It Takes Time!

I sometimes hear students saying that they just need one quick lesson in order to fine-tune that almost-awesome drive of theirs. With one simple fix they will immediately be on their way to 5.0.

Well I do what I can, but even if I had a supply of one-hour fairy dust I am not sure I could guarantee much. The student has to remember most of what I show him, AND he has to take this new knowledge to the court and then use it effectively. For most people, this is all very unlikely to happen.

I do four week clinics and I watch the progress very carefully. We review things weekly and at the end I send them off with a whole set of new skills. If I check in on them a few weeks later, most of what they learned has been forgotten and been replaced by all of the original bad habits.

As frustrating as it could be for an instructor, I think this is more the norm than anything else. Most students experience great difficulty in converting lessons and drills into game play. It takes non-stop lessons and coaching until it finally becomes second nature. I have one success story where it took over a year of drill sessions and coaching, until one day it just all seemed to click.

So the takeaways are simple - neither instructors nor students should expect short-term miracles from lessons and clinics, and students have to expect a lot of work to see any significant results. It takes time!

See you on the courts!

Michael Gauthier
Rally Academy
​Pickleball Strokes