Tag: Relishing Pickleball

David Zapatka 2020 was a crazy year. Many pickleball tournaments were cancelled. Public pickleball courts were closed and padlocked. That being said, Arizona pickleball players found ways to safely play, and, even through the pandemic, new players found pickleball in record numbers. For 2020, Pickleball Rocks Clothing and Equipment Company recognized a mixed doubles pair…

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David Zapatka This 12 common mistakes column began after playing with some very excited and highly motivated new pickleball players at our community courts recently. After playing a couple games, this question was posed to me, “What should we do to improve and become 3.5 players?” We reviewed the first eight mistakes over the past…

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David Zapatka This 12-common-mistakes column began after playing with some very excited, highly motivated, new pickleball players at our community courts recently. After playing a couple games, this question was posed to me, “What should we do to improve and become 3.5 players?” We reviewed the first six mistakes the past three months. This month…

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David Zapatka This 12-common-mistakes column began after playing with some very excited, highly motivated, new pickleball players at our community courts recently. After playing a couple games, this question was posed to me: “What should we do to improve and become 3.5 players?” Last month we reviewed the first two mistakes. This month we take a…

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David Zapatka While playing at the IronOaks courts in Sun Lakes for my first time last month, I ran into a group of very excited, highly motivated, new pickleball players. We played a couple games together and when we departed, this question was posed to me, “What should we do to improve and become 3.5…

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David Zapatka Often called the most important shot in all of pickleball, the dink is the critical shot aspiring players must learn to improve their game. The dink is a shot hit slowly and softly into the opponents’ non-volley zone as close to the net as possible. If the opponent hits this ball hard, it…

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David Zapatka One of the most common errors I see on the pickleball court is not being ready to play. What does this mean? Being ready to play means a number of things. It means being focused on the point at hand. Paying attention to debris on the court, listening to what someone is saying,…

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David Zapatka When your opponent hits the ball high in the air, above your shoulders, think overhead smash! The smash is one of the most fun shots in all of pickleball. It ends rallies with an exclamation point. Execute this fun, rally-ending shot using these seven steps: 1. Use many small steps to position your…

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David Zapatka Pickleball Bangers Are you getting tired of playing the bangers? They have one strategy; hit the ball as hard as they can. They rarely hit third shot drop shots. What can you do? There are two options. The first is the punch volley, a volley hit hard and deep. The second is the…

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