Welcome to Your Improver Pickleball Pre-Workshop Guide
This workshop is designed for players who want to improve consistency, movement, confidence and shot selection.
The aim is not to teach every shot in pickleball. Instead, we focus on the areas that most early-stage players struggle with and that will have the biggest impact on your game.
What We'll Be Working On
Better Movement
Many players focus heavily on shots and not enough on movement.
We'll introduce concepts such as:
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Split step
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Court positioning
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Recovering after shots
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Transitioning to the kitchen
The First Three Shots
Arguably the most important part of pickleball.
We'll spend time improving:
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Serve
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Return of serve
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Third-shot drop
and understanding why these shots matter.
Kitchen Confidence
Many players avoid the kitchen or rush through it.
We'll work on:
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Dinking
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Volleys
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Punch & Rolls
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Touch and control
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Patience
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Decision making
Kitchen Game
The Kitchen Game is one of our favourite drills and helps players quickly understand why dinking and patience are so important in pickleball.
How it works:
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Play begins as normal.
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Once a ball lands in the kitchen, a player calls "Kitchen".
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From that point onwards, all play must remain within the kitchen area.
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A point is lost if the ball is played outside the kitchen.
What it develops:
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Dinking consistency
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Touch and feel
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Patience under pressure
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Ball control
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Kitchen confidence
Rather than trying to win points quickly, players learn to build rallies, control the ball and become more comfortable playing at the non-volley zone.
Transition Challenge
AKA 7/11
One of the biggest differences between beginner and improver players is understanding how and when to move from the baseline to the kitchen.
How it works:
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One player starts at the baseline.
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One player starts at the kitchen line.
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The baseline player attempts to work their way forward using drop shots.
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The kitchen player defends and attempts to keep them back.
What it develops:
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Third-shot drop consistency
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Court positioning
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Transition movement
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Shot selection
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Patience and decision making
The objective isn't simply to hit a good drop shot — it's understanding how to use the drop shot to safely move forward and gain control of the point.
This is a key skill for any player looking to progress beyond the beginner stage.
