your opponent? You need to have a plan to make practice meaningful.
Practice! Practice! Practice!
Do I really need to use the worn out adage of “Practice makes perfect?”
I am constantly amazed at the number of players that do not practice or drill at all. Baseball players take batting practice, basketball players shoot shots and golfers hit buckets of balls. And while we all want our sport to be unique this is not the place to start! When I leave students with drills to strengthen their game some tell me they can’t find anyone to practice. Find that one person and instead of showing up at 7:00 pm to play with the rest of the league show up at 6:30 pm and drill … with a Plan right?
Play of Course
“All work and no …” … nope, not gonna go there again!
This one is easy and we all want to do this. It is also important because this is where we get to put all that hard work into action. How we play in real games will tell us if we were able to take what we have been working on and translate it into habits on the court. Your practice needs to convert into action during game play.
Perform at Your Peak Level
We all have days where we feel stronger than other days. That said, ensure you are giving maximum effort mentally and physically as much as you possibly can with practice and actual game play. This will help you get the most out of your time on the court. A weightlifter doesn’t lift 100 pounds if he/she has been routinely lifting 200 pounds. Don’t cheat yourself! Give it your all!
Pleasure
This is the most important one … have fun and enjoy the game of Pickleball! This, not how many games you won or lost, is what will keep you coming back for more. Most of us do not make a living off Pickleball so having fun must be our compensation!
I welcome your feedback! Please leave comments! Also, let me know what suggestions you might have for future topics.
If you are looking for quality instruction at any level or have a desire to obtain a certified rating please visit http://iptpa.com and find a Certified Teaching Professional or Certified Rating Specialist near you.
See you on the court!
