Building Confidence in your Pickleball Game Comes from the Knowing-Doing Connection

Playing confident pickleball is connecting the knowing and doing of pickleball.

Jill and I recently came back from a long trip out of the country. We had taken our paddles but did not have a chance to play or practice during our trip. You do not know how much you miss pickleball until it is no longer available – in a literal sense. We would have been ecstatic with a temporary net court on the back of a basketball or tennis court. Anything.

It is fair to say I was a bit rusty when we returned. Alas I was playing in a tournament the week following our arrival back in town. I got some practice in, but we also had our “famous?” 3-Part Mini-Series that same week so less time than ideal.

I enjoyed the tournament and gave it my all. Won some and lost some. But … was not crisp in either movement or execution.

And … was unsure of myself. As the ball came over the net, I would have to think of what I needed to do – mechanically as well as strategically. At the end I’ll tell you what happened when instincts kicked in during a match (spoiler alert – we were tied 10-10 at the time). But for now, I want to focus on the doubts that creep into your mind when you aren’t sure.

NOTE – if you do not know what I mean when I say “mechanically as well as strategically” and that there is a difference, you really should get our free Three Pillars of Pickleball guide. It is a great first step towards acquiring the knowledge that will let you realize your potential as a player.

Confidence is “a feeling of self-assurance arising from one’s appreciation of one’s own abilities or qualities.” Two parts then that we need to feel confident on the pickleball court: (a) ability and (b) appreciation of this ability. The result: feeling of self-assurance.

You know what destroys our confidence to play? Doubt. More specifically, doubt that we can play pickleball with confidence in knowing and doing.

Doubt can originate from one of two places: either you lack the knowing or you do not know what abilities you are supposed to have and so doubt in the dark, so to speak. This latter one is doubt that arises from the doubt itself.

Let’s turn back to the tournament and see how doubt actually impacts play.

One is that it affects your mechanics. You are unsure about your paddle swing and so maybe start to tighten your arm and hand to “control” the shot more. Or you think maybe you need to move your wrist more. Something, anything, to fix the problem.

Two is that it affects your mind. As you start to doubt, your mind gets cloudy. You are thinking of too many things at once – all as the game is unfolding. In other words, you are processing what is happening on the court (where the ball is traveling, where your opponents are, what’s the score?, etc.) at the same time as you are trying to process what is happening with you and your shots (extend paddle, compact swing, back to ready, split step, etc.). That is a lot of processing going on and it makes it really hard to focus on optimal strategic play.

So, what can we do about it? Can we take steps to improve our confidence while playing pickleball?

The good news is “yes.” You can gain more self-assurance on the court and, in so doing, quiet the doubts in your mind. This quiet will, in turn, allow you play even better and better pickleball.

Take any one shot, let’s use the block volley for this example. Say you have hit 10,000,000 block volleys in practice (a bit of hyperbole to make the case). What do you think will happen in a game when a ball gets blasted your way and you need to hit a block volley?

Probably very little. Your body’s auto pilot will place the paddle in the path of the incoming shot and you will calmly block it back. Your brain will barely notice the interaction that just occurred. That is playing pickleball with confidence in knowing and doing.

Compare that to a real block volley. Your opponent is getting ready to smash that ball. Your eyes widen. Grip tightens. A bead of sweat forms above the brow. “Oh no. Don’t miss it” is screaming in your head.

The only difference between these two outcomes is the 10,000,000 block volleys practiced. This is what gave our first player extreme calm on the court. That player knew that they could block the ball back – just as they had done 10,000,000 times before.

Before we go on – you do not need 10,000,000 shots. But you do need more than 10 or 100. In other words, you will need to practice, but it is achievable practice.

Do not rush out of the house to the courts just yet. Because there is one more piece you need before you go out there.

The title of this piece is “Building Confidence in your Pickleball game comes from the knowing-doing connection.” The word “knowing” is in there for a reason.

Before you can work on the thing you want to do better, you have to know what it is and how to do it properly.

Another example to illustrate the point. Our player goes out to play their normal morning session. You join them for lunch and ask them how it went. They say it went well, but they wish they could just stop missing so many shots.

So you inquire further, asking your player friend to tell you more about the types of shots they are missing and in what circumstances. They try to answer you but simply cannot put their finger on what shot they are missing, much less what they might be able to do to correct the shot. That is when it hits them: how can they fix a thing if they do not first know what it is they are trying to fix – much less how to fix it?

That is the reality of 90% of pickleball players (no hyperbole intended here). These players know there is something “wrong” with their play but they have no idea what it is. As a result, these players lose confidence in playing pickleball and are unable to make headway in their games. They cannot see the way forward.

And then that nasty little devil rises up on the player’s shoulder: doubt sets in. I keep missing too many shots. I have no idea why I am missing so many shots. I must not be a good pickleball player. I suck at this game.

The destruction wreaked by this cycle should be fairly obvious. It causes player’s frustration and, too often, dissatisfaction or even departure from the game.

The best way to quiet the devil on your shoulder is by gaining the knowledge to know what is going on out there. Why is it that you are missing so many shots? Footwork, foundation, paddle swing?

Once you identify the cause, you can then get to work fixing it. As you fix it, you gain the confidence to play pickleball that naturally flows from this positive feedback loop.

I will turn back to my play to drive home the point.

During the tournament, I was having difficulty with my dinks. Not having hit a ball in a while, my body was unsure as to how to best hit the shots. My arm got tight not wanting to miss the shot. And guess what? That tight arm sure did miss several shots.

Here is the difference between the average player and me (and my partner Sarah who is an amazing instructor and player). We both know what is going on and can make adjustments to help remedy the situation. Sarah had me lower my paddle head on my dinks, which helped relax the tension in my arm and improved the trajectory of my shots. This advice helped me dig out several tough dinks.

Knowing what is wrong also helps me in the bigger picture – when I got back home after the tournament I knew exactly what I had to do. I got out on the court with a bucket of balls and set my targets where I know I need them – to develop my safe zone. And I went to work. I hit about 400 balls off of my backhand side that day.

And you know what? I felt better about the shot. More empowered with it. As you feel more empowered with a shot, you gain the confidence to think “go ahead – hit me the ball there – there is nothing I have not seen with that shot. Nothing I cannot handle.”

BUT … I know what I need to work on AND how to work on it.

Good news … you too can know these things. CJ and my mission is for you to know as much (if not more) about the game of pickleball as we do. Everything that we do – including penning this article – is intended to help you gain as much knowledge about the game as you want. We do not hold back any information and also avoid giving you noise.

Now the $64,000 question – what will you do to gain the knowing doing so that you can build confidence in yourself and your game?

If you do not know where to start, click here. It will start you down a path of clear and actionable knowledge. Start applying it to your game and your confidence will climb. Even when you miss a shot you will be able to say “I know what happened there.” That is self-assurance.

Then keep an eye out for the next Pickleball System class. When a System class opens for registration, get in there. There are no obstacles to joining the class, other than a willingness by you to put in the work to learn the lessons in there. Better yet – join the waitlist for our next class here and make sure you get your seat.

Remember that confidence in playing pickleball comes from an appreciation of your abilities. Improve your abilities through “knowing doing” and become the best player you can be.

So, what happened at 10-10 in the tournament? Was obviously a back and forth game (and match, we had won the first game 11-9). What happened was instinct kicked in.

Recognizing the difficulty I was having in the soft game, our opponents were correctly targeting me with their dinks (Sarah my partner has not missed a dink since 2019 😊). We were serving at 10-10-2 and had made our way up to the NVZ line (neutralized the advantage for those of you who know). They dinked it to my backhand and I dinked it back – no problem.

Then they dinked it to my backhand again and instinct kicked in. I went to what I knew how to do well and I threw up an NVZ lob from my backhand side. This was not preplanned (though perhaps I should have thought about it before). Just instinct.

The shot surprised everyone and resulted in an errant shot by our opponents. We were then 11-10-2 and you will never believe what happened. But that, my friends, will be a story for another day.

Learn – apply – repeat. Step by step until you are where you want to be.

Take care.