Advice from Atlanta Select Pickleball Coaches
Fun for Everyone: Lionel Ortiz’s Philosophy on the Game
Lionel Ortiz is 32 years old, a chiropractor with a degree from Life University and from the island of Puerto Rico. He has been playing pickleball for two years, but this summer marks his one-year anniversary as the manager and head coach for the Atlanta Pickleball Center.
As the head coach, his job is to instruct all the private lessons and build future plans to create advanced courses and classes for groups. He has always played sports for as long as he can remember.
Ortiz initially got involved with pickleball while working in a chiropractic office when one of their patients started talking about the game. Being an athlete his whole life, he immediately got curious about the sport and decided to look for more information after watching some YouTube videos.
His first lesson was at Sandy Springs Tennis Center, where he took a class for beginners to learn the rules and how to play the game. He fell in love with pickleball immediately and knew this was something he was missing in his life.
Since that day, he started to play as much as possible. It wasn’t until he found the Atlanta Pickleball Center and met his now dear friend Danny Wuerfell (former Heisman Trophy winner) that he looked at pickleball beyond just a simple game.
Together, they played around four to five times a week, studying pickleball and asking themselves what the best way to play it was and how they could improve as quickly as possible.
After that, he had the opportunity to get a job at the Atlanta Pickleball Center as manager and head coach. Now, his life has been pickleball 24/7.
Ortiz’s pickleball philosophy is an easy one: anyone can play the game, everyone can have fun, and it’s not a sport where your anatomy can hold you back from having fun or being good on the court.
Pickleball is truly a game of skill, and his job as a coach is to identify your strengths and weaknesses and teach you the knowledge he has acquired through drills based on your level and personal goals. One of the most rewarding things about coaching for him is seeing players smile or get surprised when they acquire a new skill that changes their mentality about the game and the way they play.
Some common mistakes that beginner players make are not ensuring their technique and form are proper from the beginning, such as having the correct holding grip and proper form for forehand and backhand drives.
One of the most difficult things he has encountered with students is correcting bad habits that were not properly addressed when they were beginning to play the sport, making it very difficult to change them later.
Additionally, beginners often avoid the slower game, like dinks and drop shots, and focus only on hitting the ball hard. Getting comfortable with a shot like the dink helps players learn control and patience, improving their skill level significantly against other beginners.
Gear will never be the reason you’re not improving or winning games, said Ortiz. Although some paddles are better than others, today’s market offers a significant number of great paddles. He recommends talking with people, especially coaches, and asking for their opinion when getting a new paddle. If possible, try the paddle to see how it feels. He recommends feeling and trying on a paddle to test its weight and the shape of the grip.
But most of all, have fun while playing the game, he added. Appreciate the good plays, learn and adjust from the bad ones, enjoy meeting new people, create new connections and most of all, keep learning and growing as a person and player while playing pickleball.
Follow Lionel on Instagram at @dr.lionel.dc