About Drew

I get asked “do you play tennis?” almost every session.

My sons get asked the same thing.

At this point I take it as a sign we’re doing something right.

My name is Drew. I grew up playing tennis — started with a coach young, played through high school, and never really stopped caring about how a stroke actually works. Thirty years later I’m still on a court several times a week, just a different one. About two years ago I picked up a pickleball paddle and the same mechanical obsession I’ve had since childhood kicked in immediately. I play in Los Angeles. Mostly open play, which means I’ve watched every level of player, every kind of habit, every type of mistake. I’ve tested a lot of tips. Some held up. A lot didn’t. This site is me sharing what actually works — so you don’t have to spend years figuring it out the hard way.

I was coached seriously as a kid, and that shaped how I think about the game at a fundamental level. When my sons started playing tennis, I coached them — and now people ask them if they played competitively too. I’m currently coaching my wife from scratch. There’s clearly a pattern here. What all of that taught me — on both sides — is that the fundamentals aren’t complicated. They’re just rarely explained well. Most players learn what to do. Almost nobody explains why. And when you don’t understand why a stroke works, you can’t fix it when it breaks. You can’t adapt it under pressure. You can’t rebuild it when a bad habit creeps in. You’re just hoping. I’m not here as an instructor. I’m here as a player who’s been taking sports mechanics seriously his entire life, who tests everything in real play, and who wants to share what actually holds up when the ball is moving fast and the point is live.

Players settle. They figure out something that roughly works in their first few months and stop there. Not because they’re lazy — because nobody ever explained the mechanics underneath. So they repeat the same motion ten thousand times, and wonder why they plateau. Pickleball is so accessible that you can play for years without ever building a real foundation. That’s one of the things that makes it great — and one of the things that keeps most players stuck. One guy at open play told me he’d never learned to hit the way I do. I told him it’s never too late. He kind of laughed it off. I meant it completely.

Every page on pikodrew.com starts from zero. Not ATPs. Not trick shots. Not the fancy stuff you’ll use twice a year. The mechanics that show up on every single shot — contact point, weight transfer, where your hips are, what your wrist is doing — and why getting those right changes everything else automatically. This isn’t a one-way channel. It’s a community. Brand new and never touched a paddle? You’re in exactly the right place. We’re building it right from the start. Playing for a while and feeling stuck? This is probably where you find out why. Come start from zero with me. Competing for years and want to pressure-test your fundamentals? Pull up a chair. The mechanics conversation is always open here. And if you’re a pro or a high-level player — seriously, hit me up. Some of the best insights I’ve come across came from players who’ve seen this game at a level most of us never will. If you want to give back to the community, this is a good place to do it. Let’s talk. Good form is a conversation, not a certification.

My wife has never touched a pickleball paddle. I’m coaching her from complete scratch — grip, stance, contact point, all of it — and we’re documenting the whole thing on the channel. Every session. The breakthroughs, the frustrating days where nothing clicked, all of it on camera. My goal is to get her to 3.0 and start competing in mixed doubles tournaments together. I think we can win. I genuinely mean that. If you’re a complete beginner, follow along with her journey. It’s the most honest picture I can give you of what building a real foundation looks like — starting from the very first time a paddle is in your hand.

Every shortcut in your mechanics is a debt you’re paying with your body. Get it right and you can play this game into your 70s and 80s. Rush past it and you’ll be dealing with an elbow or a shoulder before you’ve even gotten good. I’ve seen it happen. I don’t want it to happen to you. Start with the fundamentals. Build something that lasts.

— Drew