Pickleball Lessons in New Orleans with Coach AJ Parfait

Pickleball Lessons for Beginners in New Orleans

If you are new to pickleball, you do not need to learn everything at once. The first goal is to build enough of a foundation that you can understand what is happening, keep the ball in play, and begin enjoying real games.

AJ works with beginners on the pieces that matter first: grip, ready position, basic footwork, serving and returning, controlling the paddle face, court positioning, and learning where to move as a point develops.

Instead of memorizing a long list of instructions, you will work on a few clear priorities and then use them with the ball in play. That gives AJ a chance to see what is actually breaking down and gives you a chance to connect the instruction to a real pickleball point.

What You Can Work on in Your First Lesson

Not sure what you need to work on? That is normal. You do not have to arrive knowing your rating or diagnosing your own game. Part of AJ’s job is watching what happens and helping you identify the first problem worth fixing.

Private Pickleball Coaching in New Orleans & Metairie

Private lessons give AJ time to watch your game closely and concentrate on the problem that matters most right now.

Maybe your third-shot drop disappears once somebody is standing at the kitchen line. Maybe your backhand breaks down when the ball gets behind you. Maybe you can execute a shot during drilling but stop using it correctly once the score matters.

Those are different problems, and they should not receive the same lesson.

I have been on the receiving end of that kind of diagnosis since I was learning the game. In my Day 8 pickleball diary, I wrote about trying to punch almost every backhand until AJ showed me that the particular ball we were working on needed a more controlled pushing motion. A few days later, I wrote about him tracing my serve-control problem to getting under the ball and applying topspin instead of simply telling me to hit more serves. You can still read that session in my Day 12 lesson notes.

That is the kind of distinction a private lesson should make: not just naming the shot that missed, but figuring out why that version of the shot is breaking down.

What AJ Can Work On With You

If you are not sure whether private instruction is what you need, read AJ’s guide to how to choose a pickleball coach. It explains what a productive lesson should actually accomplish and what to look for beyond a coach’s playing level or certification.

Intermediate & Advanced Pickleball Training

As players improve, lessons usually become less about the shot by itself and more about the ball before it, the ball after it, and the decision that connects them.

Instead of simply hitting twenty drops from the baseline, for example, AJ may work with you on what happens after the drop: recognizing whether to move forward, stay back, reset the next ball, attack it, or give yourself another ball before committing to the kitchen.

The same applies at the non-volley zone. A player may know how to dink but still attack the wrong ball, give away too much court, crowd the kitchen line, or lose their ready position after making contact. Those details are often easier to identify with somebody watching from outside the point.

Training That Connects Drills to Real Points

AJ may start by giving you the same ball over and over. Once the correction starts working, he can make the drill less predictable until you have to recognize the situation for yourself. That is usually where you find out whether the change is ready for a real point.

A clean drop in a drill is only part of the job. You still have to recognize the right ball and execute the shot when the point gets messy, your feet are moving, and the other team is waiting for anything high.

One phrase AJ has said to me for years is, “You have more time than you think.” That is often the advanced lesson: not learning another shot, but stopping yourself from rushing the one you already have. I wrote more about that after one of AJ’s major tournaments in Better Pickleball Starts With Consistency.

Small-Group Pickleball Lessons

Small-group lessons are available for friends, couples, families, and players who want to learn together. A group session can also be useful when the skill being taught depends on another player, such as doubles movement, returning and advancing, dinking patterns, transition play, communication, or defending attacks.

Group lessons are available for up to four players. AJ can structure the session around the experience level of the group rather than treating it like open play.

For newer groups, that may mean learning the rules, serving, returning, positioning, and enough basic technique to begin playing points. More experienced groups can work through specific game situations and then compete in constrained games that force those situations to appear.

Meet Coach AJ Parfait

AJ learned the game on the same New Orleans-area courts where he now plays, drills, competes, and coaches. His early years included long sessions at Pontiff Playground, Mike Miley Playground, City Park, Elmwood, and other local courts, along with tournaments such as the Big Easy and NOLA Picklefest.

AJ is also my son, so I am not describing his coaching from a résumé. Some of the earliest PickleTip diary entries are literally me writing down things he was teaching me while I was trying to learn the game.

On Day 8, he noticed that I was trying to use the same punch on too many backhand balls and showed me a different answer for the ball in front of us. On Day 10, he taught me his “seesaw” idea for defending a player with the paddle up and preparing to attack. On Day 12, he turned that into a Red Light Green Light drill for smash defense, then later worked with me on getting under my serve and creating topspin.

Those old notes are useful to me now because they show something that a certification badge cannot: AJ was already trying to connect a correction to the exact ball and situation in front of the player. In 2023, he completed his IPTPA Level 1 and Level 2 certification work and began offering instruction in the New Orleans area. He has continued competing while coaching players at different stages of development.

What AJ’s IPTPA Certification Means

AJ completed IPTPA certification as part of his development as an instructor. The certification provided formal teaching education alongside the playing and drilling experience he was already building on court.

Certification is useful background, but it is not the reason to choose any coach by itself. A certificate cannot tell you whether an instructor understands your problem, communicates clearly, chooses the right progression, or helps the correction survive a real point.

The certificate is background. The useful part is what happens after AJ sees the problem. Some of my earliest PickleTip diary entries are me learning this firsthand. If I was struggling with a particular ball, AJ changed the explanation, movement, or drill around that problem. That matters more to me than the letters after a coach’s name.

Where Coach AJ Teaches Pickleball

AJ works with players around New Orleans and Metairie, but the lesson location is arranged case by case. Court access, weather, the type of session, and where the student is coming from can all affect the best option.

For local context, courts where AJ has played or taught include the locations below. This is not a promise that every court is available for every lesson; confirm the current location when you schedule.

• Elmwood Pickleball at Adventure Quest
• Pontiff Playground in Metairie
• Mike Miley Playground
• City Park

Indoor instruction may also be available depending on scheduling and court access. When you contact AJ, tell him where you are located, where you normally play, and what you want to work on so you can choose the most practical court for the session.

What Happens During a Pickleball Lesson?

Sometimes the shot you miss is not where the problem started. AJ may find the real issue in your movement, contact point, court position, or the decision you made one ball earlier.

One lesson can identify a problem and start changing it. It cannot make a new habit automatic for you. If you understand the correction but it still disappears in games, the next step may be repetitions, purposeful drilling, and more court time rather than another new tip. AJ’s job is to help you leave with something specific enough to keep working on. If you already know the problem and need practice ideas, use our pickleball drills guide.

That is really the goal: a good lesson should change what you notice, not just what you hit.

Pickleball Lesson Pricing

The introductory rate gives a new student a chance to work with AJ before deciding whether additional sessions make sense.

Contact Coach AJ below to ask about scheduling and court availability.

Who Should Book a Lesson?

You do not have to be a tournament player to benefit from coaching. A lesson can make sense if:

• You are brand new and want somebody to teach you the fundamentals in the right order.
• You have learned through open play but are not sure whether your mechanics or positioning are holding you back.
• You keep making the same mistake and cannot figure out why.
• You can execute a shot while drilling but lose it during games.
• You are moving from recreational play toward rated or tournament competition.
• You want another experienced player to evaluate your decisions and patterns from outside the point.

You also do not need to wait until something is badly broken. Sometimes a lesson is simply a faster way to understand what you should be practicing next.

Questions About Lessons With AJ

Book a Pickleball Lesson with Coach AJ

Tell AJ a little about your experience, where you normally play, and what you would most like to improve. If you do not know what you need to work on yet, that is fine too. Start with what has been happening in your games.

Use the form below to ask about private or group pickleball lessons in New Orleans or Metairie.