Adult Sports

NEW! INSTRUCTOR-LED BEGINNERS PICKLEBALL CLINIC

Curious about the fastest-growing sport in America? Get ready to hit the court with confidence at our all-new, instructor-led Pickleball Clinic! Designed specifically for beginners, this clinic will teach you the fundamentals of the game, including keeping score, court positioning, serving, returning the ball using groundstrokes, volleying, and dinking. No prior experience is necessary—just bring your enthusiasm!

PICKLEBALL POLICIES

• Nationwide members (any non-Greenwich Y members) will be charged $20 per session to play pickleball at the Greenwich Y.
• Players may only play one session per day. 
• Free to Greenwich Y members (but MUST be a member of the Greenwich Y).
• Both members & non-members are required to register.
• On Saturdays and Sundays, you can register for “Pickleball Play” but levels are not differentiated.
• Spots are only guaranteed for those who sign up.
• Maximum enrollment per session is 16 total.

PICKLEBALL SAFETY RECOMMENDATIONS AND LEVELS

SAFETY FIRST - To help prevent injury, we strongly urge you to:

• Wear appropriate court shoes
• Wear goggles
• Stretch and warm up your muscles before playing
• Play with the appropriate group (people of similar caliber).

“Playing Up” makes you more susceptible to injury.

If you have little or no experience playing pickleball, or if you do not know the rules, we offer a pickleball clinic on Tuesday mornings at 7:30 am. All are invited regardless of athletic ability. The clinic is free for Greenwich YMCA members, $20 per session for non-members. Please take advantage of this clinic prior to playing with more experienced people.

LEVELS/SELF RATING:

We have two different blocks of time for pickleball play, one for “Beginners to Intermediates” and one for “High Intermediate to Advanced”. Here is how that is determined:

GROUP A, BEGINNERS TO INTERMEDIATES:

Beginners: Limited experience. Can sustain a short rally with players of equal ability.
Learning to keep score or having a basic ability to keep score.

Intermediates: Ability to hit a medium paced shot. Lacks directional intent and
consistency with play, but able to hit the ball from various positions on the court. Not yet able to consistently sustain a dink rally. Understands all fundamentals like rules, and scoring. Some understanding of proper court positioning, but not moving forward to the kitchen/non volley zone most of the time.

GROUP B, HIGH INTERMEDIATE TO ADVANCED:

High Intermediate: Improved stroke development with moderate level of shot control; sometimes avoids backhands but developing more consistency. Consistently gets serve/return in play with limited ability to control depth. Sustains medium length rallies. Starting to understand variations of pace. Developing the drop shot and is able
to volley medium paced shots thereby developing control. Moves towards the non-volley zone/kitchen in a majority of the plays. Is learning proper court positioning. Basic knowledge of stacking and other strategies, and understands situations where it can be effective.

Advanced: Consistently hits forehands with depth and control. Has improved stroke mechanics and has at least moderate success at hitting a backhand consistently. Places a high majority of serves/returns with varying depth and speed. Increased consistency with dink shots. Able to volley a variety of shots at different speeds. High level of shot anticipation and awareness of partner positioning on the court. Is able to move as a team throughout the court. Demonstrates ability to change direction in an offensive manner. Demonstrates a broad knowledge of the rules of the game and can execute varying strategies besides stacking.

NOTES:
If you are finding that you don’t have successful rallies (hitting the ball back and forth routinely at least 5-6 times) or your games are ending too quickly with various levels of players in your group, move down a level. This will allow you to improve your skills and help you progress back up to the next level. If you are not able to determine what level to play in, your peers will tell you what is appropriate for your current skill level.

A GREAT ALTERNATIVE TO IMPROVING YOUR GAME:

Private lessons are available upon request! If you are interested, email: jfitzgerald@gwymca.org.