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.

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. 

I wager most pickleball players made New Year’s resolutions regarding their pickleball practice. I know I did.

Curious about this, I canvassed a few of my pickleball friends shortly after the New Year. Sure enough, many participated in this annual tradition that dates back to the Babylonians. Each player faced January with a deep commitment and heartfelt enthusiasm for their resolutions.

One promised she’d work on her drop shot. Another wrote on her dry-erase board, in big, bold letters, “I will master ball placement.” The least experienced man, who's been on the courts for only two months, swore he would “keep the ball low over the net or die trying.”

I followed up by asking how successful they'd been in keeping those resolutions. Unfortunately, all had experienced the same thing: disappointment. No matter how hard they tried, ultimately they hadn't made good on what they had resolved to do.

I knew exactly what they were talking about. I gave up creating New Year’s resolutions years ago, when I found myself at the end of yet another January with nothing to show for my efforts than an exercise in futility. I was left juggling a range of emotions, from guilty to downright silly.

However, I was in good (or not so good) company. Only about 45 percent of the population resolves to make changes in the new year. Of these, a mere 8 percent succeed.

How can you improve your odds of keeping those resolutions? First, it's helpful to see what can derail you from your course.

1. You try to do too much at once.
2. You don't notice immediate improvement.
3. You resolved to do something you don't really want to do.
4. Other things get in the way of whatever you resolved to do.
5. You may have chosen to do something you don't know how to accomplish.
6. You don't believe you'll succeed.

Once you are able to identify what is preventing you from pushing ahead, you’ll be able to construct goals that will yield productive results. For my friend trying to master ball placement, this meant correcting her self-defeating thoughts and removing the expectation that this would happen quickly. The woman working on the drop shot has managed to keep up with her expectations—in part because she set a realistic, smaller goal and is working with three other women who also want to practice together. The man trying to keep the ball low is frustrated by a lack of immediate improvement, but he's still on course so far.

Here are things you can do to help with whatever goals you've set:

1. Ditch the word resolution. It’s a setup—one that has ridden on the backs of people for thousands of years. Instead, set a goal, objective, or even intention. 
2. Understand what motivates you. For some players, identifying a positive outcome and working toward it is the most effective form of motivation. Think about what is motivating you to meet your playing or practicing goal. Is it a good fit? Does it ring true? If not, identify a more appropriate motivation. When finished, post it where you can see it every day.
3. Break it down. It can be quite worthwhile and exciting to set a large goal. “I will become a 4.0 player this year!” However, make sure your goal is specific—which usually means breaking it down into smaller goals you can cross off along the way. Remember my friend’s resolution to “keep the ball low over the net or die trying”? It would have been better to separate this goal into three separate ones: (1) I will watch my paddle face when returning the ball; (2) I'll work on keeping my shots softer so I have more control; (3) I'll concentrate on adding a bit of backspin to keep the shot lower. 
4. Be realistic. Changing behaviors, attitudes, and habits is a process. Rarely does change occur because of one event or a date on the calendar.
5. If you feel frustrated, pick a single task—the smaller the better. It should be so simple you can’t possibly fail. For example, if you're a 3.5 player, moving to 4.0 shouldn't be that hard to accomplish, but if you’re not succeeding, the task is too big. Instead, aim to work on one of the things that separates these levels. When you are finished, move onto the next one. This approach fights frustrations with success and builds forward progress into your practice.
6. Pair up. Ask another player to join you in working toward your goals. You’ll both benefit from being accountable to one another, and the mutual support will motivate you to follow through.
7. When all else fails, take a break. It can be as simple as deciding to stop working on your goal and just playing for fun for a day, or as significant as putting your goal on hold for a month. Stepping away from the source of frustration can give you a fresh perspective and renewed momentum. But be sure to designate an end point to this refueling period to ensure that it is in fact a break—and not an excuse to stop practicing and remain where you are.
8. Realize that setbacks are part of the process. Accept this inevitability, and you won’t be surprised when you slam into something that brings you to a screeching halt. By eliminating the element of surprise, you minimize disappointment, which will help you recover and get moving again.
9. Be patient! Meeting your playing goals takes time and effort. When you throw out that list of resolutions and focus your attention on one or two well-crafted goals, you’re a step ahead of where you were last year. Twelve months is plenty of time to accomplish your goals if you approach them with understanding, clarity, and objectivity.

Here’s wishing you every success in 2016!

Recently, I was reading a magazine article that discussed ways to do more in less time and do it better. The article said that the keys to this success were to:

1. List a manageable number of tasks that can truly be accomplished in the time you have; 
2. Focus on only one task at a time, avoiding multitasking or distractions, if possible; and
3. Do the hardest (or least desirable) thing first.

The last item popped out as something important I hadn't really considered before.

It reminded me of my mother telling me to eat my broccoli before my mashed potatoes. "You'll get the 'icky' thing out of the way, and we'll both be happy: I'll know you got the good nutrition from the vegetables, and you'll end the meal eating something you like." 

It occurred to me that these keys to success could apply to practicing pickleball (or almost anything else). We all have one or two (or three) things we find more difficult than others when it comes to playing pickleball. Maybe our backhand doesn't work as well as it should, or slow reaction times keep us from advancing to the next level. Most likely, you know what part of your game need work, but you don't really want to practice that because it's hard, you don't do it well, and it's easier to practice other things.

Instead of avoiding the hard thing altogether or practicing it only occasionally (which won't make it get better), try doing that thing first, and only then go on to other kinds of practice. Get to the court early and have your partner to work with you for five or ten minutes on that thing before you start other practice or a game. Do this often enough, and you will get better. Pretty soon something else will replace that thing as the item that needs work.

When I watch high-level pickleball, I notice two things: the players plan and execute shots that seem effortless, and those shots land where they want them to. Their play seems effortless because they’ve practiced long and well (or else they’re naturally great players—some folks have that advantage). They’ve learned what shots work well in various circumstances, and they’ve learned the elements of good ball control and placement.
 
Mastering ball placement is critical for attaining higher levels in pickleball play. What factors determine where your ball will land?
 
1) The angle of your paddle (up and down & left and right)
2) The angle of your swing (up and down & left and right)
3) Your wrist movement, if any
4) The power behind your hit
5) Spin
 
Before you concentrate on ball placement, though, you must first consider how you contact the ball. Focus your attention and skills (such as good footwork and proper form with your stroke) to the contact of the ball. Only after this focus on ball contact should you consider how you place it on the court.
 
Take time to get into position early enough to take a proper backswing before hitting the ball. If that means halting in mid-court, so be it. Stop, prepare your swing, and focus on contacting the ball. Many players say you should think about “swinging through the ball,” as this makes