Pickleball pros reveal the drills that build consistent winning habits

The smartest pickleball retreat sessions are the ones that strip away the fluff and force clean contact over and over again. Victoria Radnothy’s June 11 guide, published at 3:00 PM ET, makes that case through a roster of pros who keep coming back to the same truth: basics win when they are drilled relentlessly and corrected live.

What makes a retreat worth the money

If a camp or getaway cannot tell you exactly what you are doing on court, it is probably not worth the booking. The real value comes from structured repetition, live correction, and drills that match your level instead of hiding behind a vague promise to train like a pro. That is why the best sessions in this guide are the ones with a clear rep count, a clear pattern, and a coach who can stop you before a bad habit hardens.

The retreat drills that justify paying for court time are usually the ones you cannot self-police very well at home. Skinny singles, partner-fed court movement, and drills that demand feedback on serve, thirds, and kitchen play all fit that bill. Wall work and dink ladders are useful too, but those are the first things you should try to own on your own if you have a wall, a buddy, or even a basket of balls.

Connor Garnett’s wall drill is the cleanest home-court habit

Connor Garnett’s recommendation is almost insultingly simple, which is exactly why it works. Stand about two steps from a wall, alternate backhand and forehand contact, and keep the ball moving until the rep starts to feel smooth and rhythmical. His benchmark is 50 consecutive alternating reps, and the point is not to muscle the ball but to use body engagement and natural flow.

That makes the wall drill a perfect test for retreat value. If a program is selling you wall reps and not adding correction, you can do a version of this anywhere, and you should not pay a premium for it. If a coach is using the wall to clean up contact point, hand position, and rhythm, then the drill becomes more than solo grind time. Riley Newman’s take fits the same logic: wall work is one of the fastest ways to sharpen hands, which is why it belongs in your routine whether you are at home or at a camp.

Chris Haworth’s workload drill is the kind of thing a retreat can actually improve

Chris Haworth’s drill is more retreat-worthy because it needs structure, feed quality, and enough space to keep the pace honest. He describes a partner dropping balls onto the same side of the court while the player hits 100 balls in five minutes, then moves to another spot and repeats the pattern. The goal is repetition under pressure, with forehands hit both down the line and cross-court while the legs and feet stay active.

That kind of session is exactly where live coaching earns its keep. A retreat can watch your spacing, your recovery steps, and whether you are still balanced on ball 83 or 84, which is the kind of detail most players cannot catch alone. If the organizer cannot give you that kind of feedback, you are basically paying for a private workout disguised as a getaway.

The all-around drills that tell you whether a retreat is fundamental or just glossy

Greg Dow’s skinny singles recommendation is the best reminder that one drill can touch almost every part of the game. Skinny singles forces serves, thirds, mid-court exchanges, and kitchen play into the same format, so you are not just repeating one pattern in isolation. That makes it a strong measure of whether a retreat is teaching full-court decision-making or simply running people through isolated feeds.

Mary and Maggie Brascia keep their answer simpler: dinks down the line and cross-court. That is the kind of work you can absolutely do with a buddy at home, which is why it should not be the main thing you pay retreat money for unless the coach is using it to fix touch, placement, and patience under pressure. Maggie’s point that drilling with a partner makes the work more enjoyable matters too, because the best camps know that repetition sticks better when the reps do not feel like punishment.

Michael Loyd adds another underrated piece of the puzzle: serve-and-return baskets. For beginners, that kind of focused work can jump a half level because it cleans up the two most repeatable shots in the game before the point even starts. A retreat that builds in serve and return blocks is doing real teaching, especially if it can separate pure mechanics from game-speed execution.

Why the repetition message keeps showing up

Yates Johnson puts the whole thing bluntly: get reps in as often as possible, ideally with a ball machine or a feeder, because repeated contact is what makes better technique show up automatically in matches. That is the heart of any good retreat evaluation. If the schedule is full of one-off games and light instruction, you are not buying habit change. You are buying a pleasant weekend.

A separate Pickleball.com training piece drives the same point home through Ben Johns, who says he once drilled 100% of the time with Collin Johns and later shifted to about 20% drilling and 80% games as his needs changed. That evolution matters because it shows the balance: elites still drill, but they drill with a purpose, then test it in live play. Retreats should work the same way, with reps first, correction in the middle, and game speed only when the movement holds up.

The scale of the sport makes that standard even more important. SFIA says 24.3 million Americans played pickleball in 2025, up from about 4.2 million in 2020, and calls it the fastest-growing sport in the United States over the past three years. USA Pickleball’s 2025 growth report counted 18,258 places to play, 82,613 known courts, 104,828 members, 1,864 ambassadors, and 144 sanctioned tournaments, including the 2025 USA Pickleball National Championships in San Diego and 18 Golden Ticket events. In 2024, the organization logged 15,910 places to play, 68,458 known courts, 62,260 members, 2,051 ambassadors, 142 sanctioned tournaments, and $45,350 in community and youth grants.

That growth explains why drill-based retreat content matters so much. There are more courts, more players, and more events than ever, which means the gap between a vague “train like a pro” package and a real fundamentals session is easy to spot. If a retreat cannot show you the reps, the correction, and the level-specific work, it is not teaching habits. It is just selling the setting.