Before you add the next pickleball strategy or shot to your game, read below.

During Episode 302 of our Pickleball Therapy podcast, we tackled the real problem of pickleball information overload. Overload can delay player improvement and lead to frustration. You can listen to the podcast episode here.

Information overload can come from a variety of sources, but two really stand out: YouTube videos and recommendations from other players. How often has someone said to you, “You know what you need…”

The overload happens because there is not yet a sound framework onto which to layer new information. These are some of the risks:

• Wires can get crossed. A concept that applies to one situation is erroneously used in another. An example here is trying to apply “keep them back” when on the serve team.
• Information can be misapplied because it is not right for you right now. An example is a player who is not yet consistent enough with their stroke mechanics to begin adding spins to their game.
• You end up chasing red herrings. An example is when an amateur player sees a pro hit a certain shot and immediately tries to add it to their game. This happens pretty frequently: the moment Anna Leigh Waters hit a lob serve, for instance, you started seeing the lob serve in local games. No rhyme or reason to it – just because.
• Confusion and frustration. Rather than feeling excited about the next steps in a journey of growth, players end up feeling overwhelmed and even a bit lost in a sea of information.

The best way to avoid these risks is to learn the framework of the game. Think of it like the story of pickleball. The better you understand the story of the game you play, the better able you will be to figure out where and how the different pieces fit.

Learning framework is not an overnight proposition. It takes time and study. But in the end, it is well worth it. If it’s likely that pickleball will be an important part of your life in the future, invest in your framework. It will repay you many times over.

Until you have a fuller understanding of framework, you remain susceptible to information overload and the sidequests that almost always ensue.

So what do you do in the meantime, while you learn more framework, to reduce the risk of your game falling victim to information overload?

My advice is to lean toward exclusion.

When you are presented with something new that you just must have, you will put it in the waiting room (holding tank). Let it sit there for a minute.

• Why are you adding this to your game? 

Anna Leigh Waters hit a lob serve. Does that mean I need a lob serve? If you are not sure why you are adding the shot to your game, leave it in the waiting room.

• What is it, in actuality, that the shot or strategy will add to your play?

Take the popular “third shot drive, fifth shot drop” strategy. If you cannot articulate a cogent reason for adding it to your game, then maybe leave the strategy in the waiting room.

• Is the shot or strategy a frequent event (like a serve) or an outlier?

Your game gains much greater value from improving shots and strategies that you use all the time than from spending a bunch of time and energy trying to solve for something that only happens sometimes (the angled dink to your outside that you cannot get to or defending the once-in-a-while body flick attack).

Another way to think about this advice is that, if you are in doubt about how the shot or strategy will – in actual real-world terms – improve your play, then you will “err” on the side of not adding something new to your game. Maybe the shot or strategy would help. Maybe it would not. Not sure? Then leave it in the waiting room for now.

The good news is that you are in control of your pickleball journey. It may not feel that way sometimes, but it is so. The trick is to use your agency – even when it comes to information overload.

Pickleball will always have something to teach you – it is an inexhaustible source of learning and growth. Switch your approach from trying to learn everything there is at once, and instead focus on the next step in the game that is appropriate for you.

If we can help you along the way, we would be honored to do so. Pickleball coaching – and more particularly, your improvement in the sport – is our passion.

Be Well

Tony