What is Your Mission at Coach Mark Pickleball?
To help my clients learn how to play pickleball the right way (“slower and lower”), improve gameplay performance, and obtain a higher skill-level rating.
What Programs and Services Does Coach Mark Pickleball Offer?
Visit the Services section of this website for a description of the programs and services I offer players of all ages and skill levels.
Why Do Players Hire and Retain You?
I provide a level of personal attention, individual focus, and in-depth training my clients do not receive from clinics, camps, or club programs. This high level of quality coaching, personal service, and ongoing support is what enables Coach Mark clients to accelerate their skill development and gameplay performance.
Are There Other Reasons?
Yes, they include:
- I’m a certified teaching professional with multiple credentials (IPTPA, PPR, PCI) and 3,000 hours of coaching in the past 2.5 years.
- I’m the Director of an IPTPA Training and Testing Center at the Birch Bay Activity Center in Birch Bay, Washington.
- I have the playing, analytical, coaching, and consistent ball feeding skills essential for clients to improve quickly.
- I charge very reasonable fees as compared to other coaches in the region.
- I emphasize solid mechanics (technique) and teach an easy-to-understand and easy-to-execute doubles strategy.
- I utilize a skill rating system from IPTPA that is standardized, objective, and bias free.
- I deliver a consistently great and fun experience (as confirmed by my happy and pleased clients who come back for more).
What Type of Player Do You Best Work With?
I work best with clients who are serious about their improvement, open to learning and being coached, and committed to regular training sessions with me over an extended period of time. There are no shortcuts – sustainable skill development and performance improvement takes time, money, energy, persistence, patience, and hard work.
What Can You Do for Clients?
Here’s a list of accomplishments I’ve helped players achieve in the last few years: quickly learn shot mechanics, play with control and confidence, make better gameplay decisions, improve defense, master soft shots and the slow game, learn a straightforward doubles strategy, become more offensive, learn the tournament mindset, win a medal in tournament play, obtain a higher skill-level rating, gain acceptance into a higher skilled group, and have more fun playing this crazy game!
What is Your Coaching Philosophy and Model?
My coaching philosophy is “Play Slower and Lower.” My coaching model is summarized by “Control Plus Consistency Equals Confidence.” I also have a value proposition: “Accelerate Your Learning and Performance”.
Do You Have a Code of Conduct?
Absolutely, and I have five core standards:
- Player safety and security comes first
- Respect the physical space of every player
- Speak positively with clear purpose and intent
- Professional conduct always
- Continuously improve
What Kind of Feedback Do You Receive From Clients?
You can read some of the comments I’ve received from my growing Family of Loyal Promoters over the last 3+ years at this link.
What is Your Coaching Style?
I have a coaching style that is friendly, positive, and supportive. I avoid talking too much so players can focus and concentrate. I present bite size chunks of information and ask questions to reinforce key concepts. And, I never yell, make snarky comments, or belittle effort.
Bottom line, my job is to facilitate your learning, adjust the difficulty levels and challenges as appropriate, and make it easy for you to learn and improve.
Why Do You Focus on Play Slower and Lower and the Slow Game?
Play Slower and Lower (and the Slow Game) focuses on mastering the control and consistency required to hit all nine shots in pickleball from anywhere on the court. The benefit? When you slow the game down with quality drop, dink, drive, volley, and reset shots, you upset the rhythm of opponents. This enables you to control game tempo, produce high balls (popups) that you or your partner can easily put away, and win more games, matches, and medals!
Why Did You Become a Certified Pickleball Coach and Teaching Professional?
I became a certified coach and teaching pro to help me learn how to play pickleball at a high level. Given my ten years of experience as a tennis teaching pro (when I was younger), I knew it was a matter of time before I shared my knowledge, skills, and love of this fun and wonderful game with others.
Are There Other Reasons?
Yes, pickleball is my “happy place” (as it is for many of my clients). Pickleball allows me to forget about problems in the world. It enables me to stay in shape, stay active in my retirement career, compete in tournaments, make new friends, and positively impact the community where I live.
Here’s a “word cloud” (reported in The Dink newsletter from a recent survey of picklers about the positive impacts of pickleball) which echoes these sentiments:
How Do You Positively Impact the Community?
I provide two programs at the Birch Bay Activity Center at no cost to this innovative community-focused recreation center. These include my Introductory program and Pickleball Camps for Juniors program. In addition, I contributed 50% of the cost of resurfacing and repainting the three outdoor courts at BBAC (to be completed spring 2023). And, I funded the purchase of five high-quality net systems for BBAC in late 2022.
How Do I Get in Touch With You?
Go to the Contact page of this website. I welcome the opportunity to help you learn how to Play Slower and Lower, develop more Control, Consistency, and Confidence, and Accelerate Your Learning and Performance.
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