Order On The Court Blog: — Sensation builds confidence and shot consistency

Sensation is a Technical Fundamental. The feeling a player should have when hitting a shot and/or the space through which contact is made.

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In a recent blog, The Zen of Pickleball, I wrote about Sensation, the almost indescribable feeling in your hand/wrist/forearm you have when your paddle connects to the ball.

The tactile touch between a drive, push, and block.

I’m going to dig deeper into this phenomenon in this week’s blog and will be coming out with a training video on this subject, because the more I play and teach, the more I’ve come to realize the central role Sensation has in developing consistency in an all-court game.

And the reason for this, the Why, is because once you have addressed all the other variables of stroke development — being at the right place, at the right time, using the right grip, the correct swing, with the proper swing, the only factor left to consider is the sensation when the ball hits the paddle face.

The area most affected, between the fingers through the hand, up to the wrist and forearm, has a big impact on how consistent your shot making is in pickleball, tennis, squash, padel, and every other sport where you hold a paddle, racket or club.

Why do think you still can’t serve an underhand consistently when you swear you’re using the same set up every time.

It’s because the split second the ball contacts the paddle face you believe something is “Off” and you miss-hit the ball. 

Darn frustrating isn’t it.

The good news is there is something you can do about it. By recognizing the sensation and leaning the distinct tactile touch, you can embrace it and hit with intention.

That small, almost imperceptible feeling of touch is the difference between a lovely block volley landing perfectly into the Kitchen or floating like a butterfly into an attacking put away.

But how can this be true? If it were this simple, why wouldn’t it be one of the first subjects taught in lessons, featured prominently in You Tube videos etc.?

And the reason for this is because it’s hard to describe, harder to explain, and nearly impossible to teach.

I’ll give you a couple of examples to illustrate the importance of sensation and let you decide.

I’ll start by using the Robo Golf Mechanical Arm that hits every drive perfectly 300+ yards. Pretty good sweet; You’ve probably seen it on the commercials for golf balls. 

If I can instruct players to use the perfect Grip, Set Up, Swing and Impact and they should all make perfect shots every time, right?

But what happens to the Robo Arm when a sudden 25 km gust picks up from right to left? That lovely drive is now off course 25 yards to the left. 

Because that technically superior Robo arm HAS NO SENSATION to allow it to compensate for the variables routinely found on course during round play.

It’s rubbish, useless for consistent shot making.

In the video I’m filming on the subject, I will use four different paddles, at different price points, starting at $100 CDN and working up to $350. 

I will attempt to hit hard, accurate top spin and slice forehands, backhands, Drops, Serves, Volleys to a target using the four different models.

I don’t have a Robo Mechanical Arm but my shot making is pretty consistent, and I can always edit out a net cord or two - j/k.

I’ll have the videotaped evidence to show on my website, but my question to you now is how much difference do you think the paddles will have on my shot accuracy and power.

10%? 20%? 30%?

I’m going to go out on a limb and predict negligible. Small impact on spin, maybe a foot on distance and speed but not much.

Why?

Because I’ve learned to understand the type of sensation required for a drive or drop or push and can modify the swing to compensate for using an entry level or high end paddle.

Good players can do this, but of course we’ll stick to our high end raw carbon skinned paddles because they feel so damn nice hitting the ball.

If I am right about how important the role of sensation has in making you a better pickleball player, why aren’t more instructors spending more time teaching it?

It might be a good question for you ask your instructor at your next lesson.

And yes, you can tell them who suggested you ask about Sensation. Say it was me, Mr. Robo The Mechanical Arm who suggested it.

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