Act Like a Pro—a conversation with Coach Kelly Mada

Coach Q&A

Act Like a Pro

A Conversation With Kelly Mada

While setting up pickleball trips for Picklebilly Travel, I have the good fortune to meet and work with amazing coaches, like Kelly Mada. :)

ME: You have such a generous way of connecting people and opening doors for others. Where do you think that kind of strength and generosity comes from?

KELLY: I've always loved to make others happy. I'm not sure where that comes from, but I know at an early age I was involved with my local church. I'd go to Sunday school every week. The bus would pick us up in our neighborhood and all of the kids in the neighborhood would go to church.

I also played team sports since I was in 4th grade. I learned to work with others. I learned discipline, consistency, responsibility. How to show up even when I didn't want to. Working with teammates you learn to support and respect one another.

As I got older, and started my career in sales, I learned how to provide a solution to problems. I learned how to network. I was helping others each and every day. During this time I also changed my life path, which taught me how to share my experience, strength, and hope so that others could experience the same. I learned to pay it forward.

ME: Can you talk about your evolution as a player — from when you first started playing pickleball to where you are now? What has that journey looked like for you?

I first started playing seven years ago with a $10 paper paddle from Parks and Rec. Some friends introduced me. From day one I never stopped playing. I am very competitive, and I found out that pickleball had tournaments and I jumped on it. Remember, I had played sports my entire life, so I was used to competing.

I had many people on the courts teach me about the game. I made new friends. I had found a new passion. I knew in order for me to be competitive I had to get better, so I reached out to a local pro in Santa Barbara, and she taught me how to do a top spin dink. I took many private lessons with her. I also watched a lot of pro pickleball and started reaching out to other pros to learn from them as well. My Santa Barbara coach, Lauren Stratman, had moved to Tennessee.

When Lauren moved I started working with Jessie Irvine. She taught me so many things as well. I also found a group of friends who were on the same trajectory, so we would drill and play together. Then Covid hit. I purchased a ball machine and continued to work on my drops, top spin dinks, and court movement.

When Covid restrictions opened up, myself and three others worked with Dayne Gingrich for two years, twice a month. That elevated all of our games.

ME: What do you love most about coaching, and what do you think makes you effective as a coach?

KELLY: I love helping others. I love it when I see students execute the shots or correct the footwork that we've worked on. It's truly the student who makes this all happen. I am just passing along the information that I learned from my coaches and what works for me. What makes me effective as a coach is being able to identify the struggles a player is having and working on making the correction.

ME: What is one skill or part of your own game that you're actively working on right now?

KELLY: I'm working on having soft hands with all of my shots. I'm working on getting away from the death grip.

ME: Pickleball can be such a mental game. How do you stay focused, reset after mistakes, and keep yourself on track during competitive play?

KELLY: First thing is I don't compare myself to other players on the court anymore. This is something I had to work on over the years. After I make a mistake, I take a deep breath. I try to make sure I don't have any negative body language or talk badly to myself. Mistakes happen and the game is too short to dwell on them.

What I learned from Jill Braverman is if I say this mantra in my head — act like a pro, play like a pro — it gets me re-centered every time.