To all you people new to the game...welcome . Now , do yourselves a huge favor : don't yet even pick up a paddle at all for the very first time until you gain a basic understanding of how the sport of Pickle-Ball is designed to be played . UNDERSTAND-THEN PLAY , and only in that order ! Doing so in the opposite order can & will invariably result in learning and practicing bad mistakes that must be " Un-learned " before you could ever hope to get any better at Pickle-Ball . This game of Pickle-Ball is , first and foremost , great exercise for your brain , and then your body , and in that order ! It's kinda like the game of Pickle-Ball-Chess , except in this version of the game , you move the pieces around with a paddle instead of your fingers . So , how can you realize such an understanding ? Well , a really good way to do so , is , watch all of Rory's Pickle-Ball Pick Apart episodes....then watch them all over again . Only then will you really be ready to pick up that paddle and play for that aforementioned, " Very First Time . " Once again , welcome to the best game ever : PICKLE-BALL !

It's funny you mentioned people who just pick up a paddle and start playing with out 'lessons' or any idea of the rules of the game. In last weeks Hyunai Masters tournament, there was a player who played there who had minimal experience with pickleball, Genie Bouchard. She played singles against Ekaterina Biakina, and lost 11-1, 11-7. She played mixed doubles with Tyler Loong and lost and also played Women's doubles and lost in the first round. Her Pickleball experience was about 20 minutes the afternoon before her first match, working with Tyler Loong. But she has committed to playing many tournaments this year, and is committing to Pickleball. In tennis, she won the Girls Wimbledon and lost in a Women's Wimbledon Final. I think she will do better (and probably take lessons🤔.)

Thank you so much!!

@13:00 the near court players should be moving forward in phases depending on how their returns go, not just running hoping to make it all in one return. When the return crosses the net you stop moving or continue moving based off the 3rd shot height of impact.

I have played with so many players at this level and all they want to do these days is to stay back and bang the ball hard as they can or hit wild spins but never properly learn to control the ball or move up to the kitchen.

Question. I play with my girlfriend for recreational play every week, and she is always too afraid to go up to the kitchen. She doesn’t seem to understand why it’s an advantageous position, and is probably scared of reacting to fast volleys at the kitchen line. Any tips/suggestions I could give to her? I try to play up at the kitchen line as much as possible, but the opponent usually hits it to her because she is at the baseline at a good angle and she can’t reach the ball in time.

Im confused. If the guy in black served the ball then the guy in grey can't take it out of the air. Right?? Why would you say grey shirt guy should come to the kitchen and hit out of the air after the serve???

If you played or watched table tennis, you could recognize the grip of grey t-shirt gentlemen resembles the shakehand grip of table tennis. Yep, I see several table tennis background people holds paddle like that, including me. My local club people call it ping pong grip. There are few who switches to ping pong grip time to time depending on situation. It can give you good continental grip. However, by all means, it is not a good grip for beginners. The most obvious drawback of such grip is weak grip strength, because index finger is not participating to grip the handle. This will be particularly problem for backhand. Once heavy fast shot contacts to ping pong grip backhand, paddle will be likely to twisted or shaken because of weak grip strength, and the ball accuracy and speed will go down. On the other hand, because index finger (or with even thumb) supports paddle surface, forehand can be more or less beneficial. From TT, such grip is usual because ball is very light and TT racket surface is rubber. But from PB, balls are heavier, carrying more energy and momentum, while paddle surface is not anything like rubber. So, it is reasonable TT grip will not perform well in PB in general. At least TT grip is not for everyone, it really depends on personal style and experience. If people with TT background builds up good enough PB experience and still feels better with TT grip, and if their hand have high level of grip strength or if they go two-handed backhand, and if they use very good under/over grip, then I think TT grip might be fine. Not always, but time to time. Also, switching from semi-western grip from TT grip is very easy, you don't need to turn handle, just raise your index (and thumb, depending on personal style) finger straight to support paddle surface. I know this because those are what I do with TT grip, I only switching to ping pong grip 5~6 times per game, but it is useful. For me, the most convenient time for TT grip is roll/punch volley from kitchen line. I really hit those shots with a sense of when I play TT, and it really works. I even try TT grip for backhand kitchen volleys. For backhand, sometimes I raise my thumb high to support back surface of backhand shot, then roll it, just like I do when I play TT. Yeah, this is not for everyone, especially not for PB beginners, but at least it works for me and few others. XD I know our local club coach doesn't like TT grip like you XD But he also can't say anything to us because it works for us~

What I learned most from this video is that Rory is kind of a condesending jerk. Sorry, but if you're going to dish it out you should be able to take some criticism. I mean, they are out there trying at 5am!!! why would you say "what did he think was going to happen with that shot" and "they have to play with intent". They ARE trying! They WANT to win. They have gone to some effort to get there before the sun came up!! Please consider finding positives about what they are doing and make a compliment sandwich before and after a criticism. Players at this level don't play with much intention other than to get the ball back over the net. Really what you are saying about there mistakes are true but in this video much of your observations were about court position and strategy. You're not digging down deep enough.You should spend some time talking about their body mechanics and how that will help them move foreward in the court as well as get more control on the hit. For example you could talk about foot work, swinging through the ball, contact point out in front, unit turn as in hips and shoulders turning together as you hit through the ball. Perhaps you could add a clip showing the proper form when you pause a video after poor body mechanics and footwork were used. Good luck Rory with your channel.

All of these players have the athleticism and coordination to play much better. The biggest reason I see players not getting to the kitchen is because they are simply more comfortable playing from the baseline, even if it's the wrong place for them to be. I also see beginners who are afraid of being at the kitchen because they're afraid of the speed of the ball at close range. The problem is that these players are unwilling to get outside their comfort zone or invest the time to learn. None of these players are playing with intention regularly. They are simply reacting and/or trying to hit the ball back. The few times they play with intention, it is the wrong idea. I think of lobs as a high intention shot. These players are actually trying to hit it high with the intention of the other side making a mistake. But they're not using a lob as a way to push their opponents off the kitchen as a lob is actually intended. Most players even up to the 3.5 level have such a poor success rate of simply getting the ball in with lobs that they should abandon the shot entirely and focus on other aspects of their game. The player in yellow shows good touch with his drop shots. But as you mentioned, they're completely wasted because he does not make his way to the kitchen. It's baffling because sometimes he rushes to the net, other times he stays back. He's settling back into his comfort zone, or simply does not have the recognition to understand he should be rushing to the net. I see a lot of self taught players who have done very well without ever having taken a pickleball lesson. That's because they invest the time to learn from good videos and try to implement on the court. And they have enough of a growth mindset to get outside their comfort zone. I see other players who are stuck at their current skill level because they simply don't invest time in lessons, videos and drilling. They just want to play. I guess that's ok if they have no goal to improve and just want to have fun or get some exercise.

I like you ch but can you please stop calling it the non volley zone ... and just call it the kitchen please please please !!!!!!