Coach Tony Featured in The Kitchen
Oct 16, 2026
The Kitchen just published a feature on Coach Tony Roig: How Tony Roig became one of pickleball’s most trusted instructors.
The article covers the origins of Respect the X, how Tony thinks about the game, and why he spends his time building teaching content instead of giving private lessons. Tony describes his role simply: transferring knowledge.
If you’ve been with us a while, some of it will sound familiar. If you’re new, it’s a good introduction to how we coach.
Start with what actually matters
The feature lays out Tony’s shot hierarchy:
- Return of serve
- Fourth shot
- Serve
- Third shot
Most players practice in close to the reverse order. The third shot drop gets the attention. The return gets almost none.
So why does the return come first? The serving team has to let the return bounce. A deep return keeps them back while the returner moves up to the NVZ line. That’s a positional head start for the returning team baked into the game's rules. A short or missed return gives it away.
The fourth shot is where the returning team protects that head start. They hold the line and make it harder for the serving team to come forward.
Neither shot looks flashy, and both win points. That’s the thinking behind everything Tony teaches: find what matters, understand why it matters, and practice that.
The same approach at our pickleball camps
That approach runs through our pickleball camps and clinics. TRP camps are built for adult players, mostly 50 and over, who want more than a list of tips. They want to understand how the game works, and why.
You get the same coaching you see in the article, in person and on the court.
Our thanks to Alex Lantz and the team at The Kitchen for the feature. Give it a read.
The TRP Team