Hey Everyone,

Last week's Friday Fix covered “Why drilling doesn't transfer to games”. Most players practice the WHAT but ignore the WHEN.

This week, Tyler (co-founder of ThatPickleballSchool and the person you see me joking around with in many of my videos 🙂) is breaking down part two: how to actually fix it.

So, if it doesn't work. . . blame him.

Just kidding.

We know it works. 😉
_________

And it’s about automating your decisions.

To start, let’s take a lesson from one of the greatest shooters of all time— Klay Thompson.

When asked how he decides if he’s open, he said,

“I don’t think. If I can catch the ball and shoot it, I shoot it.”

Is it really that simple? 

See, Klay doesn’t think because he’s already seen every situation imaginable thousands of times, so when he’s in that moment, his body just knows what to do. 

Now compare that to most pickleball players. 

As the ball comes over, the flurry of thoughts begin…

And by the time they decide, the moment is gone.

I’ve always loved this line…

“Many thoughts make for slow feet.”

So, how do you actually train for automation?

Well, change the way you drill.

See, in practice, most players repeat the same shot, from the same spot, over and over. 

But that’s predictable. Real games are unpredictable. 

In a real game, rarely is something the same twice. The ball comes from different places, at different paces, from different players. And if you only practice predictable reps, you’ll freeze the moment something looks different in games. 

And science backs this up. 

Athletes improve fastest when they train in environments that are dynamic—where the feeds are from different locations at different speeds, and the decision has to emerge on its own.

Because once you see the same situation enough times and make the same decision enough times, you become more like Klay Thompson.

Automatic. 

See you next Friday,
-Tyler (Co-Founder ThatPickleballSchool)

PS: While I’m here… I also host a basketball coaching podcast, and recently had Kyle on to discuss how to teach decision-making. Many of the ideas in this email came up there.

If that interests you, watch the video below.