Pickleball points: To practice during hot summer months, you just need a wall and a ball

It is summer in the Coachella Valley, but it is also hot all over the world. Here are some great ways to work on your game when it is 100 degrees or hotter outside. 

And with these drills, you do not need a court, a partner, a group or a coach. These are drills you can do with just just one ball and one wall.

If you're looking for a wall to hit against, consider these options:

• There are handball walls at many middle school campus sites, as well as high school sites.
• Your garage or a side wall of your home?
• A playroom or workout room wall inside your home?
• A large table can be placed, with a small table on top, or even better, a ping pong table placed with one end up and one end down.
• There are backboards at some parks.  Rancho Mirage Community Park has two backboards that can be used for tennis or Pickleball.

Ed Ju has six great videos on YouTube on drills you can do on your own. 

This first video shows you how to set up a wall for drilling.

You do not even need a wall for these ball handling drills, and you can get a great core workout while doing wall sits for these ball handling drills.

Ed shows some great ways to drill on a wall.  Immediate feedback is the key training aid.

Ed demos a dink, dink, speed up and reset drill.  Awesome!

Ed demos three great drills:

1)  Speed up, then block.

2) Bump, then cross.

3) Smash, then deflect.

I am doing this with my class tomorrow.

Ed shows a great drill to develop strong wrists for volleys.  Check it out!

The Fit Pickler, which is a pickleball website you should definitely all be subscribing to, has an article on best drills for solo practice without a partner.

Because these drills are energy intensive, with quite a bit of repetition, start slow, and work your way up.  Avoid injury by warming up prior to starting the drills.

I am lucky to be teaching indoors during the hot months, and I make sure my students learn wall drills.  Remember, not everyone you play with wants to drill.  You can drill on your own, then put your new skills into your game play.

Next indoor Round Robin:  Aug. 24, 2025, at Palm Desert Civic Center Park Gym.  Register by going to the Desert Recreation District website.  Go to August, go to RR, and sign up.  We have beginner groups!  Questions?  Email me at [email protected]

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Pickleball wall drills for improving skill without a partner