Pickleball: Why and how to drill with a ball machine. And check out the senior games

More than 1,000 athletes ages 50 and up have been hitting the courts, fields and track this week at the 21st Annual Palm Desert Senior Games and International Sports Festival. Guess what the most popular sport is? That’s right, pickleball!

Yes, that's right, 50-year-olds, you are "seniors" — at least for the purposes of these games. Just think, you will be the young whippersnappers, so get over the name and get out on the court.

The games have returned after a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19, and athletes are not just from here in the Coachella Valley but as far away as New Hampshire, North Dakota and British Columbia, Canada. The oldest athlete is 94 — an entrant in the track and field competition. For pickleball alone, there are over 300 participants this year, according to Brenda Nutcher, community services coordinator for the Desert Recreation District.

Friday’s action featured men’s doubles and women’s open at the Palm Desert Civic Center Park tennis courts. On Saturday, mixed doubles were scheduled and the women’s doubles and the men’s open is Sunday.

Our own Mary Barsaleau got her start in tournaments at the senior games in 2012 — it was her very first tournament. She earned a silver medal that year.

This year, she’s competing in mixed doubles and women’s doubles.

This is a great event to get on your radar for next year. For pickleball, the cost this year was $95. Registration starts in September, so mark your calendar for this fall to sign up for the 2023 edition. Come spectate this weekend so you can get a sense of how the action flows and what to expect!

Coach Mary’s tip of the week: Awesome ball machine drills!

When I started teaching in 2019 for the City of Palm Springs, I purchased a Lobster Ball Machine, since it was the easiest one to transport in my car.  I purchased a second one during the COVID-19 shutdown for my donation-only drill classes.  There are other machines out there, and I suggest you try them out and choose which one works best for you and is within your budget.

One of the most important parts of drilling and practicing, for any sport, is repetition.  Creating muscle memory for the task you want your body to perform will lead to consistency and confidence.  As a veteran physical education teacher and athletics coach for 38 years, I always wanted my students and players to get lots of reps.  Therefore, I bring one to two ball machines, three hoppers, numerous targets, and at least 10 pick-up tubes to each drill class.

Here is a list of some of my favorite ball machine drills:

• Dinking off the machine, to another player, and they dink cross court, and then the third player tries to put the dink in a bucket.  Rotate through each spot.

• Volleys off the machine, on both the backhand and forehand side, aiming for deep targets, focusing on hip and shoulder rotation, and “hitting the dart board.”

• Dead drops off a hard drive from the machine, softening the ball into a target in the kitchen.

• Forehand and backhand groundstrokes off the machine, focusing on footwork, preparation, hip turn and shoulder turn, and follow-through.  Aim for targets.

• Third ball drills, where you start with just hitting thirds off the machine, and then you hit a third ball and come into the kitchen line.  Make this more competitive by having another player across the net, and the player who comes in after the third shot drop now attacks the player across the net, so they can practice resets.

• Z drill:  Machine shoots a topspin ball cross-court.  First player executes a reset into the kitchen directly across from them.  The player that is in that position dinks cross-court.  The player that they dink to works on sending a deep topspin stroke down the line.  Rotate positions.

• Offensive lobs: The machine dinks across to the drilling player.  He or she can dink, and then can send an offensive lob over the players on the other side.  Those players must hit overheads or volleys to a target away from the first player, since the machine will be sending another ball.  Rotate through each spot.

• I have many more drills!  The choices are boundless.  I had the machine shoot balls wide on a dink to practice around the post (ATP) shots — it was great!  I have various colored balls, and with two players at the net, and the ball machine oscillating, they must call it, then chose to reset or dead drop on a pink or orange ball and drive it or topspin roll it with a green ball. Fun!

Below are several Youtube videos from various instructors covering ball machine drills.  Be sure to check them out and decide if purchasing a ball machine for yourself or for your club is something that you want to consider.  Note:  More advanced players can feed effectively, so drills can be practiced smoothly.  More beginning players might benefit from the consistency of a ball machine.

12 ball machine drills to improve your pickleball: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRf8PxaXcDc

Simone Jardim: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8PN3TYXq-Y

Jordan Briones: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ndxOeoKdIE

Last call for Superbowl Saturday round robin at Freedom Park! email Mary to enter:  mgbarsaleau@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Pickleball: Why and how to drill with a ball machine.