Apparently, people have been telling me to “move my feet” in pickleball for quite some time.
Very helpful.
I thought I was moving my feet.
Then Tracy Wilcox gave me a piece of advice (she learned from Jill Braverman) that finally made sense to my brain:
Get your vagina in front of the ball.
Oh.
Well why didn’t somebody fucking say that sooner?
Enter: The Hoo-Ha Shuffle
The problem was that when a ball came slightly outside my comfortable little bubble, I’d reach for it.
Arm out. Body over here. Paddle over there. Just hoping everybody involved could somehow work this shit out.
Instead, I needed to move my whole body into position.
Hence the Hoo-Ha Shuffle.
Ball goes over there?
Hoo-ha goes over there.
Get your body behind the ball instead of standing in one place and reaching like you're trying to grab something off the top shelf at H-E-B. (Kindof explained better here)
Is “Hoo-Ha Shuffle” the technical pickleball term?
Absolutely not.
Am I qualified to teach pickleball footwork?
Also absolutely not. I’m a 2.5. Please manage your expectations accordingly.
But sometimes the technically correct explanation isn't the explanation that finally makes something click.
“Move your feet” did nothing for me.
“Get your vagina in front of the ball” did.
And judging by how many people asked me to demonstrate it after I shared the tip, apparently I'm not the only one whose brain requires slightly different coaching.
Huge shoutout to Jill for giving me the tip and Tracy for helping me actually work on it.
I’m still learning it. I’m probably not even demonstrating it perfectly.
But now when I catch myself reaching?
I know exactly what needs to move.
The hoo-ha.
Disclaimer: This is my personal experience learning pickleball, not professional coaching or technical instruction. Please consult an actual qualified instructor before taking pickleball advice from a woman who named a footwork drill after her vagina.