Pickleball is a fun and fast-growing sport that combines elements of tennis, badminton, and ping pong. It's an ideal way to get kids active outdoors or in the gym while providing them an excellent opportunity to practice their hand-eye coordination. Drills are essential to teaching pickleball because they allow kids to practice specific skills at their own pace and make mistakes without feeling embarrassed or overwhelmed. With these five fun drills to help teach kids pickleball, you can help your young ones learn the basics of the game.

Toss and Catch

This drill is an excellent way to help children develop the basics of good pickleball techniques. The goal is to practice throwing and catching the ball over the net while teaching proper positioning on both sides of the court. To begin the exercise, have each player stand on their respective side of the court behind their service line, facing one another. Have players take turns tossing a ball toward each other's half of the court. They will then catch and return the ball over the net.

Balance the Ball

Balancing the ball is a great way to learn how to control your paddle and gain greater accuracy when hitting the ball. Start by having the kids balance a ball on their paddles. Center the ball first so it does not roll off easily. Take turns walking back and forth while trying not to let the ball fall off your paddle as you move around. Practicing these drills can help kids improve their overall technique when playing pickleball by teaching them how to control their paddles in different situations throughout a game.

Hit the Target

This drill is an effective way to help children become more accurate with their pickleball shots. To start, you will need to set up some targets on the court for your players to hit. You can use cones, chairs, buckets, or anything that would be easy for them to hit. Once you place the targets, have kids practice aiming and hitting the ball toward them using their paddles from different angles around the court.

Practice Serving

To introduce the serve, have each player stand behind the service line on their side of the pickleball court. Have players take turns serving to each other by tossing a ball overhand toward their opponent's half of the court. They should aim for it to bounce once before crossing over to the other side. Start with basic serves like underhand and forehand until everyone is comfortable, then progress onto more advanced techniques such as slice or topspin.

Practice Rallies

This drill is perfect for teaching kids the basics of rallying in pickleball. Each player must stand on their side of the court to begin. Once everyone is ready, have them take turns hitting the ball back and forth over the net without bouncing more than once on either side. This process helps players become comfortable with how to hit a shot that an opponent can return – something essential to successful gameplay.

Now you can use these five easy drills to teach kids how to play pickleball. Make sure that you have everything you need for practice by checking out the pickleball supplies from All Star Tennis Supply.