Pickleball Is All Blog Joe Palmere, Pickleball Coach, Rating Specialist & Ambassador

I attended a members meeting of a local pickleball CLUB today. The discussion involved beginners versus open play versus skill ratings versus court designations.  Having taught well over 200 beginners just in the last year, I was able to identify the problems in the beginners instruction curriculum, and observe the teaching methods of inhouse instructors.  Many of the same concerns expressed by CLUB members today at the meeting,  can be attributed to an unstructured curriculum,  void of the logical sequence of stroke development, shot selection, shot execution, doubles strategy, basic rules and scoring that readies a perspective player for Open Play Pickleball.  Many "Open Play" venues in other parts of the Nation have already experienced and addressed these issues.  There primary concern was not what was best the individual player, but what was the best course of action to preserve the quality and integrity of group play for the majority of open pl

LET THE BANGERS BANG, THEY GOT RIGHTS TOO!   I posted this op-ed on my blog, knowing full well that some players choose not to play against hard hitting bangers.  I RESPECT their decision and credit them for making a choice that best suites their manner of playing pickleball.  However there are those of us who welcome this style of play, even though it's not our style of play. But be fore warned, you will be reliving some of my "politically incorrect youth." So if you are of a sensitive nature and deplore any form of violence, even in the Sporting Sense, I suggest that you should stop reading now! Maybe I am a sago mastics (not sure about that spelling), but I rather enjoy playing against hard hitting bangers.  WHY, you ask?  During my teen years way back when, I was involved in Red Shield Boys Club Boxing.  Back then, boys in my age group were a lot tougher and not shielded by their mothers like today.  We began lifting weights at 12 & 13 and frequent eng

PRACTICE, DRILL, PRACTICE, DRILL, PRACTICE, DRILL THEN PLAY Today was a reminder to myself, you need to practice specific skill sets if you want to improve your level of play and become a better player.  WELL SAID, Joe! I really need to practice what I preach. Sorry for the pun.  Coaching has given me great insight to quickly assessing a players performance during a game, and identifying any and all problem areas that are impeding his or her from improving their game skills.  One other thing I have learned is, "that a coach cannot coach him or her self."  He can quickly assess what he is doing wrong, but implementing the corrective measures is where I fall short.  However today was an eye opener.  I played against a close friend who is a renown banger, highly competitive and aggressive in open play.  Seldom if ever do I win against him, but he provides me the practice time that I need to develop specialized skills and customized  strategies to compete and even wi

"IF THE SHOE FITS WEAR IT" T here's so much jibber-jabber going around about pickleball court shoes, I have decide to stick my shoe in my mouth and join the fracas. First and foremost, I am not a footwear expert. Nor do I claim any expertise in sport shoes. And I have not had the distinked experience of selling footwear. I do have some expertise in buying sport and outdoor footwear. However like most of my blogging commentary, I rely on my past experience, and a little help from my friends in the sport shoe business. For me, your humble servant, I did not pay too much attention to proper pickleball court shoes, until I took a 9.5 rated "header," and landed on my right elbow and the cheek of my right buttock (TMI). At that time I was wearing my favorite sports shoe, the "Brooks Beast." Fantastic footwear for power walking, strength training and everyday use. But NOT FOR PICKLEBALL! Since I am a frequent customer of Hol

NEW PICKLEBALL JUNKIE TEE SHIRTS AND PICKLEBALL ETIQUETTE   Well what do you folks think about my "first original art work official "PICKLEBALL JUNKIE SPORTSWEAR" production tee shirt?  After spending mucho denaro to file a copyright application with the UsGov, and a one year wait, I finally received my "Certificate of Registration" from the United States  Register of Copyrights. Now its official, the proud owner of PICKLEBALL JUNKIE SPORTWEAR.  SO WHAT IS PICKLEBALL JUNKIE ALL ABOUT, YOU ASK ?  It's about being addicted to a racquet court sport, using a paddle to hit a whiffle back and forth across a three foot high net, until some one misses. BUT THAT'S NOT ALL!  a PICKLEBALL JUNKIE  eats, sleeps, dreams, fantasizes obsessently about playing pickleball. You watch countless YouTube pickleball videos of pros playing pb or Coach Mo telling you how to play pickleball. You own every book ever published about pickleball, and have read th