Shireen Kolarik
The Quail Creek Pickleball Club arranged clinics in February and March for its members with pickleball pro player and instructor Brian Martin. Brian Martin is from SweetShot Pickleball out of the Phoenix area, and he plays in the senior pro league for the Coachella Valley Scorpions. Brian provided a variety of sessions for the 3.5 and 4.0+ level players to develop skills and strategies to reach the next level.
One of the sessions included a two-day, six-hour clinic called Path to 4.0. This clinic is designed for strong 3.5 players to help them compete at the 4.0 level. Brian emphasized understanding the “why” behind shots to improve decision making. Each segment offered skill-technique, strategies, and drills that players could take with them.
Another type of session provided drills and instruction for 3.5 and 4.0+ players. The Road to 4.0+ Skills Training and Road to 4.5+ Skills Training is designed to challenge players with new skills and strategies to elevate their game. The focus is on specific shots, placement, court positioning, and strategies to compete with more advanced players. The sessions utilized practice drills and live game play to maximize teachings and overall concepts.
A third type of session, LiveSHOT, offered a combination of live-action play along with shot scenarios and on-court coaching. This popular “Champions/Challengers” play style has an instructor feeding balls to keep the non-stop action going. This is a fast-paced 90 minutes with constant movement focused on maximizing your returns, drops, blocks, and dinks. These sessions were provided at both the 3.5/3.5+ and 4.0/4.5 levels.
Many Quail Creek Pickleball Club members were able to enjoy Brian’s engaging and instructive coaching. Some comments from participants included: “Brian’s coaching was a game-changer. It was exactly what I needed to give me the fundamental foundation I was looking for and take me to the next level. He has an incredible eye for detail and immediately identified some flaws in my technique that I hadn’t been aware of. He patiently worked with me on everything from my dinking strategy to my serve, demonstrating a better technique and providing actionable feedback.” “Brian … [is an] excellent instructor. I would recommend it to any player trying to improve not only technique, but also their understanding of the game and strategy.”
The Quail Creek Pickleball Club was very fortunate to have an instructor of Brian’s caliber and talent teach here and hopes to have Brian back for more clinics!