Keys to resets and backhands with Jackie and Roscoe

We thought you might like some fresh faces 🤷‍♂️

⬆️ Click The Video Above ⬆️

The 5 most common mistakes on drops 🔥 

• ^{Too big of a swing: The bigger your swing, the harder it is to gauge the speed of your swing. Simple is absolutely better on a drop, whether you’re slicing it or rolling it}

• ^{Slowing down or speeding up your swing: This is probably related to swing size, but I see a lot of people that change the speed of their swing either right before or after contact. You should be thinking of the drop swing as a gradual pace where the ball is just getting in the way of the paddle.}

• ^{Too much topspin: A lot of people grossly overestimate the amount of topspin you can and should be hitting on a roll drop. Obviously you want that ball rotating downward, but it’s still more important that it’s soft and low, so you can’t be too ambitious with your swing speed.}

• ^{Off-balance: I can’t stress the importance enough of keeping both feet on the ground when you’re hitting a drop, even if you are moving in with it. If you aren’t in position to have both feet on the ground then you should probably be driving that ball.}

• ^{Down the line: A lot of people are addicted to hitting their drops directly down the line, probably because that’s how they usually drill it. There’s more space cross court to hit into, the nets lower crossing the middle, and you can sometimes beat them with an angle unwinding the stack.}

Max is just casually beating Tyson these days? 🤔

Special shout-out again to Max for making the quarterfinals of PPA Virginia Beach with Casey Diamond in just his 6th tournament. Several top pro’s are saying that Max is already asserting himself as one of the best lefties on tour. There’s no better case study for James’s coaching prowess than Max’s recent success - not everyone is beating Tyson McGuffin 11-5 11-2 just 8 months after picking up a paddle. Let’s hope the PPA can keep him from jumping ship to the APP 😂. Max and Ryan are teaming up again in Vegas this weekend and are looking to cause more chaos.

caseydiamond

View more on Instagram

What to say to you partner while playing 👌

Part of me thinks I’m not the most qualified to answer this question, as someone who typically keeps their head down and mouth shut during matches. This brings up a good point though - the single best thing you can do for your team is to be individually ready to play a high-quality point. When your partner sees you doing your job well, this can free themselves up to trust the team and play complementary pickleball. It should feel like you have your partner’s back without even opening your mouth.

Communication between partners is obviously key though - I think the biggest thing is to be open about verbal expectations before you go on court. I remember Max said to me before Vegas “I assume we just aren’t gonna talk to each other right?” While a little extreme (I should’ve told him to STOP SPEEDING UP TO SOCKS FOREHAND), the point is that we were always going to be on the same page whether we go down or up. Some teams don’t talk that much (Ben and Collin), and some are extra chatty. It’s important to stay true to your own personality no matter who your playing with.

Finding the right time to say something when your opponent is not playing well can be tricky. I typically play the supportive role with comments like “all good” or “next point” to try to keep things simple and moving forward. The second you offer direct advice on a shot a pro is struggling with is the second they will start thinking about it too much. Try taking some of the blame too with a comment like “we are struggling to get in on 3rds, let’s try driving the next few at Pablo and work our way in.” This gives your partner a new objective, a new vision for how to win points on what could be an off day.