Want to Improve? Have a Plan Or Stay in the Car
“Have a plan or stay in the car.” That sales axiom works perfectly for pickleball too. You can wander onto the court and wing it (and hey, sometimes that’s glorious), but if you want real improvement, or at least a satisfying hour, you’ll get more out of your session if you show up with a plan.
First: decide the purpose. Are you there to socialize and burn a few calories? Cool, no rigid agenda needed. Are you sharpening a specific skill (dinks, third-shot drops, footwork)? Nice, bring a focused plan. Preparing for a tournament? You’ll want match-simulated drills and pressure points.
Keep it simple with a three-part session:
Warm-up (10–15 minutes): mobility, dynamic stretches, and easy rallies. Add target feeds to wake up your hand-eye coordination. A rushed warm-up = shaky hands and sore regrets.
As you’re playing, think about your plan and objective. Working on drops? Drop instead of drive. Working on fast hands? Expect every ball to come back fast and be ready.
At the end of the session or even in between games, assess your performance toward your objective. Did you drop instead of drive? Or did you revert to your usual? Be honest and recommit to your practice.
Example: the other day my plan was “dink to their backhand”. Simple, specific. I warmed up with soft crosscourt dinks, trying to aim every dink. Then during play, whenever I was dinking, instead of just getting it back, I was thinking about hitting to their backhand. And I gotta say, I set my partner up for some nice pop ups for her to put away.
Small details matter:
Take notes (use your phone). Jot one focus and one measurable goal (e.g., “Today: hit 20 solid third-shot drops”).
Time box it. Aim for quality over endless quantity.
Rotate partners or opponents to avoid practicing only one reaction style.
If you’re playing socially, tell your partner your goal so they can help, or at least understand why you made that shot choice. If you’re coaching yourself, be honest: did you actually work the plan or mostly chat? If not, hey—stay in the car next time and come back when you’re committed.
Bottom line: having a plan turns time on court into progress. Showing up without one? You might still have fun, but if you want to get better, set a simple target, practice it with intent, and then go play.