Most of you who consistently try to get better at pickleball can probably remember a day (hopefully many) when you had an "AHA!" moment—when something clicked, made sense, or felt right for the first time. Armed with this new insight or technique, your game improved. You knew you finally had it—you'd figured it out. Then, when you’re weren't looking, that new technique or knowledge disappeared or devolved into an old pattern.

When you first "get it," you feel excited about the new technique. Perhaps you found out what you've been doing wrong with your backhand, or someone pointed out that you need to wait longer before hitting the ball. You managed to keep these things in mind for a while, but soon you were back to your old ways.

Sometimes, we really do turn over a new leaf and it grows into a tree (poor metaphor, but hey). More often we return to old patterns without ever meaning to. So when they do stick, and what makes the difference?

The Missing Element

We don’t have a hope of keeping a new technique unless we use it in regular practice. The old conditioning of your muscles and your mind is too strong for your mindful desire to change to be enough. You must condition that new technique until your muscles and mind don't remember the old way.

You Need to Practice

Just a short amount of mindful practice of your new technique every day is enough to get a foothold and start to dissolve the reflexive nature of the old behavior. It isn't a good idea to focus on more than one thing at a time. Give your mind and body a chance to engrain the new pattern before working on something else.

It might be as easy as taking five minutes out of your morning couples game to have your partner reinforce the new pattern, either by hitting balls to you or watching to make sure you're returning them correctly. No doubt your friends could use practice, too, so you'll all benefit.

Doing even a little bit of the new technique routinely starts to break down the automatic nature of doing the old one. The new way happens without thinking about it more often. Gradually, the new way becomes natural.

The "AHA!" moment is only the first step on the road to improving your game. You really change when this new way of playing feels natural, and for that to happen, you need to practice.

It's funny how things come together sometimes to bring home a lesson. Recently, my "coincidence karma" has functioned well, and information I needed has come via unusual sources.

I subscribe to a blog by a man who espouses mindfulness, among other things. His most recent post described information he'd gleaned from a book about tennis written in the 1970s. The blogger wasn't interested in tennis, but he was fascinated by Dr. Simon Ramo's premise that most of us play the "loser's game," where a win is the result of the loser's actions rather than any talented play by the winners. 

Contrast that with the "winner's game" played by professionals. Their game features excellent serves, intense focus and preparation for each shot, long, spectacular rallies, and brilliant recoveries. In time, someone takes a risk and attempts a put-away shot or precisely targets a shot that's unrecoverable. At this level, winning points—rather than making mistakes—determines the outcome of the game.

Amateurs lose points. Professionals win points. ​

If you've been struggling to take your game to the next level, but you're stuck on a plateau, you might be able to blame your disposition. Research shows that your personality type may have something to do with whether or not you'll take home a medal at the next tournament. 

Physical abilities, such as strength, endurance, and speed, are usually foremost in people's minds when they discuss athleticism, but they alone are not what determine greatness. Things like the ability to remain calm under pressure or to spot an opponent's weakness, or the stamina to stick with a training regimen are traits that come from within and are often defined by our personality. 

Psychologists use two main models to categorize personality. For many years, trait-based assessments were the norm. These assessments categorized individuals based on where they fell along a bipolar scale ("Are you outgoing or shy?"). Recently, the 'five factor model' has gained more favor, and it's been used in studies linking personality with medal-winning performance. The five factors are:

• Openness
• Conscientiousness
• Extraversion
• Agreeableness
• Neuroticism

With regard to each factor, individuals may score high, low, or anywhere in between.  I won't go into great detail about the factors in this post, but you may read more here. If you want to learn where you fall on the scale, click this link to take the five factor test.

In general, medal-winning athletes score higher on the factors of openness (specifically optimism), conscientiousness (self-determination), extraversion (being extroverted), and agreeableness than do non-medal winners. In contrast, medal winners score lower on neuroticism (impulsivity and anxiety). Also, extraverted athletes outperform introverted athletes when an audience is present. Studies also found that anger can have a positive effect on sport performance, but only for athletes with high levels of extraversion. 

Sports competitions that involve communication and social interaction (like pickleball doubles) are well suited to extraverted individuals. Athletes are found to be more committed to their athletic partnership when they or their partners rate themselves as highly agreeable, conscientious, or open to new experiences. It's worth noting that participation in sports (specifically, having to communicate and cooperate with others) also develops personality characteristics that are desirable for sports excellence, such as extraversion. Interesting also is that athletes in team sports show higher levels of extraversion and lower levels of conscientiousness than do individual sport athletes. 

So, as a pickleball player who wants to improve your game—what can you do with this information? You can try to change your personality. Take the five-factor personality profile test and discover which elements of your personality might be adversely affecting your game. Then you might follow in the footsteps of those in one study, where the participants successfully achieved change and improved their sporting abilities. 

After taking the test, the participants decided how many traits they wanted to change. This included finding ways of achieving this change. Progress was measured weekly, at which time the participants also completed a writing task that asked, "what would it look like if you attained your desired changes?" The purpose of this step was to envision the specific changes they would like to make. These participants achieved notable success.

I found it interesting to learn that people's personalities do change in relatively predictable patterns over time. As people mature, they become generally more agreeable, conscientious, and emotionally stable. This is good news for those of you (and me) who are seniors. Of course, no amount of personality alteration can bridge the gap between the body of a 65-year-old and a 25-year-old playing against each other on the court, but every little bit helps.

I'm not suggesting you stop practicing and concentrate only on becoming more amiable. But if  you work on being less anxious (more relaxed) and less impulsive (a better planner), and if you focus on success, think positively, and determine to achieve the gold, you've got a better chance of doing it. Any athlete, of any age, who wants to achieve in life and sport can benefit from this advice.

References:
Allen, M. S., Greenlees, I., & Jones, M. V. (2013). Personality in sport: A comprehensive review. International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 6, 184-208.

PsychologistWorld.com. Five-Factor Model of Personality: How the 'super traits' of the Five Factor Model explain differences in personality and the way people behave.
​https://www.psychologistworld.com/personality/five-factor-model-big-five-personality

​This afternoon, I received an email from an 82-year-old gentleman who said he'd read and enjoyed The Art of Pickleball. He said he hoped I had some tips regarding playing singles—his game of choice—as he'll be playing in a tournament soon. After applauding him for playing singles at his age, I scoured my notes, watched some videos by YouTube pros, and collected these tips. I hope they're useful to you when you are 82!

Tips for Better Singles Play

• Stay close to the center line when you serve, so you can reach the returned shot with fewer steps. Face your opponent and watch his paddle angle and the ball, so you'll know where it's headed.
• Singles pickleball is a lot like singles tennis, in that you should keep your feet moving. Don't get caught flat-footed, and you'll be able to get to the shots more easily.
• I watched a Kyle Yates video where he said his technique in singles was to hit mostly forehands (that's always good advice) and long drives as hard as he could. I don't think that will work for everyone, but it won him the gold. Deep, hard serves are more difficult to return and may help you on your way to the non-volley zone, if your opponent's return is weak. Same for the return of service—send it deep and hard, and hopefully you can gain the net or at least try for a good passing shot. 
• Regarding hitting forehand: many singles players seem to win by having that good footwork and the agility to "run around" their backhand, allowing them to hit forehand instead. Yet I heard one retired tennis coach take umbrage with that, insisting players should work on their backhands, as that was ultimately a lot easier. It's true that you usually hit harder with a forehand stroke, so when power is called for, stick to forehand when possible.
• When you're in the back court, hit deep to the corners, not down the middle—just opposite of typical doubles strategy. Keep your opponent running side to side, which he should find the most difficult. 
• Try not to get stuck in mid court, where your opponent can send shots to your feet. If you can't get to the net, stay in the back third of the court until you can, or hit a split step if you get caught, grounding yourself for a good return, and then hustle toward the net again. 
• Get to the non-volley zone, just as in doubles. That's where your power is. From there, volley your opponent's returns and, again, hit toward the corners to keep him moving and ultimately to put away the shot. You can use a hard drive, if he's in the back court, or a drop volley to get to the net (add underspin/backspin to the ball to make it tougher for him to return it). Don't use a drop shot if your opponent is deep—you want to keep him away from the net. Keep pounding him with long drives to the back court.
• If your opponent does get to the net, you can force him back with a lob (not commonly done anymore, because many players often smash it back for a put-away) or hit a passing shot. Which you use depends on your skill and your opponent's skill. 
• Stay on the attack. Send shots to your opponent's backhand, as it's typically weaker.

Drills for Singles Play
This man also asked if I could suggest drills for singles. Here they are:

• Hit serves and returns so they land within two to three feet of the baseline. If practicing with a partner, send shots to your partner's backhand. Have your partner do the same for you.
• Practice drop volleys from the baseline, sending them to the sides rather than the center of the non-volley zone. 
• Have a partner send shots to you at the baseline, aiming for the corners. Concentrate on your footwork and staying mobile between the shots.
• All target practice drills are good. 

Most pickleball players are impatient when it comes to results. But like most sports worth playing, pickleball takes practice and patience to learn to play well.

Patience and forgiveness are often synonymous. Whether you're practicing or competing, you'll have good and bad days. No one's perfect, not even the pros. We all have moments where we don't make our usual shots. 
 
When that happens, our "fight or flight" instinct kicks in. We get angry with ourselves and fight to recapture our strokes. Sometimes, we give up hope. Referred to as "tanking," this is the flight response. We want to flee the discomfort of losing and give up trying to win. 
 
True competitors have a particular kind of patience that is born from forgiveness. When we forgive ourselves for being less than perfect, a relaxation sets in. We become more patient and have a greater likelihood of resurrecting our game. When things go horribly wrong, forgive yourself as soon as possible.