The Pickleball Three & Me initiative at the Richmond, Va. club came about as an addition to larger group programs. “For our stronger players in particular, there was also significant value in actually playing with a professional as part of the session,” says Rob Oakes, USPTA, PTR, PPR, PPTR Director of Racquet Sports at the club.

While pickleball remains the fastest growing sport in America, the Pickleball Three & Me initiative at The Country Club of Virginia in Richmond, Va. came about as a supplement to larger group programs. 

“Compared to tennis and squash, we’ve seen less demand for private lessons in pickleball; however, members were still looking for an instructional product that allowed them to play doubles with the club professional as the fourth player,” says Rob Oakes, USPTA, PTR, PPR, PPTR Director of Racquet Sports at the club. “For our stronger players in particular, there was also significant value in actually playing with a professional as part of the session.” 

It also allowed the three members more flexibility with scheduling, Oakes says.

As for taking the initiative from idea to implementation, it was fairly organic. 

“Our professionals started talking to a few members that expressed interest in playing with them,” Oakes says. “From there, our staff got together to discuss the trend and it seemed like something that could apply more broadly, and it did.”

In addition to word of mouth from players that were already enjoying the instructional product, the club used its monthly targeted e-mail and digital signage around the racquets facility.

Oakes reports that there weren’t any unexpected challenges.

Essentially the program allowed members to book a private lesson with a professional and simply invite two others to join them at the session,” he says.

Based on the success, Pickleball Three & Me will continue at the club … with only slight tweaks. 

“The only evolution has been that our introductory- and beginner-level players have actually started to prefer a ‘four and me’ so that the pro can watch them play as opposed to playing as the fourth,” Oakes says. “Those players began to prefer this product because they felt they were playing too different with the professional playing.”

The Goal: Increase interaction and instruction within pickleball programming.

The Plan: Help beginners and developing players, while also providing experienced players with more of a challenge.

The Payoff: Beginning players benefitted via game-action instruction with professionals.