Inside a Pro Pickleball Training Session (Badminton Pro Edition)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XhFm-S14Tg
Summary
A badminton pro who keeps hearing that pickleball is easy goes through a real training session with Coach Brandon. It starts with a dynamic warm-up: side shuffles with crossovers, single-leg hops forward and laterally to prepare for lunging, then two-ball hand-eye drills like throwing and catching both at once.
On court, the kitchen drill uses two cones: tap one, dink to the other, while your partner pulls you side to side, for about five minutes per side. A singles drill has you run to hit a passing shot, then recover for the next feed. Then comes 7-Eleven, with one player at the baseline and live points against a player at the kitchen, using deliberately tough feeds to replicate pressure, before finishing with skinny singles. The lesson both players notice: staying low the whole time is what burns, and it’s what slips first when you’re tired in a tournament.
Key takeaways
- Warm up with shuffles, crossovers and single-leg hops
- Hand-eye drills like two-ball catching sharpen tracking
- Kitchen cone drill: tap one cone, dink to the other, recover
- Practice from positions that feel unfair to build composure
- Staying low is the first thing to go when you’re tired
Action items
- Add a five-minute shuffle and single-leg hop warm-up before you play
- Run the two-cone kitchen drill for five minutes per side
- Play 7-Eleven from the baseline with a partner feeding tough balls