Category: Slate Blog
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Midcourt Madness on the Pickleball Court!
Stage 1 of Slate’s opening is complete. We’ve evaluated hundreds of Stage 1 members. We’re so grateful for having the opportunity to meet you all and have you all on court. As spoken of in previous blogs, our coaching team has noticed specific patterns of play that get a lot of players in trouble and…
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Pickleball Forehands and the Kinetic Chain
How do you create a proper kinetic chain on forehand pickleball shots like the dink and drive? I see a lot of “paddle tip down” techniques applied by many players, especially in the Intern and Manager Levels, which unfortunately isn’t a good method. You’re limiting the energy control to just the muscles in your arm,…
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Let’s Get Flicky With It
The flick is one of the ultimate weapons in pickleball. You can take a short soft shot that was more effective before this shot existed and whip it into topspin shape, an offensive weapon that will rock your opponents’ world. To wisely execute it, you first have to take a tactics-first approach. What is the…
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Level Evaluations: Reflections and Results
📝The data is in! As of writing this article, we have conducted assessments on exactly 240 Stage 1 Slaters! We’ve had at least two sets of eyes from our highly trained staff on each Evaluation to ensure maximum accuracy. 👁️Have a look at the distribution chart below: You can see there is certainly a bell…
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Slate’s Junior STAGE Program
Junior Development! This became the bedrock of my passion for coaching tennis a decade ago. Developing the physical literacy and tennis skills of a student from a young age all the way to the point where they became teenage tournament-level players, growing their love for the game in the process, was very rewarding. Perhaps it comes…
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Levels at Slate
Pickleball has changed. A 3.0 is different today than it was two years ago. The reason comes down to the increase of the skill gap. Now that millions of people are playing, and the professional scene has skyrocketed, the levels of play that are at the top are far greater. But, there aren’t numbers added…
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Sneaky Pickleball Shots to Elevate Your Game
The common goal in pickleball is to neutralize the point, get to the NVZ, hold your ground, and win the point. Surprising your opponents and watching them scramble is all part of the fun. There are many ways to do this at the NVZ, but here are my three favorite: Slate’s Adult Group Instructional program…
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Let Go of Your Fear of the Drop
It’s okay to hit your drops high. Third shot, fifth shot, even the holy seventh shot, whichever. I know it’s not your intention. I know you sometimes get blasted as a result of your errors. But just because you occasionally loft them up and get severely punished as a result, does not mean you have…
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Let’s Get Match Tough!
“I am so much better during a drill than during an actual match.” I hear this all the time. The struggle is real. Many players are just not match tough. The most obvious reason for performing better in a class is because there is no pressure. A primary goal during an instructional setting is for…
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The ATP in Pickleball Doesn’t Have To Be Impossible
The “around the post” shot (ATP) is a classic fan favorite and can get the whole crowd roaring with approval. You see it a lot on the pro tour and occasionally at the highest levels of club play. It’s when the ball is wide enough that it becomes possible to send it outside of the…