Howling cold winds in the North, blazing sunshine in the South – knowing how these conditions will inevitably affect your game will give you an upper hand when battling for points during a pickleball game. Whether it is the extreme heat, cool dampness, or blustery conditions you want to respond with a mentally tough attitude toward the challenges ahead. How can you embrace the challenges of harsh weather with a positive outlook? Here are 3 Pro tips on coping with tough weather conditions.
Coping Strategy #1 – Tough Condition Training
Most pickleball players dread playing in the cold or in extreme heat in fact they don’t love playing in tough conditions or on wet courts which could signal a high chance for injuries. Bad weather is 100 percent out of your control. You can’t control court conditions, excessive temperature, humidity, precipitation, or wind. If you are not prepared, the tough weather conditions can play havoc with your focus and mentally take you out of your game as your concentration may wane. Too often players allow poor conditions to detract from their performance which can lead to mentally conceding to the challenge as a hopeless situation. However, when you train in tough conditions, the more prepared you will be to respond well when you face those challenges in competitive situations.
The wind is probably the hardest condition to cope with. The impact of the wind will manipulate the ball in a variety of ways so training in strong winds, for example, will provide you with feedback on how your game will unfold. Playing against the wind will require more power to achieve a long-baseline shot so to achieve your desired outcome, your focus will be to hit the ball harder but this will decrease the accuracy of your shot. On the other hand, playing with the wind will require less power and more strategy to achieve your desired outcome.
Sudden or quickly changing conditions, particularly from hot to cold conditions have a whole other set of challenges depending on your geographical location and call for flexibility in your training plans. Sometimes acclimatization is necessary. Acclimatization is an athletic training system where the athlete forces the body to compensate for climatic condition changes so physical stresses to the body can adapt more efficiently. There are two types of acclimatization methods – heat and altitude.
Coping Strategy #2 – Attitude
The weather forecast is predicting breezy, gusty humid outdoor conditions in the area where you are scheduled to play in an outdoor pickleball tournament. If your first thought is, “Oh no, this is going to be terrible, the weather is horrible and it is only going to get worse,” your mindset has beaten you before the competition or game even started. Attitude will have a huge impact on how to handle the challenge of the tough weather conditions ahead.
Dr. Patrick Cohn emphasizes, “success requires mental toughness, especially when competing in bad weather” and he suggests using the bad weather to your advantage. Try to embrace the challenge of playing in tough conditions. Dr. Cohn claims you gain the mental edge over the competition when you can embrace harsh conditions especially when others are frustrated or upset with the conditions. He suggests reframing your thinking about the challenges you face and encourages listing what you love about playing in tough conditions as a good coping strategy. Knowing the playing conditions are outside your control, is a start – focus on getting ready for the competition. Remind yourself that everyone is playing under the same circumstances and your focus should be on things you can control because anything outside your control is a distraction.
Simply knowing that most players do not look forward to competing in bad weather conditions will help with reframing. If you can maintain a positive mindset in tough conditions, you gain an advantage. Dr. Cohn says, tell yourself, “No matter how challenging the weather is, I will give 100 percent effort and focus.” Pregame warm-up onward is going to set your tone for the competition so it will be important to have a mentally tough mindset that nothing will get in the way of you going all out on every point.
Coping Strategy #3 – Using Technology to your Advantage
New designs incorporating aerospace-grade carbon fiber, honeycomb technology core, micro-bearings, and Newtonian physics are all impressive claims that take the pickleball paddle technology to new levels of play. Using equipment technology to your advantage is an excellent strategy to cope with adverse weather conditions. Each manufacturer will boast about its elite paddle technology. When playing in the wind, controlling the ball is paramount. Having a paddle that has excellent control capabilities will empower you to add topspin or under-spin control when the wind is unpredictable.
Understanding how the ball responds to energy – absorption, shock, torque, and kinetic vibration will give you a distinct advantage as a player. Using a power paddle when you are playing against the wind and a control paddle when playing with the wind, seems logical. Ask the manufacturer how the paddle responds to weather conditions then test it out for yourself.
Remind yourself, bad weather is 100 percent out of your control. You can’t control court conditions, excessive temperature, humidity, precipitation, or wind. Success requires replicating possible competitive circumstances through training, mental toughness, and utilizing technology, especially when competing in bad weather.
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