I had the pleasure of participating in a Suncoast Pickleball Camp in Punta Gorda this past week. What an amazing experience, and boy, did I learn a lot…under fire. The 4 pros, Barry Waddell, John Sperling, Scott Tingley and David Dunkin all kept a close eye on the 32 students, so much so, that 2 courts over from me one of the pros yelled out, “Terry, did I just see you step in the kitchen?”
The camp started at 8:00 a.m. on 8 courts at the Pickleplex. If you don’t know what the Pickleplex is, it consists of 16 outdoor pickleball courts constructed on the Florida Southwestern College campus, and it literally put Punta Gorda on the pickleball map. Read this article here on how much $$$ the Pickleplex brought into the community.
We were divided into groups of 8 and had a different pro in the mornings and afternoons practicing: dinking, reset, lobs, serves, blocking and more, for 7 hours with a break for lunch. After 3 days, I’ll admit I was tired and sore.
It was an amazing experience and I would suggest anyone who is serious about pickleball and sharpening their skills should take a clinic or camp.
On the first day, pro, Barry Waddell, mentioned that there are 12 tremendous pickleball shots with subshots. I asked him to send them to me via email, and I will share them with you.
https://blog.pickleballcentral.com/2019/05/28/meet-the-pros-barry-waddel/
The 12 Pickleball Shots according to Barry Waddell:
- Serve (3 types: Topspin, Slice, Lob)
- Forehand return of serve (2 types: topspin and slice)
- Backhand return of serve (2 types: topspin, slice)
- Forehand topspin ground stroke drive
- Backhand topspin ground stroke drive
- Forehand volley (5 types: block, jab, roll, reset, kill)
- Backhand volley (5 types: block, jab, roll, reset, kill)
- Overhead smash
- Lob (2 types: flat, topspin)
- Dinking (3 types: flat, slice, roll)
- Third shot drop (3 types: flat, slice, roll)
- ATP shot
There you go. Master these and you master the game of pickleball.
