Pickleball Coaching International Reviews 

The videos are great and very helpful for technical training and drills. I would like to see more drills involving drop shots. I hope more videos will be added as we move forward. Also, I was able to purchase products at discounted prices (Selkirk paddle and Franklin balls). Finally I needed to contact PCI regarding a question and they responded immediately and professionally and my issued was resolved.

Overall great tips with video back up to demonstrate the skills, type of grip needed to perform the skill and hitting sensation on how it should sound and feel.

I signed up about a few weeks ago. I love the philosophy of tactics first/fundamentals support. It fits the way I have perceived it over the last 15 years. I am a 35 year basketball referee and instructor at a high level so it has been a relative easy time to follow the written criteria so far. I gave it 4 stars as I do find it difficult to navigate the process for the certification process on line. It was not clear on how to physically understand the navigation process and took me a couple days to familiarize myself. I will be taking the part 1 test in a few days. Trying to eat the elephant one bite at a time while already having a list of students wanting lessons is not an easy balancing act. I am sure it will level out over time. Also this is the first contact to check up on me but times are difficult right now.

The certification material is not the most use friendly. Otherwise, fabulous organization!!!

The videos are concise, clear & comprehensive. It is a perfect place to begin when constructing your oncourt lesson plan. I meet my group informally, play with them, observe their mechanics, take in their questions and then go back to my "library" for my next week's curriculum. Invaluable source.

I’m a youth Pickleball coach and this teaching framework is great for teaching fundamentals to get kids off to a fun and effective start.

Pickleball Coaching International (PCI) is like everything at 3rd Shot Sports and the Pickleball Lab...FIRST RATE!!!
The resources are second to none. Mark provides well thought out and presented articles covering virtually everything related to Pickleball. Included are Case Studies covering all aspects of the game, providing challenging views and rationale for why something is important and how to implement concepts.
PCI provides a plethora of videos covering technical fundamentals, training activities and effective ways to organize training.
There are Professional tools: lesson plans; charting tool; feedback form; audio files for "selling a topic in 15 seconds"; insight into the business side of the sport; how to get sponsored; opportunity for Coaching Liability Insurance.
There are benefits to be had through sponsors including discounts.
Mark is responsive, thoughtful, well organized and thorough.
And now the opportunity for a meaningful certification for coaches/teachers.
My personal investment in 3rd Shot Sports (Mark has delivered training sessions at our facility), Pickleball Coaching International and the Pickleball Lab has been worth every dollar spent.
With appreciation,
John Walker

I truly recommend and endorse PCI and everything that Mark Renneson does for the sport of pickleball. His easy to use videos easily explain how to present topics for classes. I also utilize the affordable insurance that is made available to coaches. I just registered for the certification program and like the fact that it is self-paced and Mark will provide feedback on the submission of videos.

PCI material is my go to resource for teaching pickleball. It’s accessible, organized, informative, concise and above all, applicable. I keep going back to Mark’s articles to refresh ideas and find out how he manages teaching situations. It’s definitely an opportunity for continuous education for the educators. Don’t miss out!

Third Shot Sports has excellent tools for coaches. What I have experienced since working with PCI:
1. The main focus is on helping the students learn. It's not a one size fits all approach.
2. Mark recognizes that people have different learning styles, and offers tools to help us teach people of different skills and backgrounds.
3. As the sport of pickleball has evolved, so have Mark's teachings. For example, three years ago we attended a Drop Shot clinic, which a couple of us repeated a year later. The clinic was not the same. New and improved techniques were taught the second time.

I have enjoyed the course. It will better improve my abilities to share what I have learned with others.

PCI has a large set of short videos that focus on key basic stroke technique. It points out key frequent mistakes that players make. There are numerous tools and commentary on running a business around coaching. What is missing is that the material is never updated. It is like buying a book, which is good, but never gets better. I really like Mark, and value his expertise, but I have been extremely disappointed as I expected that the content would continue to be enhanced and refreshed with new styles of play, strategy, drills, exercises, and new clinic approaches. It hasn't been.

I am new to PCI, and so far I am very pleased. Mark and Kate have been prompt, professional, and a pleasure to work with. I find Mark’s teaching style very easy to follow and fundamentally very sound. The format of the learning materials allows one to move at their own pace. I like that a lot. When aspiring to learn and improve it is important to have a trusted mentor. I think Mark fits the bill!
I may very well progress from this, into his new instructor training program.

I did not find this as useful as I thought. Mostly, I needed better drills organized by beginner, intermediate, advanced, covering shots, tactics and positioning.

Biggest need is detailed instructions on properly hitting shots.. ready position, knee bend, when to split step, how to hit short hops... and drills to help secure those skills.

I like the idea of the certification, and have only held off as I am not sure I want to earn money teaching this winter as I did last winter.

The "Learn from the Pros" videos I found only moderately useful in that the pros have abilities that allows a different set of tactics to work far better than a beginner or an intermediate player can actually benefit from. Example, not moving to cover the court when your partner is pulled wide works at the pro level because they can execute the shallow cross court shot when off balance and moving sideways, but the intermediate player will usually hit back to the center of the court at best and if you haven't covered - you are beat.. and yes, you are usually beat anyway but you do make it easy for your opponent by leaving such a big hole.

Finally, the log on process is quite frustrating. I have different log ons for Third Shot, PCI and for purchasing items and they NEVER stay the same from time to time. I know this as the PW's are saved in DASHLANE and they NEVER work on the second log in. Discouraged me from using the tool all together.

Nothing but high praise for the PCI program. Great resources for novice thru experienced teachers/coaches. We have been using PCI as our go to source for our program of instruction here in Sun City West, Az. Special Thanks to Mark and his highly successful 3 day workshop held in SCW last November.

I have enjoyed PCI as it has quite a bit of material and is good at being practical and strait forward about the mechanics of shots and how to transfer knowledge to students. It is a great resource for the price and the value is further strengthened by the addition of the liability insurance. If you are looking for support as you grow as coach I would recommend giving PCI a look and seeing how it works for you!

PCI is amazing! There is a variety of resources for all levels of players. I have 2 drills' classes a week, and I occasionally ask the students what they would specifically like me to address. When I'm looking for a new approach, I refer to the PCI material.

I have used the provided lesson plans only once. Since I was also a high school teacher, I know THAT drill already, but it will be extremely helpful for those who do not have a teaching background.

PCI will keep you focused on your students. Teach the students, not the subject! In other words, be ready to be flexible. If something isn't working, change the drill! I especially appreciate the layouts on how to coordinate a large number of players and still keep everyone active. Last year, I had 12 players on 3 courts and their feedback was very positive. I could not have done it without PCI! Thank you!

Mark, I'm grateful for what you do for the sport of pickleball. I read through the PCI webpage when I first joined and learned some things as I typically do from you and others. How you continue to make PCI relevant ongoing is a challenge in my mind. One thing that would make it valuable to me is to have a closed (private) group of coaches that are seriously interested in having dialogue with you and each other to grow their coaching ability. Definitely similar to your Pb Instructor's Forum on facebook and your Pb lab but the PCI group would be one that the pickleball world would value knowing a coach is a PCI member. In other words, it would be a group that members would have credibility with the pb universe. In my opinion, you could charge $100 a year or more to be part of this group. Imagine if the branding was such that you could get 1,000 members. I would consider eliminating the Pb Instructor's Forum and the PB lab and let everyone know you are moving this to a private group for serious discussion... I could even imagine you having 3-4 day PCI gatherings where coaches can come together for a forum to have discussions, coaching the coaches, lessons, etc... With your marketing mind, I'm sure you could come up with some additional great ideas for this. Best wishes, Hector Sanabria (Bentonville, Arkansas)