How important is it to have a great practice partner?
Really, really, really important!
Think back a couple of days to our last issue. 
Remember the secret keys to becoming a better player? 
Let's review: Number one, we said it over and over again that having good hand eye coordination is critical to playing good pickleball.  Absolutely anyone can have fun playing pickleball.  But if you truly want to play good pickleball, you must have at least a decent degree of hand eye coordination.  And as we discussed, hand eye is something you can practice and improve. And the good news is that you can work on it alone or with a practice partner.

Remember the second key?  We said it was important to develop muscle memory of the shots that are important to you. Dinkin', droppin' serving and returning are those shots that you want to be able to hit to the right spot on command.  Muscle memory allows you to play on almost auto-pilot.  I've said it many times to students throughout the years; the better your muscle memory, the slower the game seems while you are playing it.  And just like hand eye coordination, muscle memory is something that comes with practice, practice and more practice. The key to muscle memory is hitting hundreds, even thousands, of the same shots from the same spot at the same speed, over and over again, until you can almost hit that shot to that chosen spot with your eyes closed.

So I hope you have a good practice partner.
But what makes a good practice partner?

Well, great practice partners are hard to find.
- They have to be available when you want to practice.
- They have to be willing to practice as long as you want to.  Many just want to play.
- They have to be able to hit consistent shots to you...over and over again.
- They have to be able to control the speed of their shots.
- They have to have an abundance of energy. 
- They have to have all the shots that you want to practice.

Some people are lucky enough to find that perfect practice partner.  When you do, treat them well.  They are incredibly valuable to you for improving your pickleball skills.

If you are not lucky enough to find that magical person, then highly consider using a machine as your practice partner.  They bring all the needed aspects of a practice partner, plus they don't criticize you when you miss a shot. :)

Keep in mind, just like there are players who are rated higher than others, so too are pickleball machines.  They all serve a purpose and may be just what you are looking for or need. But some are better than others.
We have hit on them all over the years and can tell you there are two different classes of pickleball machines. 
You have what we call the individual use machines. Generally made of some form of plastic, they have limited warranties, softer throw wheels and some limitations on what form of shots they can shoot.  Ball speeds are generally adjustable and most have an optional oscillation feature.  Battery usage time varies. I won't try to name all these machines, There are many to choose from.  But some will be a good partner for you.

Then you have what is known as the heavy duty machines.  We have only tested two machines in this class.  The SIMON and the PLAYMATE.  Both machines have batteries that last 10-12 hours on a single charge and are able to easily shoot any shot you can dream up, at any speed from 5 to 75mph.  Not sure on the Playmate, but one of the impressive built in features of SIMON was Stealth Oscillation.  In most machines you can tell where the machine is going to throw the next ball simply by watching the direction the machine is pointing.  SIMON doesn't tip you off so you get a good realistic workout.  The guts of these heavy duty machines are the tried and tested motors and hard throw wheels that have been used in heavy duty tennis ball machines for years. The throw wheels are guaranteed for life.  Do we have a preference between the two?  Not really except SIMON does run about a grand cheaper than Playmate.

So regardless of what anyone says, practice does make perfect, especially if it is great practice.  A great practice partner can help make that happen.  Whether a male, female or machine, get a good one and watch your game grow.

- Rocket

DISCLAIMER:  We were on the original beta testing team for SIMON and we do have an affiliate relationship with SIMON because we believe it is a great practice partner for anyone.