My New Pickleball Venture

The future is pickle, that’s clear.

Pickleball is like tennis, played on a badminton court with an oversized ping-pong paddle.

I started pickleball coaching in late 2025. My motivations:

• A decade of coaching tennis through cold Winter evenings.

• I had the ambition to create my own coaching programme. One to be proud of.

• I saw an opportunity. Pickleball is on the rise and players need a way to be comfortably introduced to the sport.

I realise that starting a new sport is quite difficult; existing players aren’t always welcoming to newcomers. New players often feel impostor syndrome when jumping straight into an intermediate session. There are very few beginner sessions available.

Pickleball is one of the fastest-growing sports, and coached sessions allow for new players to join the sport without feeling pressured.

Pickleball easier than tennis

Unlike tennis, pickleball has a low barrier to entry. You will have a decent rally within 10 mins of starting to play. Within a few sessions, you will have the rules down and can play with anyone. You’re often looking at years before you advance beyond a beginners tennis session.

• A pickleball court is smaller

• The paddles are lighter and smaller (an extension of your hand)

• The balls are bigger and lighter.

My beginner sessions focus on teaching the basics. Once you’ve got a feel for the paddle and speed of the ball, we go straight into match play. Learning the rules and positioning early means players are able to play socially and feel like they can participate without judgement.

Once comfortable, join an intermediate session, at this stage, players are starting to use touch and feel, place the ball and from a coaching perspective, we can start doing drills to build the muscle memory to encourage positive patterns of play.