My Second Day Playing Pickleball: Rules, Positioning, & Paddle Control

My Second Day of Pickleball: Confusion, Small Wins, and the Shift Toward Real Learning

If my first day on the court was defined by nerves and wild swings, my second day was defined by something even more uncomfortable: awareness. Not the kind that makes you confident. The kind that makes you painfully aware of every rule you still don’t understand, every footwork error you keep repeating, and every ball you hit that sails six feet long because your body is determined to swing like you’re still playing volleyball.

Day Two wasn’t glamorous. It wasn’t smooth. But it was the first day I started to understand pickleball – not just play it. And if you’re following along on your own pickleball journey, this is the day where your instincts start to fight your improvement. That’s normal. It means you’re entering the phase where progress happens.

This entry captures how Day Two shifted my mindset and began shaping the foundation of the player and coach I eventually became.

The Rules Hit Different on Day Two

I walked onto the court thinking I understood the pickleball rules at least a little. I was wrong. Day Two exposed how fragile that understanding was. The Two-Bounce Rule tripped me up repeatedly. The Kitchen felt like a trap I kept accidentally stepping into. Every rally felt like a quiz where I kept failing questions I didn’t know were being asked.

For years, I’d played doubles beach volleyball, where moving freely is part of the game. In pickleball, freedom is replaced with structure – and that shift hit me hard. The Kitchen wasn’t just a place I couldn’t stand in; it was a zone with purpose, rhythm, and timing I didn’t yet understand. Looking back now, this confusion is the same thing I watch beginners experience every week at clinics and DUPR sessions. It’s not a lack of skill – it’s a lack of context.

And here’s the part nobody tells beginners: you don’t truly understand the rules until you’ve broken them a dozen times. That’s how the clarity arrives. Mistakes are the tuition you pay for your pickleball education.

My Battle With Early Positioning

By my second day, it became obvious that my worst enemy wasn’t my lack of skill – it was my positioning. I didn’t know where to stand or when to move. I didn’t know that the game rewards early movement and balanced spacing. I didn’t know that staying glued to the baseline after serving created long, frantic points. And I definitely didn’t understand why good players lived at the Kitchen line like it was beachfront property.

If you’re struggling here, you’re not alone. I now teach pickleball positioning as one of the pillars of beginner growth because of how much it affected me early on. Being just a few steps out of place can turn an easy ball into a panic swing. Poor spacing multiplies your errors and shrinks your reaction time. On Day Two, I felt all of that. Every rally. Every point.

• Your body wants to stand where it feels safe, not where it’s most effective.
• Your instincts tell you to drift backward when the game wants you to move forward.
• Your balance disappears not because you’re unathletic, but because you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Learning positioning is a humbling experience because it forces you to confront how much of your struggle is preventable. And once you correct it, the whole court begins to feel bigger and slower – in the best way possible.

Paddle Control: The Beast I Didn’t Know I Was Fighting

Day Two is when I finally realized I wasn’t swinging a paddle – I was wrestling one. Controlling angle, height, and pace felt impossible. Every time I tried to “put one away,” the ball dove straight into the net or launched toward the fence like it had escape plans. My dinks floated high. My drives flew long. My resets weren’t resets at all.

I didn’t know it then, but my issues were classic beginner mistakes. They show up in every common pickleball mistakes clinic I run today. The paddle was doing exactly what my swing told it to do – I just didn’t know how to communicate with it yet.

• Overswinging: Big swings create big misses.
• Paddle Angle Errors: A slight tilt turns controlled shots into chaos.
• Late Preparation: Moving your paddle after the ball bounces is a recipe for frustration.

Control isn’t power. It’s quiet hands. It’s early preparation. It’s compact movement. And it took me weeks to realize that the paddle rewards softness before it rewards strength. That lesson started on Day Two, long before I truly understood it.

Five Games, One Breakthrough

AJ and I played about five doubles games that afternoon. I didn’t win much. I didn’t look graceful. And I definitely didn’t feel like I was improving. But something important happened: I started recognizing patterns. I started noticing when my feet were late. I started seeing why a good return put me in a better spot. I started understanding how rallies unfolded, even if I couldn’t execute consistently yet.

Even one or two accidental winners felt like gifts from the pickleball gods – just enough hope to keep me coming back. I didn’t know it then, but this is where the sport hooks you. Not with mastery, but with possibility.

Beginners rarely improve all at once; they improve in flashes of clarity that grow longer each time they step back on the court.

What I Wish I Knew on Day Two

If I could talk to my Day Two self, I’d tell him three things that would have changed everything:

• Your instincts are lying to you – slow down.
• Reach the Kitchen early, even if it feels uncomfortable.
• Control beats power 100% of the time at the rec level.

These are the same lessons I now teach players every week. They show up in articles like Pickleball Basics for Beginners and in countless clinics across New Orleans. The truth is, Day Two is where you stop pretending the game is simple and start respecting the skill inside of it.

Is Slow Progress Normal on Day Two?

Yes. Most people feel worse on Day Two because awareness grows faster than ability. Progress isn’t linear – it’s layered.

Looking Ahead to Day Three

When I left the courts that day, my legs were burning, my shoulders were sore, and my confidence was dented. But I was also excited. Excited because I had finally tasted the sport beneath the surface. Excited because I knew tomorrow would teach me even more. And excited because, for the first time, I felt like a pickleball player – not just someone trying the sport.

If your Day Two feels messy, frustrating, and inconsistent, you’re exactly where you should be. Keep showing up. Keep learning. Keep adjusting. Your future self will thank you.