How to find a Pickleball coach that actually makes you better
Summary
Building Pickleball (Brian Lim) on choosing a coach, drawn from lessons with 10-12 different pros. Know what you want to work on before the lesson. Watch free content first so you don’t pay a pro to show you a basic third shot; bring tips you’ve seen online and get more nuanced feedback. Research coaches: watch their videos and match play, and ask around your community. A former high-level player isn’t automatically a great coach, and vice versa. What he looks for: coaches who diagnose before prescribing (‘coach the player, not the shot’), explain why, adapt to you instead of selling a fixed system, fit your personality, and give you a way to practice it, so after a few sessions you can say what you’re improving, why, how you train it and how you know it works. Standouts (he names Jordan Briones, Zane Navratil and Christine Maddox) were concise, could rephrase a cue several ways, and could regress or progress a movement. His preferences: more hitting than talking, room to experiment before being corrected, and good analogies. Tips: film every session, and split the cost by booking a lesson with a friend or two.
Key takeaways
- Know what you want to work on before you book
- Use free online content first; bring it to the lesson for deeper feedback
- Good coaches diagnose before they prescribe, explain why, and adapt to you
- A great player isn’t automatically a great coach
- Standouts are concise, rephrase cues, and can regress or progress a movement
Action items
- Write down your top goal before contacting any coach
- Watch a prospective coach’s videos and ask locals who’ve had lessons with them
- After a few sessions, check you can answer: what, why, how we train it, how we know it works
- Film every lesson (tell the coach first)
- Share a lesson with one or two friends to split the cost