9 Basic Pickleball STRATEGY Mistakes Players Over 60 Make & How To Fix Them

📘 Smart, Not Fast + The Complete Smart Pickleball Library (4 books for players over 60): https://smartpickleball.netlify.app/?b=2&v... Most points in senior doubles aren't lost by slow legs. They're lost by decisions made before the ball even comes. Here are the nine strategy mistakes I see every week at the courts, why each one gives points away, and a simple fix for each that asks for no running, no lunging and no hard swing. In this video: • Mistake 1: Serving and drifting into the court. Take one small step back after the serve, so the deep return lands in front of you instead of at your feet. Plus a serve with a plan: deep and to the middle. • Mistake 2: The short return from the baseline. What about two thousand charted amateur points showed about deep returns, and how to hit a high, slow, deep return that buys you time to walk in. • Mistake 3: Never getting to the kitchen. Walk while the ball is going away, stop while they hit, and stay at the line once you're there. • Mistake 4: The rushed third shot. Drop or drive, it matters less than you think. What matters is not charging in behind a ball that sat up. • Mistake 5: The middle ball nobody takes. Finally, what Earl meant by "The middle belongs to whoever is still," and the one rule to agree on before the first serve. • Mistake 6: Playing like two singles players. The "rope" between you and your partner, and how to close the gap down the middle. • Mistake 7: Attacking a ball that's below the net. One question to ask before every swing near the kitchen. • Mistake 8: Swinging at balls that were going out, and aiming too close to the lines. Plus the 2026 line-call rule every partner should know. • For knees, hips and shoulders that aren't what they were: how to use all of this with less movement, and a simple standing exercise you can do tonight in your own kitchen. • Mistake 9, the final key: Changing a plan that's working, and what Earl meant by "Leaving it alone isn't lazy. Leaving it alone is the plan." Which mistake will you fix first? Write just the number, one to nine, in the comments. Everything in this video is written down in order in Smart, Not Fast, Volume 2 of The Complete Smart Pickleball Library — drills, practice cards and a source for every fact: https://smartpickleball.netlify.app/?b=2&v... Sources mentioned: Jayan Gandhi and Dr. Scott Powers (Rice University), charting of about 2,000 amateur tournament points, published by The Dink (2024); USA Pickleball Official Rulebook (2026); Pickleball.com (May 2026), quoting Michael Loyd, Riley Newman and Gio Morelli on bangers; USA Pickleball Seniors group on Facebook, as reprinted by Frank Cerabino (2022); BYU Magazine (winter 2023) on Dick Johnson. ⚠️ Please read: This video is for general education and entertainment only. It is not medical advice and does not treat, cure or prevent any injury or condition. Talk to your doctor before starting or changing any physical activity, especially if you have knee, hip, back, shoulder, elbow, wrist, heart, eye or balance problems. Wear protective eyewear on the court. Never backpedal for a lob: turn, look where you're going and move sideways, or let your partner take it. Never dive or lunge for a ball; if a ball is out of comfortable reach, let it go. Work within a comfortable range and stop if anything hurts. Results vary from player to player and nothing here is guaranteed. Jenny is a digital presenter. The coaching stories in this video are told for teaching purposes; Earl, the old coach, is a fictional character. #pickleball #seniorpickleball #pickleballtips #pickleballover60 #pickleballstrategy