Tag: Relishing Pickleball

David Zapatka Backhand Groundstroke Quoting from Pickleball Fundamentals: Master the basics and compete with confidence by Mary Littlewood, when hitting a backhand groundstroke, “The same principles apply when you’re hitting a backhand groundstroke (as a forehand groundstroke) except that you move to the left rather than to the right (right-handed players). While some players change the…

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David Zapatka Want some tips to help you with your forehand groundstroke? Quoting from Pickleball Fundamentals by Mary Littlewood, when hitting a forehand groundstroke, “From the moment the ball leaves the opponent’s paddle, you should be tracking its flight with your eyes to aid you in judging the speed and direction of the ball. Move to the…

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David Zapatka Are you looking for an enriching retirement activity? Are you interested in quality exercise while having a good time? Are you interested in a social environment where you can meet friendly, fun people? Are you interested in making new friends in your community? Consider giving the fastest-growing sport in the world, pickleball, a…

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David Zapatka Reader Liz Houser writes, “I just moved to SaddleBrooke in April and learned to play pickleball in early May thanks to my enthusiastic neighbor Shawne. I just read your article about Common mistakes numbers 11 and 12, I found them to be very helpful. Would you be so kind as to send me…

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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 10 mistakes over the past five…

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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 four months. This…

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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 four mistakes the past two months. This month…

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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 of 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…

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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 and 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 goes…

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