Pickleball: Look who's on the cover of Tennis Magazine
Guess who was featured on the cover of Tennis Magazine in June? Pickleball pro Ben Johns!
The entire issue focused on pickleball, which is an amazing sign that the tennis community is embracing pickleball. Johns came from a tennis and ping-pong background, and in the Tennis Magazine interview, Johns shared how tennis helped shape his pickleball foundation.
He also talked about how tennis players can bring their skills to the pickleball court, and he provided some drills that will help players — especially those with tennis backgrounds — improve their games.
Johns made some interesting points that we think are helpful for tennis enthusiasts who are considering picking up pickleball or who have already started.
“Tennis is very much a groundstroke game these days. You’re basically just hitting big groundies from the baseline, and a big serve. The main thing in pickleball is knowing when to hit big groundstrokes versus when not to, because a lot of tennis players will just choose to keep whacking away,” Johns said. “It becomes clear early on that won’t cut it against decent pickleball players.”
Johns added: “You can pin down success in pickleball to shot selection. That’s definitely the hardest thing for tennis players to learn.”
The feature on Johns wasn’t the only article on pickleball in the issue. Other articles in Tennis Magazine included:
Best paddles
Top pros
Comparison with ping pong and tennis
Rules for pickleball
Crossover appeal
Getaways
Rules and strategies
Importance of the deep return
Interviews with other pros
It’s not just Tennis Magazine that’s devoting time and space to pickleball. The Tennis Channel has been broadcasting pickleball matches, including the PPA Select Medical Orange County Cup a few weeks ago.
We hope that tennis enthusiasts won’t feel threatened by such developments. And we hope pickleballers won’t gloat over them!
It is important to partner with tennis, rather than fight over court space. Resorts, HOAs, clubs, and recreational facilities need to consider the tennis community when they build their venue.
Still, having Tennis Magazine acknowledge pickleball in such a significant way is a big step. It is our hope that we can work together to build and support both sports in the future.
Coach Mary’s tip of the week: Service return
Through my tournament experience (2012 – present), I have come to realize that the service return sets the tone for a pickleball point. After going through instructor training with both IPTPA and PPR, this point was reinforced.
With the tricky spins that servers can put on the ball now, the receiving team must adapt and learn how to effectively put the return deep so that they can get to the net. I learned most of my pickleball skills from two outstanding teachers: Phil Dunmeyer in Tustin and Ralph Rabago in Yucaipa and Palm Desert. They both emphasize that the team that gets to the net and controls the net will win the point in most cases.
The serving team must wait and hit an unattackable third ball in order to get to the net because of the two-bounce rule. The receiving team can get there first with a good, deep return.
Zane Navratel has a great Youtube video on this. youtu.be/sDPkKuJaoac
In Zane’s video, he advocates for the returning player to start 2 feet behind the baseline, rather than positioning right behind it.
On the server’s contact, he splits and moves into position to return, either on the forehand or backhand side, by moving forward into the stroke. This helps him carry his momentum to the net. He also advocates for a short backswing, but a big follow-through, with his body moving forward on and after contact.
A pickleball is a light, plastic ball with holes in it. It takes incorporating your big muscles to drive it deep. Using your core, your hips and shoulders will be much easier than using just your arm.
You might ask “What about short serves?” Good question. As a softball player and coach for 25 years, I know that it is much easier to move forward to the ball than to run back. If you split step on the server’s contact, you should be able to move quickly to get to a short serve, even if you are 2 feet behind the baseline.
Don’t forget: Go get your CPR training!
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Pickleball: Look who's on the cover of Tennis Magazine
