“Stop Popping It Up” Is Not Pickleball Advice
There are few things more helpful to a beginner pickleball player than having someone yell:
“STOP POPPING IT UP!”
Ohhhhh.
Stop popping it up.
Thank God you were here.
Because this entire time, I thought the goal was to gently float the ball directly into my opponent’s murder zone so they could fire it back at my face.
My bad.
I recently made a video about this because “stop popping it up” is one of those things experienced pickleball players say that is technically correct and completely fucking useless.
Watch the original Instagram Reel here
I know I popped it up.
You know how I know?
Because approximately half a second later, that ball came back at me at a speed usually reserved for objects entering Earth’s atmosphere.
I have eyes.
A Fact Is Not Advice
This is where I think people who have been playing for a while sometimes forget what it feels like to be new.
“You popped that up.”
Fact.
“Don’t pop it up.”
Also basically a fact.
Neither tells me what the hell I should do differently on the next ball.
Was my paddle face too open?
Did I swing too much?
Was I late?
Was I off balance?
Did I take the ball from a terrible position?
Was it just a shitty shot?
THAT’S the information I need.
Telling a beginner what happened after it happened isn’t coaching.
It’s play-by-play.
And trust me, we already have enough people doing commentary at open play.
Beginners Aren’t Doing This Shit on Purpose
This is the part that makes me laugh.
Nobody at the 2.5 level is standing at the kitchen thinking:
You know what would really spice things up? Giving Brenda an overhead.
We don’t want to pop it up.
We also don’t want to hit it into the net, sail it six feet out, or serve directly into the fence.
And yet...
Here we are.
Knowing what we’re supposed to do and knowing how to make our body actually do it are two very different things.
Give Me Something I Can Use
If you’re a better player and genuinely want to help someone newer, awesome.
Just give them something actionable.
Instead of:
“Stop popping it up.”
Tell them the one thing you noticed that might help on the next ball.
Keep it simple.
And preferably don’t give them seventeen things to think about while they’re also trying to remember the score, where they’re standing, and whose serve it is.
We’re beginners.
Our operating system already has 46 tabs open.
And Sometimes? Don’t Coach Us at All.
This deserves to be said too.
Not every mistake at recreational open play requires a lesson.
Sometimes I know I screwed it up.
Sometimes I’m already working on something.
Sometimes I just want to play pickleball without receiving a complimentary performance review between points.
If I ask, help me.
If we’re drilling or taking a lesson, absolutely tell me.
But if we’re just playing and I pop one up?
You don’t have to tell me.
The person across the net is about to provide immediate feedback.
Probably directly to my chest.
So Here’s My Beginner Request
If you’re going to give advice, give advice.
Tell me something I can change.
Tell me something I can practice.
Tell me why something keeps happening.
But simply describing the shitty thing I just did?
That’s a fact. Not advice.
And I already have eyes.