Transitioning to pickleball from tennis requires adjusting your skills, strategies, and mindset. As a tennis player turned pickleball coach, I’ve lived through this journey myself, and can assure you the growing pains are temporary.
Prepare for equipment differences
Contents
The Paddle
In tennis, you have a long, lightweight racquet with tight strings that allow the ball to sink into the face and compress upon impact. This allows for spin and power generation.
Pickleball paddles are much smaller, wider, and made of composite materials that don’t flex or compress like tennis strings. The pickleball won’t “grab” the face of a paddle.
This means you can’t impart spin or shape shots the same way as tennis. Thepickleball will simply bounce off the paddle upon impact rather than clinging to it with topspin or backspin.
As I tell my students, this requires an adjustment in stroke mechanics and strategies compared to tennis.
The Pickleball Itself
A tennis ball is a high-compression felt ball that bounces consistently high off the court. The aerodynamics allow for ease of generating spin and speed.
Conversely, a pickleball is made of plastic with holes, like a wiffle ball. It has a low bounce and won’t compress against the paddles. The light weight airy aspect results in less power and spin than a tennis ball.
I always emphasize to new players that the pickleball won’t zoom off your paddle like a tennis ball. The low bounce means you must stay centered and move forward, not back. Adjusting to a very different ball takes time.
Adjusting Your Grips and Strokes
Changing from compact tennis grips to the larger pickleball paddle handle poses challenges in adapting strokes. Here are key grip and stroke adjustments I recommend:
Consider moving to a Continental Grip
Tennis utilizes a variety of grips (Eastern, Semi-Western, etc) to shape specific strokes. Pickleball simplifies things with players mostly using a Continental grip.
This allows easy transitions between forehand and backhand while keeping the paddle face square to the ball.
As a former tennis player myself, I resisted the continental grip initially. But it became clear that the quick exchanges at the net demanded easy transitions between strokes.
Shorten Your Backswing
The abbreviated strokes in pickleball compared to big tennis swings was an adjustment. But I teach students to keep backswings compact right away.
Experienced players will punish exaggerated backswings. It’s best to generate power through paddle speed, not backswing distance.
Brush Up Under the Ball
On groundstrokes, learn to brush up under the ball more like table tennis. You can’t rely on topspin grips and long swings like tennis to clear the net consistently. Think more flat paddle face and let the ball come to you. Stay patient. You’ll find the sweet spot between power and control.
Follow Through Across Your Body
Focus on following through across your body rather than swinging around your shoulder on most volleys and groundstrokes. This quickens your return to ready position on the smaller court
Practice punching volleys flat or with topspin rather than sweeping under to create backspin like tennis. This took time for me to engrain the new muscle memory.
Mastering Pickleball-Specific Shots
Beyond grip and mechanics, the shot selection in pickleball also differs greatly from tennis:
Embrace the dink
Embrace dinking. The gentleness of this shot frustrated me initially as a tennis player. But smoothing out your dinking creates opportunities to strike. Don’t just blast the ball when near the net. Work long rallies dinking back and forth. Patience during dinking exchanges took time and discipline for me. But it’s a must to advance in pickleball.
The third shot drop
This foundational pickleball shot barely exists in tennis. But quickly learning the nuanced “drop shot off a groundstroke” took my game to a new level.
Focus on feathering the ball just over the net with finesse, not power. This instantly puts you and your partner in a position to get to the kitchen.
The soft, deep return
Placing high-floating returns rather than trying to crush every return shot is essential. Control trumps power. Focus on sending returns deep in the court to allow time to get up to the kitchen.
Work on drops and soft resets
Making the adjustment from tennis means learning finesse – carefully angling the ball just over the net rather than slamming ball after ball is key. To be good at pickleball, you’ll need to learn how to drop the ball just over the net from any position on the course.
Footwork Adjustments
Changing lifelong tennis footwork habits to maximize pickleball footwork took perseverance. But making these adjustments improved my mobility around the non-volley zone immensely:
Maintain Neutral Stance
Avoid stepping into shots and opening your stance like tennis. Stay square to the net in a neutral athletic stance instead.
This allows quick side-to-side and even diagonal explosiveness to reach shots other players cannot. Maintaining strong centered footwork proved game-changing.
Limit Crossover Steps
Tennis footwork utilizes many crossover steps to move explosively. But in pickleball, this risks foot faults at the net.
Train yourself to stutter step instead, keeping feet staggered. Only cross when desperately off balance and stretched. Re-train those instincts.
Focus on Lateral Movement
Rather than linear start-stop motion like tennis, succeed in pickleball by embracing smooth lateral shuffling.
The quick exchanges at the net demand efficient side-to-side mobility. Don’t just sprint – glide. Maintain athletic readiness.
Correct Volley Footwork
Volley footwork in tennis utilizes the opposite foot from the hitting hand. This risks foot faults in pickleball.
Instead, punch volleys with your core and move feet only as needed to maintain balance. Keep feet grounded.
Adjust Expectations
Finally, patience and perspective are needed when transitioning from tennis to pickleball:
Patience with your progress
Look at pickleball as your second tennis career rather than comparing your beginner results. Steep growth will come with quality practice. Be patient with yourself and enjoy the process.
I struggled with frustration frequently when beginning pickleball, as ingrained tennis techniques failed me. Remember, you’re learning a new sport. It will take time to engrain new muscle memory and decision-making. Stay positive.
Embrace the learning process
Tennis skills apply, but techniques require tweaking. Immerse yourself in mastering the nuances.
The journey to excelling at pickleball as a tennis player is challenging but gratifying. Savor it.
Perspective on wins and losses
Initially, match scores and results may feel demoralizing compared to tennis. Avoid judging yourself.
Focus on the macro journey. Maintain faith in your skills. Have fun. Success will come with time.
Conclusion
Pickleball may not be tennis, but it’s an excellent sport to add to your skillset. Embrace the challenge of developing new muscle memory, court awareness, shot selection, and finesse.
By focusing on pickleball fundamentals rather than resisting change, you’ll find your tennis experience gives you an advantage.
With the right attitude and effort, you will join the many tennis converts finding joy and success on the pickleball courts.
