If you have been playing pickleball for a while and gotten pretty good, you may be thinking about becoming a pickleball coach. But how do you know if it’s right for you? Here are some tips to be a good pickleball coach.
Playing & drilling as much as possible
As you probably already know from your pickleball career, the best way to get better is to get out and play and drill as much as possible. Some of the reasons for this:
- Although the game of pickleball rarely has large changes, you want to make sure you are keeping up with the sport (rules, strategy, etiquette, etc.).
- You will want to continually improve your skills and knowledge.
- You will want to practice new (and old) drills that you would be teaching your students.
- People will trust you more if you have shown you are a good player who understands the game.
If you want to be a pickleball coach, you should genuinely be in love with pickleball and want to be around it as much as possible.
Knowing the rules of pickleball
If you are a 4.0+ pickleball player, chances are you have mastered the rules of pickleball already. However, you should always be studying the rules of pickleball, learning any new rules, and seeing how those rules affect every rally you play.
Every time you have a few free minutes between games, it’s a great idea to read or watch videos explaining the intricacies of one specific rule to make sure you understand that rule. You will want to become an important source of knowledge during a lesson or game.
Being involved in your local pickleball community
If you want to be a pickleball coach, knowing your local pickleball community will help you learn the culture, the different venues and courts, and meet potential students. You can get a sense of the skill levels around you, where people play, where people like to practice, and it will also help you get invited to as many games as possible.
Being a certified pickleball coach
If you want to become a great pickleball coach, you should seriously consider getting certified. While there are a few pickleball certification programs out there, we always recommend Pickleball Coaching International (PCI).
In your level 1 certification with PCI, you will learn what to teach, how to teach, and how to analyze and react to different situations and personalities. The PCI certification is 100% online.
A pickleball coaching certification will:
- Show your students you are serious about coaching.
- Showcase your coaching skills & teach you new skills.
- Many will provide you with business insurance for your coaching business.
- Help you analyze different plays, reactions, and student personalities.
Being a problem solver
Just like a teacher or coach in ANY field, reaction is just as important (if not more important) than action. In life, you will always deal with different situations and personalities, and how you react to them will showcase your own skills and talents.
In pickleball, this is especially true, and being a pickleball coach means tailoring a solution for every student, as an overall strategy and in each individual moment — depending on how they react to certain plays and lessons. Focusing on analyzing different situations and reacting correctly is the best skill any pickleball coach can have.
Generating word of mouth
Being a pickleball coach also means you are running your own business, and so you should be good at selling yourself. An important part of this is doing everything you can to be the best coach you can be so that students want to return and they want to tell their friends.
You should constantly be studying, improving your coaching skills, and attracting new students. Word of mouth is going to be a much better sales tool than trying to compete with every other coach in town.