5.0 Pickleball Player Takes Lesson from a Pro

Recently Zane Navratil offered a coaching session to 5.0 amateur JT. The session provided crucial insights into Zane's pickleball playbook, focusing on key areas to enhance performance and strategy.
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JT, looking for ways to enhance pickleball performances, decided to work with Zane on the following : the fifth shot following a third shot drive, closing the gap to the kitchen, perfecting the backhand roll and flick, and optimizing volleys taken out of the air.
Navratil’s initial focus was on JT’s backhand roll. JT admitted uncertainty about his technique, particularly concerning power and control. Navratil’s expert observation identified over-extended follow-throughs as the primary issue. This common mistake often leads to inconsistency, a critical flaw at higher levels of play.
To address the backhand flick, Navratil introduced a quick acceleration drill. This drill, designed to enhance JT’s backhand, required rapid, sharp movements with minimal follow-through. The objective was to develop a more effective, snappy backhand, increasing both control and speed.
After the drill, JT noted a marked improvement in his shots, feeling quicker and more controlled. This methodical approach exemplifies Navratil’s coaching style, breaking down complex techniques into manageable components for more effective learning.
Navratil then addressed JT’s positioning and shot selection near the kitchen line. JT often hesitated between volleying and letting the ball bounce, particularly when preparing for a two-handed backhand dink. Navratil stressed a “volley first instinct,” urging JT to take shots early to exploit his height advantage and reduce opponents’ reaction time.
Navratil's guidance on recognizing when to step back and let the ball bounce was crucial for maintaining optimal positioning and control, reinforcing the importance of quick decision-making in advanced play.
00:00 5.0 Learns from a Pro
00:49 Working the Backhand Roll
09:02 1 or 2 Handed BH Roll
14:47 2 Handed BH Dink Tip

[@ZaneNavratilPickleball]

🎁It's GIVEAWAY TIME!🎁 ✅Subscribe to my KZbin channel and Newsletter for your chance to win a free 1-hour virtual lesson with me! Simply click the Subscribe button above and sign up for my newsletter here: 👉zanenavratilpickleball.com/newsletters Current subscribers will be automatically entered. Must be 18 years old to enter, lesson date and time to be mutually agreed upon. 📅🏆Winner will be announced on 6/24/24. Good luck!!

[@mlalanne]

this dude is a fucking UNIT

[@ParryPickleballking-es2el]

By "unit", what do you mean?

[@maxg5196]

I'm sure Zane gets this alot already, you're preaching to the choir

[@douglasmurdoch7247]

@@ParryPickleballking-es2elit means he’s big

[@ParryPickleballking-es2el]

@@douglasmurdoch7247 oooh, then I'm a unit. 😂😂

[@Dazzo3]

I just started playing Pickleball about six months ago and have watched probably over 1000 hours of Pickleball on KZbin. I’ve learned more on your channel than any other channel and yours is the most entertaining. Thank you for all the time and effort that you put into these videos. Obviously not much effort with your expertise. ;-)

[@CharlesBrodheadIII]

This was a great lesson to learn from. Love the format!

[@richardrestler4908]

love it... 86, play everyday but still challenged to improve

[@JoeSib-rk1dx]

One of the best instructional pickleball videos!

[@Ckelto]

Well done video. I like the camera moving around showing variety of angles. Great tips in the lesson as well

[@aec002]

JT suffers from typical tall person disease...doesn't want to stay low so he's one-and-done. After he hits a shot he has to stand up and relax instead of staying low with loaded legs ready for the next ball. Lots of wasted energy going up and down instead of just staying low and moving low. You can stand up AFTER the point or drill is over

[@krazieecko]

Came to the comments section to say the exact same thing he needs to stay low in his squat every time he comes up it's wasted energy and he needs to reset his base which could lead to errors. He's gotta watch Dekel play and see how Dekel kinda crab walks a bit and stays low in his squat especially at the kitchen line

[@CharlesBrodheadIII]

I'm 6'7" and totally agree with you re the need to stay low. That said, due to increased weight at these heights and leverage effects, staying low requires much more strength and energy than that of a shorter and lighter person. We definitely need strength and endurance training to change/improve our habits, especially as standing straight up provides a large target for body-bagging.

[@brianmcdonald7233]

If you watch Ben Johns demo on his famous back hand roll, when he is taking the ball below the net, his paddle is almost pointed straight down in a very exaggerated way. He's in an athletic bent knee position and his paddle is pointed at his left foot

[@dominiquesydne3146]

This. Gotta drop the head of the paddle. Always my biggest mistake on my rolls 😭 I slap em flat instead of brushing and they go right out the back of the court

[@ParryPickleballking-es2el]

If someone wants to improve the BH roll, watching Ben Johns' video is all you need.... Then emulate it!

[@Yungdil]

Agreed on his backhand roll especially the ones that are super low his paddle face is way too open. Because his paddle face is too open he’s not able to create enough topspin the shot is inconsistent.

[@stymeron]

I just discovered your channel and really like your teaching style!

[@billpaige6595]

Thanks for the tips . I am also working on my two handed backhand . I have no power on my two handed back hand . Thanks again

[@marvindennis3664]

It's hard to play while evaluating your student. You did it very well. I love the explanations of "Why" not just how. Thanks. I assume you will be coming to San Clemente. See you in a couple of weeks.

[@Tom-ns8vx]

Good video. I enjoyed watching and learning from it

[@azimuthal1392]

JT got coaching not only from Zane, but also from 50 different random people in the comment section -- how lucky! 😊

[@davidpope6168]

Love your content. I like that you specifically worked on his physicality and paddle relationship. Yes there is a somewhat base for specific shot technique and are varied by pro players like yourself and others on tour, but you focused on JT’s current technique and what needed to be done. Love to get some feedback from you one day. Just a small issue being in Perth, Western Australia. Unless you want to come downunder? Look forward to the next one.

[@RobShaffer]

This is great. Quick reset - got it.

[@pickleballnic]

Zane... are you going to be doing any camps or lessons in So California??

[@jc2604]

an absolute unit.

[@zachdel8492]

Maybe wider base could help on the volleys?

[@lucg.2669]

Wider base, lower stance. Will make the balls that are coming lower feel more like the higher balls that he feels comfortable with already. Stroke will naturally be more of the topspin roll than a scoop up (usually more of what it ends up being if standing too tall).

[@KAREVOYANCE]

As with any racquet sports shot. The second control, after body, is the paddle. Then it comes down to Path, Angle, Speed. Diagnose the backhand roll quickly using these three simple controls.

[@chrislundquist6491]

It looks like he’s using a semi western grip for his backhand roll. Using that grip won’t allow him to come over the top of the ball when trying to flick it and will end up being more of a flatter hit.

[@chrislundquist6491]

Interesting, what grip would you consider it to be?

[@brandotex]

I want a lesson Zane! Subscribed and signed up 😊

[@buchananosteve]

I think this is really good information

[@BenjaminAndersonPickleball]

At 2:19 it almost looks like they are in one of those optical illusion perspective rooms.

[@Dinkdifferent]

😂

[@charlesmitri9829]

The problem is his grip. He's using what looks like a semi-western forehand grip to hit his one-handed backhand volley. That causes the angle of the paddle to be titled up and he's torquing his wrist at an odd angle. It causes the ball to arc instead of being hit flat. He should be using a Continental grip when hitting one-handed backhand volleys. It doesn't matter how hard you hit the ball, if you use correct form it will go in. People get confused about this because if you use bad form but hit the ball softly, it will go in because there's just not enough velocity behind the bad form for it to go out, so people equate the ball going out with how hard it was struck and not that it was the player's bad form that caused it to go out. The fact that there was no discussion of his grip is mind-boggling. He's never going to have an effective backhand volley using that grip he's using.

[@kbotelho27]

We may want to be careful here regarding the grip. Making a grip change is major surgery. Could he spread his fingers more, get the paddle out of his palm a bit and be more successful? Does he have the talent and strength to close the paddle face a bit more as he comes over the ball. What about using that Twoey more often to be offensive on these shots? I thought Zane did a good job by giving him some tips and drills he could use right away👍

[@frankfurter7260]

Wrong. He’s using a very common grip for PB . In tennis it would be described as between continental and eastern. This grip makes it easy to roll a FH volley but a bit harder to roll a BH volley.

[@gg80108]

Agree poor grip for a backhand. That's why he can't flick the ball.

[@gg80108]

Continental for a great backyard flick. Easyer to flick the ball with topspin and speed

[@chadcoffman]

You can get a lot of acceleration from just brushing up, super fast - mostly wrist / forearm. Add in a little take back (again, wrist / forearm) and you have a slap / brush-up combo that is fast and lethal. My opinion

[@DavidVeletsky]

Subscribed for more JT content

[@chongqinghotpot]

To have a good bh roll, you have to have a relaxed wrist and a grippy paddle, preferably a softer one. I have seen any pro is good at it with project 002.

[@richbianco2065]

As Zane pointed out your follow through is big but what he didn't point out is you are taking your paddle back before hitting your backhand flick/roll. The additional movement backward then forward before contacting the ball is causing you to be inconsistent.

[@carolyncorley7988]

I’d love to have a lesson I need it 🙏

[@karene2166]

Great video and giveaway!

[@bicyclethief]

seems like JT's eastern grip makes the bh roll tougher? going one bevel the other way from continental (a la Ben Johns) opens up the paddle face to make bh rolls easier

[@gautamsethi4042]

Doesn't BJ also play with the Eastern FH grip? A bevel on the other side of Continental would be eastern BH with super closed face.. I don't think BJ or JT have that. I personally used to hit great rolls with Continental but eventually I moved to eastern FH grip for everything..that improved my FH but affected my backhand roll negatively.

[@frankfurter7260]

Agree his grip makes it harder to roll BH. But makes it easier to roll FH.

[@ParryPickleballking-es2el]

I think he needs to drill more. Although he wants to put more pace on the ball, he should think about the location. When he was cross court dinking, he could have snapped a lot of those middle or towards Zane's partner. He's better than he thinks he is. He just needs to do what everyone is stating.... Get low and stay there. But keep up the good work!

[@bradfordcoffman]

It was nice to see a lesson based on height being the center of focus. I'm 6'6" and can relate to what he is saying in most ways. I've noticed that if I'm playing rec play or a match or I'm not fully engaged; I don't get low, become lazy, and don't get a wide base. When fully involved, my feet are wide, and my eyes are considerably lower, so I can judge the ball more appropriately. It took me a long time to figure this out on my own. Unless you're tall, it's hard to understand how to coach someone this tall because the advantage points are completely different. Great lesson, Zane and JT!

[@frankfurter7260]

Vantage points not advantage points. 😂

[@bradfordcoffman]

@@frankfurter7260 clearly been flying american airlines too long 😎

[@neebze_]

On JT's twoer, his far/pivot foot gets behind the ball before his paddle face most the time. I think he does recognize the ball, he just does it in the wrong order at that distance and at his reach/height. I think it may help him if he rewires the impulse to move his feet first before his paddle-- probably consequence of any other sport that he trained that since foot placement always comes before so many things in other sports. But Ben Johns always prioritizes his paddle position over anything else at that range; which in turn appears like he's anticipating the ball (im sure his anticipation also is the best in the game for sure but the paddle position in his dinks and volleys help a great amount)

[@btreese7]

Looks like he needs to drop his paddle head more before impact so he can get more whip in his paddle to generate more top. I modeled mine after Koller. Even on the 2HBH dink, your paddle (Zane) is pointing down before impact and his is more level. You were getting more lift and he was putting balls in the net when he missed.

[@frankfurter7260]

Guy looks like he could put Zane in his shirt pocket.

[@Peaceseeker917]

I'd like to win a free lesson, but will you fly out here to D.C. and teach me, or do I need to fly out there to you?

[@SickzTV]

DC has a terrible pickleball scene unfortunately

[@RunningManOH]

Virtual

[@Dinkdifferent]

Do you have AI write the video description?

[@tl95540]

Go easy on yourself, big guy! Everyone misses shots all the time.

[@mikefixac]

Yep, he looks like a very good player, just too self-critical. I get that way too.

[@stewiegriffin3627]

I would say the main issue with his backhand roll was depth, especially with the lower ones. He was just hitting it flat so it was going into the net. Rather than just committing to a nice roll to the baseline

[@gg80108]

Dudes got a western grip which causes a poor one hand backhand.

[@skeltah_yem]

Coincidentally, I came across this video as I'm considering picking up pickleball after not playing racquet sports due to injury for the past couple years. I am a former 5.0 tennis player on a team that nearly won nationals, a high school state champ / played D1 for a couple years, platform at a very high level, and taught for several years in my 20s (been longer than I care to admit). I played singles and doubles in competitive tennis but excel at doubles due to my play at the net. As someone who hasn’t played pickle yet, it’s possible I have no idea what I’m talking about - however, I would be shocked if these fundamentals don’t apply to pickle based on high-level play that I have watched -- I made a few observations on this video which, to me, are glaring technique issues that weren’t addressed by the pro. To be clear, this is not meant to be critical of the instructor. I’ll preface by saying the gentleman taking the lesson is clearly a very good athlete with great hands. Issues: 1. The student is bending at the waist too much, particularly when taking balls out of the air. A little more bend at the legs, and going to the ball, instead of bending at the waist would help immensely; 2. He’s dropping his hands below his wrist way too often. Focusing on these two things would vastly reduce the inconsistent shots going long and into the net; and 3. The grip is too far in the eastern position. An Eastern grip makes it hard to keep the hand above the wrist while volleying, and creates a much more inconsistent backhand or backhand half volley. Shifting the grip slightly would make the topspin flick shots more consistent and accurate with some practice. It’s very impressive how much topspin he can generate with an eastern grip on his backhand and the top edge of the paddle not leading. Some of the comments on the video about not changing the grip or changing one’s grip being problematic are incorrect in my opinion. The ability to shift your grip quickly to improve shot selection is critically important at higher levels in every racquet sport I’ve played. Presuming a 5.0 pickleball player is the equivalent of a 5.0 tennis player, that type of adjustment should come naturally.

[@gg80108]

Table tennis is the best background. PB stokes are much shorter

[@mauriceb9996]

On his rolls, they appear to be flicks. When he does role there's a lot of wrist action vs. forearm turning over. As a result, it appears inconsistent and a lot of over movement.

[@davidj7516]

The title is a bit misleading. It says, '...Takes lesson from a pro'. I would have thought Ben Johns was going to be in it.

[@julienforletta7896]

What ? Zane is a high level pro …

[@davidj7516]

@@julienforletta7896 Is he high-level... I'm not sure. Pro... sure. It's a bit short to be a high-level pro don't you think? Just kidding. :)

[@julienforletta7896]

@@davidj7516 Zane plays against Ben John’s in the ppa. You can watch them on KZbin lol

[@BrookesJonesPickleball]

I better win this lesson since you called me a 3.5

[@owenallenaz]

Big dude, big reach, but it feels like his forearm forward engagement is slow. Like he's not really cracking into it. When your reaching forward you can't really use body rotation so I feel like you need to get the maximum out of your forearm, elbow and wrist.

[@ParryPickleballking-es2el]

Perfect tip. John Cincola has a great video on just that. It's just rotating the paddle around.

[@michaelcurtis2373]

JT. How has this lesson affected your game?

[@justjosh0368]

Looks like you should get your ass down a little more on those backhand flicks. Then you should have more power cause from a lower position it is more of a punch and from a higher position you have to use all arm and shoulder to create a low to high path so you lose power. Also in the cross court pattern your head is oscillating up an down quite a bit. You may be able to gain some consistency if you keep your eye level from changing so much. You could also try being a little lighter on your feet and doing more work with your feet. You are so tall that it is tempting to stretch a little instead of making a foot adjustment. Just my two cents. I'm not a pro or a coach but I've watched a lot of pro pickleball lol.

[@ParryPickleballking-es2el]

And I'm sure you stayed at a Holiday Inn last night. 🤭🤭🤭

[@htekdev]

He's not dropping his paddle bellow the ball and relaxing his wrist

[@alexandremedawar607]

He’s snapping up and out vs up and forward - inherently less control on the trajectory of the shot

[@lobocnc]

Looks like he is hitting a lot of the rolls pretty far away from his body, limiting his wrist mobility.

[@gg80108]

Looks like a western grip which never works for a one handed backhand.

[@NPD2024]

He has a poor base and bad balance because of his base. His feet are moving way too much and his weight seems distributed forward. IMO. Wide base, use his height to take more balls out of the air.

[@NPD2024]

When’s the lesson giveaway? 😊

[@carlcote8340]

Not brushing up on the ball enough

[@matty_pickles]

JT doesn’t need lesson he already smokes me regularly

[@joshuatorres778]

theres no roll its a flick

[@dt234]

He is swinging his arm to far back

[@DannyBPlays]

I'm really just shocked that a 5.0 player would be unsure about his backhand roll. Most 4.0s I watch have good control over it, not sure if that's normal

[@coreyadams6253]

I’ve never met a 4.0 with a consistent back hand roll. Typically they have the angle slightly wrong and they go low into the net or high and land slightly out on a large percentage of back hand rolls.

[@ParryPickleballking-es2el]

The rating differs depending on where in the country you are. I'm in the SoCal dessert and I can tell you that all the 4.0's can snap the shit out of that ball. I think we are spoiled with the competition here and the number of guys that play. We constantly get guys coming here from other states that claim to be 5.0's but can't beat the 4.0's here. 😂

[@adamheath4599]

He may overcompensate in other areas to be 5.0. He says he likes his backhand off the bounce so maybe he takes that for his 4th more. He may also have a good drop and great hands or really good dinks. Etc etc.

[@SanityReigns-pz8qh]

​@@ParryPickleballking-es2el Ratings differ... That right there is a HUGE problem with the rating system. A 4.0, 4.5, 5.0, whatever, should be exactly that. What you're describing is people grossly overestimating their abilities, or sandbagging. I'm leaning toward the latter. USAP has a defined set of skills that define the levels. Now, I realize that doesn't translate directly to competition play, but it shouldn't be off by more than 0.5, assuming someone is actually meeting all the defined skills of the level. Missing even one skill means that person isn't that level.

[@ParryPickleballking-es2el]

@@SanityReigns-pz8qh I agree with you. My brother went on vacation to Florida. Signed up for an app to find games. I talked to him the morning of the games and he told me he said he was a 4.5. (he was an A level squash player and played tennis) I told him that he needed to change that. He said, "but I read the description and I can do all that". 🤣🤣 I had to inform him that people sandbag and the description isn't really used. When he showed up, all these people were there in golf carts waiting to see the 4.5 in action. 😂🤣🤣. He had changed it after we spoke.

[@jtpickleball5764]

Zane I want to teach you how to hit a tomahawk! yours is weak! I can teach you how to hit it hard like me

[@applesauce22]

4.0 at best