Shireen Kolarik
The Quail Creek Pickleball Club’s Player Development Team is looking forward to helping you with the start of the new season. Dedicated volunteers and a contracted certified instructor are excited to help. They are ramping up some member favorites and adding some new offerings.
Interested in learning about the fastest growing sport in America? Want to know what it means to drive, drop, and dink, all while staying out of the kitchen? Or what in the heck is 0-0-2? Want to get exercise that is fun and meet great people? Then check out the Intro classes headed up by Tom Dean.
If you’ve completed the Intro class and are ready to rumble, or if you’re looking to brush up on your basic skills,
A Gary Quantz lesson (photo by Shireen Kolarik)
then 2.0 Drills with Kathy Vollink and her team are your next stop. You’ll build a strong foundation, learning about safety, footwork, and basic shots, as well as beginning strategies, moving around the court, and the all-important communicating with your pickleball partner.
Working on your beginner drills and just can’t get enough pickleball? Well, you’re not alone! Kathy will let you know when you are ready to tackle 2.0 Assisted Play. Joyce Butler, Susie Eckhardt, and their team will get you playing under the watchful eye of coaches who will provide guidance, instructions, and a whole lot of fun.
Once you’ve mastered the 2.0 skills and are ready for the next level, you return to a familiar face. Kathy and her 2.5 Assisted Play team will help you improve your basic skills, with a special emphasis on playing with a partner and when to use the shots you’ve been honing.
You’ve had a lot of fun and put in a lot of work to reach the 3.0 and 3.5 levels and you’re hooked, if not addicted. Michelle Skogland and her team of 4.0+ coaches will lead drills, provide instructions, and play/mentor games that will feed your addiction in the 3.0/3.5 Clinic Days.
You and your doubles partner are looking to compete against comparable level teams. And, like all of us, you still can benefit from drills and some upper-level coaching. Maybe even provide coaching and tips to others? Step on the 3.5 Advanced and 4.0 Advanced Doubles Team Ladder Play and see how high your game will take you and your partner and just how good your team can get.
Drilling, in addition to playing, is a great way to improve. The club provides, at no charge, the perfect drilling partner: the club’s pickleball machine—one who always places the ball just so and who never gets angry or disappointed when your shots go awry. Naomi and Bill Giles will introduce you to this special partner.
In addition, the Pickleball Club also provides a certified pickleball instructor. Gary Quantz has the training, the skills, and the encouraging demeanor needed to teach 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, and 3.5 level lessons. He offers clinics for these levels and special clinics focused on particular shots/strategies, as well as private lessons.