Player Development
MIND. GAME.
Sometimes improving your pickleball isn't about learning another shot.
When something isn't working, Frenz encourages you to ask questions before trying to fix it.
There are two places to look.
Sometimes the answer is one. Sometimes it's the other. Sometimes it's both.
MIND
What's the barrier?
How you're thinking and feeling can change how you play.
Recognising what's happening gives you the opportunity to do something useful about it.
Feeling tense
Breathe first.After a mistake
Next point.You can't replay the last one. Fortunately, neither can they.
A drop in confidence
Trust yourself.You haven't suddenly forgotten how to play pickleball.
Uncertainty
Choose purpose.Decide what you're trying to do before worrying about whether you did it perfectly.
Something unexpected happens
Adapt.The game changed. You're allowed to change with it.
The Confidence Compass
MIND puts the Frenz Confidence Compass into play.
Self-Awareness
Recognise what is happening.
Self-Compassion
Give yourself room to respond rather than criticise.
Self-Belief
Trust your ability to do something about it.
Self-Actualisation
Make a choice and put it into action.
Confidence first. Skills follow. Participation grows. Communities benefit.
GAME
Ask a better question.
A missed shot doesn't necessarily mean you need a better shot.
Before changing your technique, look at what was happening in the game.
Was it the right shot?
Don't only ask whether it went in.
Ask whether it was the right choice for that situation.
A good shot at the wrong time can still be the wrong shot.
What are you trying to achieve?
Attack? Reset? Move somebody? Create space? Stay in the point?
Knowing what you're trying to achieve makes it much easier to judge what happened next.
If you don't know what you're trying to do, it's difficult to know whether it worked.
Are you in the right place?
Before blaming the shot, think about where you were when you had to play it.
Could your position have made the next ball easier?
Sometimes the problem with the shot started three steps earlier.
Are you playing together?
Doubles isn't just two people standing on the same side of the net.
Are you communicating? Moving together? Covering space together? Does your partner know what you're trying to do?
Doubles is considerably easier with two players on the same team.
What are they doing to you?
Your opponents are making decisions too.
What are they giving you? What are they taking away? Are they targeting something? Have they changed the way they're playing?
They have a strategy too. Inconsiderate, but worth remembering.
WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS
Create time.
If your mind is in flux and your game seems chaotic, create time.
Go back to basics. Play shots you are comfortable playing.
Take a moment longer when serving. Clear your mind of anything that's gone before.
Speak to your partner. Decide together what you want your next point to look like.
Play high-percentage shots.
You don't always have to solve the game. Sometimes you just need to give yourself enough time to get back into it.
MIND. GAME.
Look first. Then change something.
When a point, a partnership or a whole game isn't going the way you want, don't automatically assume you need to hit the ball better.
Ask:
What's happening to me?
What's happening in the game?
Then decide what — if anything — needs to change.
You might need a different shot.
You might need a different decision.
You might just need the next point.
Player development isn't about finding more things wrong with your game. It's about understanding your game well enough to help yourself play it better.
It's considerably easier to play pickleball when you're breathing.