Pickleball lessons in San Jose, CA

I signed up to take a series of lessons from Alan with the goal of learning the basics of pickleball in order to eventually play recreationally with my partner. Having zero pickleball (or other paddle/racket sport) experience, I appreciated Alan’s lesson progression centered around long-term success and fun on the court. We took a stepwise approach starting with basic pickleball court set-up, grip, ready position, and dinking in the first lesson; this progressed to learning the various shots utilized in the game and eventually putting everything together into live games over the course of five lessons. This allowed me to gradually build my skillset and more comfortably jump into drop-in play games after my time with Alan. He is very detail-oriented, explaining the rationale and technique involved in each shot, and after each lesson he provided in-depth notes with a summary of what we practiced, videos to review, and a preview of what would be covered in the next lesson. I would 10/10 recommend Alan as a coach to anyone looking for a solid foundation in pickleball and starting point for continued growth.

I started lessons with Alan because I play pickleball regularly with my friends, and since they are improving quickly, I wanted to make sure I could keep up and not fall behind. Alan has been amazing—he really focused on helping me learn the fundamental techniques, but even more importantly, he explained why they matter and how they would help my game. I love how methodical he is, always structuring the lessons so that each one builds on the last, which makes everything feel clear and manageable. He’s not only a wonderful teacher—patient, encouraging, and very easy to learn from—but also a fantastic player, which makes training with him inspiring. The detailed notes and videos he sent after each lesson have been so helpful for my practice. I’m very grateful to have him as my coach!

I'm a 4.0 player and I’ve had a few sessions with Alan. This guy is a true student of the game. I wanted to improve my serve and he said I was using too much shoulder and not any wrist lag. No idea what wrist lag was. He explained it like it was cracking a whip. He took videos of me before and after and I could see an immediate improvement. Later on I wanted to work on my backhand volleys and we drilled on punches, rolls, and flicks over the course of a few sessions. He helped me cut the habit of slicing my volleys and keeping the contact point out front. I particularly like when if he has time after a session, he’ll play a couple games with me and give me direct feedback.

Alan is an exceptional pickleball coach whose approach prioritizes long-term success and genuine enjoyment on the court, rather than simply rushing to competitive play. He excels at explaining the "why" behind every technique and strategy, ensuring a deep understanding of the game. Alan's attention to detail in hitting technique is remarkable, yet he also brilliantly simplifies complex shots for beginners, making the learning process accessible and fun. Furthermore, the in-depth coaching notes and personalized videos provided after each session are invaluable for continued improvement.

“I really appreciated the lesson with Alan. The focus on backhand dinks and forehand drops felt quite helpful, and I made genuine progress there, though I still need to keep working on drops. Can’t wait for our next lesson!”

“He’s great. He’s also young and athletic in his 30s like me which I found helpful. I’ve worked with a couple coaches who were older and their style of play was just different than how I want to play.”