3 Ways to Take Your Learning to the Next Level.
- By Morgan Evans

1. Be an active learner.
Ask questions. You can make the most of your lessons by not just being a student. Understand that the coach/student relationship is a symbiotic one. A student provides feedback as to what help they need, what works, and what doesn't, in turn making the job of the coach significantly easier. Probe deep into the coach's knowledge to find the answers you seek. By doing this you will firstly find out if they are really the coach for you, and if they are, you will not only be gaining valuable insight but you'll also be helping the coach. Each question is like a little pop quiz to stir their memory.
I have often thought that to really help someone, I would have to sit and watch someone play time and time again, against all different types of players. Not only watch them, I would need to talk to them open and honestly in between points. To know someones game as well as I know my own is maybe the only way to not give counter productive advice. Unfortunately, the kind of coach I am describing is a personal touring coach, someone who lives and breathes the pickleball of their player.

2. Know your game.
The solution for most recreational players is taking the steps to know your game better than ever before. No one knows you better than you do, except of course your wife. True understanding of oneself rarely happens on your own, and sadly it can mean throwing out your own perception. We often see ourselves through rose colored glasses, it protects us from a reality where your 3rd ball perhaps isn’t always perfect. Remember, “​It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.​” - Mark Twain.​ ​How much do you know is actually true? A wise woman doesn't ask a man about himself, she asks his friends. Are the 3 players you play with the most suddenly getting better? Great, that’s a reflection on you. Talk to someone you have played with many times. Ask them the tough questions and demand their complete honesty, but don't stop there, get a general consensus from as many players as possible. Each question you ask turns each player into assistant coaches, until slowly but surely you build a picture about what kind of player you REALLY are. Record, watch and analyse your matches, with your coach ideally, the footage doesn't lie!! At the end of the day you may truly be able to say you know your game, objectively speaking. Now the real learning can start.
"Knowledge is only potential power, action is power" - Anthony Robbins.

3. Have a plan.
So, you really know your pickleball .... Fantastic! well done, you're on a roll....keep going! Time to plan your fearless development. Just like in life, timing is everything. There are many factors that go into deciding what exactly you should ask from a coach. If, like the majority of recreational players, pickleball is not the meaning of life but a confusing addiction that does bring you happiness(with a side dish of frustration), then deciding to take lessons from your trusted coach should happen after you can answer these simple questions. How much time can you give your coach? Do you have a tournament coming up? Do you care if you win or lose? Is it the right time for a change or just a tuneup? What other sports have influenced your game? These answers will tell the coach what is possible to achieve.
Six years ago I was watching former Wimbledon champion, Pat Cash, give tennis lessons to a ragtag bunch of aspiring juniors. Pat was naturally upset to learn that not one of them had a real plan of what they wanted to achieve during the lesson. Avoid going on court without a clear objective. Doing so and expecting a game changing lesson, is like calling a mechanic and expecting an accurate diagnosis, without even giving the make and model. Go into the lesson with a game plan, know what you need, not just what you want. For coaches, the matrix of what and when to give advice to a student is extremely complex. We can and will help you with your goals, but help us help you. I want to teach in a world where a new student enters the court with a report card from their pickleball friends and a video of their best and worst moments, a bit like having your medical history with you at your next check up.
Now, is that too much to ask? Yes, probably.... but here’s hoping.