Youth Pickleball Coaching Guide

How to Teach Pickleball to Kids: 10-Week Lesson Plan

The goal when teaching kids is not to make the first class look like an adult lesson. Keep them moving, make the skills simple, build coordination first, and let the game become more structured as their confidence grows.

Updated September 2026
Kids learning pickleball in an after-school program in Honolulu
For kids, movement, safety, coordination, and enjoyment should come before complicated strategy.

Teaching kids how to play pickleball in Hawaii follows the same foundation as anywhere else: help them build movement skills, hand-eye coordination, paddle control, and enough technique to enjoy rallying and playing points.

Below is a 10-week plan based on the structure we use through Hawaii Pickleball Academy® and our after-school pickleball programs. Each weekly session lasts about one hour and is built around one core idea: make pickleball fun and active.

Every child should feel engaged, included, and challenged at their level. More advanced kids can receive harder targets, movement patterns, or point situations, while beginners get more time with basic contact and control. That is how a mixed group can still work.

If you are a parent looking for structured instruction rather than a teaching plan, see our Keiki Pickleball Training in Honolulu.

Four Principles for Teaching Pickleball to Kids

Keep them movingLong explanations lose kids quickly. Demonstrate, start the activity, then coach while they move.
Use simple goalsOne clear target is better than five technical corrections at the same time.
Make repetition feel like a gameTargets, relays, team challenges, and point systems make basic skills easier to repeat.
Adjust the difficultyMove the child closer, slow the feed, change the target, or make the task harder depending on the player.
Coach safety earlyPaddle awareness, personal space, and safe movement need to become habits from the first class.
Finish with successEnd on a game, rally, target challenge, or skill the child can feel good about.

A Simple One-Hour Kids Pickleball Class

You do not need to spend the entire hour teaching technique. A balanced class keeps the pace moving and gives kids several different ways to learn.

5–10 minWarm-UpMovement, coordination, quick game
5–10 minTeachIntroduce one main skill
20–25 minDrillsProgress from easy to harder
10–15 minGamesTargets, rallies or mini-points
5 minWrap-UpReview one thing they learned

10-Week Pickleball Lesson Plan for Kids

Length: 1 hour / week Typical ages: Grades 2–5 Goal: Movement + coordination + technique + fun
1

Week 1: Introduction & Movement Basics

Safety, movement, paddle control
  • Warm up without paddles
  • Teach court boundaries and safe spacing
  • Practice turning and moving instead of running backward
  • Introduce “Mine!” and basic communication
  • Explain pickleball in simple terms
  • Use cone catch, paddle carry relays, ball bounces, and paddle-control games
2

Week 2: Forehand Groundstrokes & Serves

Grip, contact and basic serving
  • Basic warm-up
  • Learn a comfortable forehand grip
  • Practice shadow swings
  • Hit forehands over the net
  • Use different forehand targets and movement drills
  • Introduce a simple legal serve and serve toward targets
3

Week 3: Backhand Groundstrokes

Backhand setup and control
  • Warm-up and review
  • Learn a comfortable backhand grip
  • Practice shadow swings
  • Hit backhands over the net
  • Use simple backhand target and movement drills
4

Week 4: Forehand & Backhand Together

Movement and shot recognition
  • Review both strokes
  • Alternate forehand and backhand feeds
  • Add movement before contact
  • Practice hitting on the run when appropriate
  • Emphasize balance, recovery and control
5

Week 5: Volleys

Ready position and net control
  • Explain the difference between a volley and a groundstroke
  • Teach a simple ready position
  • Practice short forehand and backhand volleys
  • Keep swings compact near the net
  • Finish with fun net-control games
6

Week 6: Groundstrokes + Volleys

Moving from baseline toward the net
  • Review forehand, backhand and volleys
  • Practice moving forward after a groundstroke
  • Drill: groundstroke, move forward, then volley
  • Use rally games that combine multiple strokes
7

Week 7: Dinking

Soft touch and kitchen-line control
  • Explain what a dink is and why players use it
  • Use paddle-control drills
  • Teach safe kitchen-line footwork
  • Practice short partner dink rallies
  • Play a simple “Stay in the Kitchen” game
8

Week 8: Small Games

Use the skills without overloading kids with rules
  • Review the major strokes
  • Play short games or mini-points
  • Rotate partners often
  • Keep score secondary to movement and rallying
  • Encourage teamwork and communication
9

Week 9: Fix Weak Spots

Individual feedback inside a group
  • Review what happened during Week 8
  • Identify common problems in forehands, backhands, volleys or movement
  • Give each child one or two specific corrections
  • Use small stations if skill levels are different
  • Finish with short games to apply the changes
10

Week 10: Skills Review & Fun Tournament

Celebrate progress and finish with competition
  • Quick warm-up and full stroke review
  • Run target games and mini-points
  • Use serving contests
  • Create simple round-robin or team games
  • Hand out certificates or stickers
  • Optional: invite parents to watch and take a group photo
Youth pickleball lesson in Honolulu, Hawaii
Group lessons work best when every child has a task instead of standing in a long line waiting for one turn.

How to Teach Different Skill Levels in the Same Group

One of the hardest parts of teaching kids is that two children of the same age can have completely different coordination and experience. You do not always need separate drills. Often, you can keep the same drill and adjust the difficulty.

BeginnerShorter distance, slower feeds, bigger targets, more hand feeds, and extra time to make clean contact.
IntermediateAdd movement, alternate forehand and backhand, shrink the target, or require several successful shots in a row.
More AdvancedAdd live feeds, decision-making, placement goals, movement patterns, or points that begin from the same skill.
A useful rule: If a child cannot succeed at the drill at all, make it easier. If they succeed almost every time without thinking, make it harder.

Safety Rules to Teach From Week 1

  • Do not swing the paddle when another child is standing too close.
  • Turn and move safely instead of running backward while watching the ball.
  • Call “Mine!” when two players may go for the same ball.
  • Wait until the coach gives permission before collecting balls from an active court.
  • Keep loose balls away from the playing area whenever possible.
  • Stop immediately when the coach calls the group in.

What Should Parents and Coaches Consider a Successful Program?

A successful kids program is not simply one where every child can keep score perfectly or hit every shot after ten weeks. At this age, progress can look like better balance, stronger hand-eye coordination, improved confidence, longer rallies, safer movement, better teamwork, or simply wanting to come back next week.

The 10-week after-school format works because the skills build gradually. Children start with movement and paddle control, then add forehands, backhands, volleys, dinks, and finally more game-like situations.

At Hawaii Pickleball Academy®, our goal is to make pickleball approachable, active, and rewarding for children. There is no single correct way to teach every child, but consistent, simple, engaging steps give them a strong foundation.

Conclusion

Teaching pickleball to kids is not just about teaching them how to hit a ball. It is an opportunity to build movement, coordination, confidence, teamwork, and a positive relationship with sport.

Use this 10-week plan as a starting point. Adjust the drills to the size of your group, the court space you have, and the ability of the kids in front of you. If they are moving, learning, staying safe, and enjoying the session, you are heading in the right direction.

Related Kids Pickleball Guides

Looking for Pickleball Instruction for Kids?

Hawaii Pickleball Academy® runs youth training and after-school pickleball programs around Oʻahu with an emphasis on movement, fundamentals, safety, and fun.

Explore Keiki Pickleball Training