Sarah Ansboury is the current 2015 National Open Doubles champion as well as 2016 US Open Doubles and Mixed Champion in pickleball. She has taught tennis professionally for over ten years and has shifted to the pickleball world. This channel is dedicated to matches of play as well as instructional videos for pickleball players. You can find more links and information at www.sarahansboury.com and follow her athlete's page on Facebook to stay up to date on her current activities at facebook.com/sarahansbourypickleball.
Thanks for the great content. This is an older video, are you still teaching the strokes the same way? As you are closer to the net, or are in the transition zone, do you stay more parallel to the net? Seems like there is not time to turn, make a backswing, etc…other than on a return of serve?
This is probably the best video on pickleball groundstroke techniques I have seen on RU-vid. Very concise and well-illustrated demonstrations. She definitely knows her stuff.
I am ready to hit a third drop shot against big and tall opponents by the kitchen line. I get intimidated by the size of the big wall and I feel that if my third drop shot is slightly higher than I meant to hit, then they are going to nail me. How do I approach this kind of situations?
i think of freeze tag. when you know you popped a ball up and you may be in trouble. youre best action is to do nothing until they send you the next ball. Be as still as you can be and wait to see the next shot.
Paddle tracking is one of the best ways to elevate your game! Hitting the ball in front of you comes from paddle tracking and good readiness. At the end of a long tournament day, paddle tracking will help keep you focused!
I just saw a video with Lee Whitwell talking about a similar thing, but I think Sarah covered it much better. I watched this video 3 years ago, and it has helped me tremendously. I even take it a bit farther (doing something I think is implied here, but not explicitly stated) in that I turn and watch my partner hit the ball if it goes beyond me (mostly when I start at the NVZ and my partner is working their way up to it, but also when my partner is serving). This enables me to see where my partner's shot is going as soon as they hit, which gives my more time to figure out where the opponent's shot is going to be coming from, and position my self accordingly. It also helps with line calls. I'm shocked at how many players at my level don't watch their partner's shots and so don't know where they're hitting until the ball crosses the net. That gives very little time to adjust for the response. Sarah was one of the first players I ever watched and is one of the smartest players in the game, imo. To this day, I vividly remember a rally I saw 3 or 4 years ago where her mixed doubles partner, (Kyle Yates, maybe?) crossed in front of her to take a smash shot, and his momentum carried him well off the court, and I think he may have even stumbled or fell. The opponents returned the shot, and Sarah continued the rally, one against two, for several shots before finally WINNING the rally. You could tell she knew exactly where the opponents were going to hit. That rally is what made me watch some of her instructional videos. Keep it up, Sarah.
I've transitioned from tennis to pickleball. I was a 4.5 tennis player w/a much better than average overhead. However, I suck at most any shot over my head in pickleball. I occasionally will wiff the misses are so bad. Trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong. Maybe just 40 years of muscle memory is getting in my way?
Really enjoy your videos, I'm a beginner and play with intermediate/advanced players...wasn't sure how to handle their hard shots when I'm standing at the kitchen. I'll work on this more. Can you make a video on practicing on a wall or alone? I can't always find someone to hit with and would like to practice more on my own.
