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Junior SLATE Program
A comprehensive, effective, and super-fun developmental and play pickleball program for juniors aged 3-17.
Download the Slate Pickleball Club mobile app, create a free Junior Membership account, then, in the app, go to HOME, then tap EVENTS > CATEGORIES > JUNIOR GROUP INSTRUCTIONAL to register your child. You can also click the link below to register on your computer or phone.
For app assistance, please click HERE for tutorials if needed. Email info@slatepickleballclub.com to schedule a complimentary junior Level Evaluation if your child is not a beginner.
Let’s make players for life this Fall Season: AUGUST 31-NOVEMBER 29 2026.
Slate Mom
"Max really enjoys himself at Slate. I think it’s very beneficial for him, and he's improved a lot in a very short time. He would’ve never been ready for the NJP tournament without your teams' coaching!"
Slate mom
Pathways
"Player For Life" and "High Performance". There is a place for everyone.
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Different Classes
Divided by age and stage to create the optimal learning and play environment. 3-17 years old.
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Sub-Programs
Showing a clear path of progression for every student.
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Methodology
Our team works together to bring the best classroom environment to your child.
Overview
The Junior STATE Pickleball Program is based on the Long Term Athlete Development model.
We ensure your child will learn in an appropriate learning environment, acquiring skills faster and funner than anywhere else.
No matter the age and stage, no matter their goals, we has a world-class program and pathway for your child.
Classes Offered
Long Term Athlete Development
Junior SLATE solutions
Ratios and Costs
Classes Offered
Junior Group Instructional:
- Pioneer 1: 3-4 year old beginners | 40 minutes | Active Start
- Pioneer 2: 5-6 year old beginners | 50 minutes | Active Start
- Foundations 1: 6-9 year old beginners | 60 minutes | FUNdamentals
- Foundations 2: 8-12 year old beginners | 90 minutes | Learn to Train
- Foundations 3: 12-17 year old beginners | 90 minutes | Active for Life
- Enhanced 1: 6-9 year old intermediates | 60 minutes | FUNdamentals
- Enhanced 2: 8-12 year old intermediates | 90 minutes | Learn to Train
- Enhanced 3: 13-17 year old intermediates | 90-120 minutes | Active for Life
- Select 1: 8-12 year old advanced | 120 minutes | Learn to Train
- Select 2: 12-17 year old advanced | 120 minutes | Active for Life
High Performance Junior Academy:
- Prodigy Challenger: 8-13 year old (~3.0-3.4 DUPR) | Learn to Train
- Prodigy Prime: 9-13 year old (~3.5-3.9 DUPR) | Train to Train
- Ultra Elite: 11-15 year-old (~4.0-4.4 DUPR) | Train to Train
- Ultra Master : 12-16 year old expert (~4.5-4.9 DUPR) | Train to Compete
- Ultra Apex : 13-17 year old (~5.0-5.4 DUPR) | Train to Compete
Long Term Athlete Development
Slate’s Junior SLATE Program’s purpose is to grow the game of pickleball for children, creating players for life, as well as having a robust enough program to be able to develop professional-level players from scratch.
The program is based on the Long-Term Athlete Development (LTAD) model authored by Istvan Balyi, Richard Way, and Colin Higgs.
LTAD is the ultimate sport developmental framework, composed of seven stages which guides how training and competition should be conducted over a person’s lifetime, starting from birth through the entirety of adult life. Its purpose is to improve programming across all sports so that every athlete can live up to their full potential.
Slate has taken this framework and adapted it for pickleball, combining newly updated racquet-coaching methodologies with LTAD. A challenge for the sport world is having programming for children that is both age and stage appropriate. As seen in tennis coaching, the previous ideas were to teach technique to young children first, where children would be hitting thousands upon thousands of shots to build muscle memory. Eventually, they would be sent out to matches, with the hopes that they would “figure it out” as they compete with the techniques that they were given.
Junior SLATE solutions
There are many issues with this old-school mindset that are corrected by Slate’s Junior SLATE program. For the first 8-9 years of life, it is critical to emphasize building the fundamental movement skills before focusing primarily onto pickleball-specific skills, as young children don’t have the athletic or mental base to have fun and experience success learning techniques that incorporate both gross and fine motor skills. Once the foundation of physical literacy is in place, children can acquire sports-specific skills much easier and in a much more enjoyable way, which is critical for retention.
Another major issue is that programs often do not take into account the difference in the needs of boys versus girls, and their windows of optimal trainability. Junior SLATE builds these directly into the program. An example would be stamina (endurance and aerobic power), which has its optimal window of trainability at the onset of the adolescent growth spurt, which is often a year earlier for girls than boys.
A third issue is that programs often leave non high performance children behind. We offer two pathways instead of just the performance path. They are the “excellence” path, and the “player for life” path. This ensures that any child at any age will be able to jump into Slate’s program and experience the ideal learning environment with kids their age, no matter how much experience they’ve previously had with the sport.
Ratios and Costs
Our ratio is 4-6 players to 1 coach to 1 court. This provides a solid group experience, where children can experience live-ball in a more realistic setting and make new friends, but allows the children to receive adequate attention and feedback from the coach.
The rate is $30/hour for all Junior Group Instructional classes.
For the Academy, please visit the High Performance webpage HERE.
Active Start
Ages 3-6 years old. It’s all about learning to love movement.
In the Active Start stage of Long-Term Athlete Development, the purpose is to develop fundamental movement skills like running, jumping, hopping, throwing, and catching in a playful unstructured environment. It is inappropriate to teach children at this age technical pickleball-specific skills. While the children use paddles and pickleballs to complete tasks, it is simple and playful, not specialized and competitive.
Pioneer 1
Pioneer 2
FUNdamentals
Ages 6-8 years old girls, 7-9 years old boys. It’s all about building physical literacy.
The FUNdamental stage of the LTAD model stresses the importance of developing the fundamental movement skills which include the ABCs (agility, balance, coordination, and speed) before diving into overly technical, fine-motor work of pickleball tactics and technique. Teaching all the sports-specific technical strokes, positionings and strategies of pickleball to children this age has been proven to be ineffective. It is absolutely critical to make this stage fun and joyful.
Foundations 1
Enhanced 1
Learn To Train
Ages 8-11 years old girls, 9-12 years old boys. It’s all about developing pickleball tactical and technical skills.
The Learn to Train stage of Long-Term Athlete Development is the most important phase in a child’s life to develop sport-specific skills. Physically and psychologically, they are now ready and willing to learn all the techniques and tactics to make them better pickleball players.
Note that Learn to Train is where children should be participating in a wide variety of sports to develop physical literacy.
Foundations 2
Enhanced 2
Select 1
Active For Life
Ages 12-18 years old. It’s all about loving the game for life.
The Active for Life stage is for those athletes who have successfully completed the first three stages of Long-Term Athlete Development, meaning they are physically literate, but are not on the “excellence” pathway. And that’s totally okay! Most players end up in the Active for Life stage without ever being a professional, so it’s important to ensure that all levels and needs are being met in the Junior SLATE Program.
Foundations 3
Enhanced 3
Select 2
The Circuit
The Circuit is designed to provide optimal play and competitive experiences for children. It is divided into two Tiers following Long-Term Athlete Development stages.
Think of it as a super-fun combination of an adult league, open play, and Cardio Pickleball for kids!
Cost: $15/hour
The Tiers for Junior Competition and Play
SLATE High Performance Junior Pickleball Academy
For those junior athletes who are looking to compete and improve the higher and even highest Levels.
Please view the dedicated webpage for the Academy HERE.
I never thought my kids could love pickleball this much. The coaches are great and we've all noticed how fast they are improving!