Hunter Johnson and Yates Johnson bring an elite tennis pedigree to the court after making the jump to professional pickleball in 2022. Along the way, their father, Jeff Johnson, has had a front-row seat to the journey.

A tennis coach, high-level pickleball player, and full-time dad, Jeff has picked up valuable insights from years in both sports. Through his coaching experience, he understands exactly what it takes for young athletes to reach the next level—whether in tennis or pickleball.

For parents hoping to guide their kids into the game, his advice is simple: get a paddle (or racquet) in their hands early and let them start playing. 

“The hand-eye coordination is just so good for you. One of the things I tell parents coming up who have kids is to put balls in their hands right away—balloons, softballs, baseballs, any kind of ball where they’re kicking, throwing, hitting, catching, whatever,” said Johnson. “That’s where the hand-eye coordination comes from. I’ve taught people who’ve never played with balls growing up, and if you throw a ball, they don’t know where to put their hand to catch it. The earlier you can get them interacting with a ball, the better.”

“Singles was a pretty easy transition strategy-wise. But doubles is a whole new animal. If you played tennis and you come over to pickleball, you basically have to forget everything you know about tennis doubles. You have to wipe it out of your memory bank because it’s totally different. The kitchen, the dink, the drop shot, it’s completely different, and that takes a hard time to reprogram your brain out of tennis mode to how you play pickleball doubles,” he advised. 

“Learning how to hit the ball soft is also something new. When you’re dinking, that’s hard to do for tennis players because you’re training to get on top and you hit the crap out of the ball. But in pickleball, you can’t do that. You have to be very patient. Patience and waiting for the right time to strike is a big hurdle.”

Jeff also brings a unique perspective, with both of his sons competing in the same sport—and even facing off against each other in men’s singles. 

“There’s a friendly competition there, but there’s also love and support. They’ve played together, drilled together, and gone against each other. It’s exciting. You want both of them to do great. They’ve played against each other many times in tennis, and for me, I just want a good match. I want them to put on a good show for people, and it’s happened quite a few times in pickleball too,” he explained. “After it’s all said and done, they’re still brothers no matter what, and while there’s friendly competition of course, there’s a lot of love at the end of the day.”

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