Certification Steps

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Application Form

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Written Exam

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Skills Test

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Observed
Teaching Lesson

Observed Teaching: A 1 Hour Pickleball Lesson

Congratulations, you´ve passed both the written and skills portion of the exam. It is now your responsibility to visit the website and find an IPTPA Director of a training/testing center where you will be observed teaching a lesson.  You can search for an IPTPA Director by visiting the Certified Members page.  Reach out to the Director of the training/testing center and inform them that you would like to schedule a time to be observed teaching a lesson. The director will contact you with a schedule providing day/time that is convenient to them.

It is the applicants responsibility to provide a student available for the lesson. The student will pay a fee of $100 for the one-hour lesson. Payment should be made to the IPTPA once you´ve received confirmation that a time and date has been agreed upon between the applicant and the Director of the training/testing center. Pre-payment is required, for the final stage of your certification process.  Applicants should be aware that the Director of the training/testing center has the flexibility to optimize their time and schedule.

Please familiarize yourself with the checklist that is provided on our website. These are the objective items that the Director of the training/testing center will be checking off as they observe your lesson. They represent many of the traits we look for in a certified pickleball teaching professional. Plan for your lesson and recognize that a student learns best by practice. Therefore, be cognizant of the one hour you have with the student, use verbal instruction and physical demonstration judiciously. Listening to you talk for half an hour is not the best use of the one hour you have with a student. Make your point, analyze, correct, reinforce proper stroke development and allow the student adequate time to practice what you´re teaching.

The $100 lesson fee is not meant as a hard number that the applicant should use as the IPTPA lesson fee standard. Demographics, experience of the instructor, other teaching professionals, and demand in your local community often determine what is an acceptable fee. These are decisions that each certified teaching professional must determine on their own. What we can suggest, is that being a certified pickleball teaching professional and a member of the IPTPA has significantly added to your resume and whatever other credentials you may currently have as a player and coach. Only, IPTPA members have met the standards to be labeled a certified pickleball teaching professional as determined by the top players in the world.

Once you’ve received confirmation of passing the final phase of the certification process, the director of the training/testing center will send the IPTPA an email confirming such. You will then get final confirmation from the IPTPA at which point you will receive instructions on downloading your certificate of completion along with instructions on accessing your benefit package including liability insurance. You will be listed and promoted on our website as an IPTPA certified pickleball teaching professional.

Objective Checklist that the Head of Testing Center will use when observing perspective coach give a 1 hour lesson.

  • Did the coach seem to be organized and have a lesson plan?
  • Is the coach an effective communicator? Did he/she ask the student what their objective for today´s lesson is?
  • Did the coach tailor the lesson to the specific needs of the student? i.e. Teaching an athletic 25 year old tennis player, compared to a senior with poor mobility?
  • Did the coach use positive reinforcement
    Did the coach teach proper stroke development as outlined by the IPTPA?
  • Did the coach demonstrate skills to provide visual cues when necessary?
  • Was the coach able to recognize problem areas quickly and make corrections quickly for the student?
  • Did the coach demonstrate the ability to break a stroke down into parts when necessary to assist the student in learning?
  • Did the coach explain and reinforce the importance of shot selection, positioning, and strategy at some point during the lesson?
  • Did the coach exude a passion for the sport and teaching while creating a warm and welcoming environment?
  • Did the coach summarize what was taught at the conclusion of the lesson to reinforce points made?
  • Did the coach use a warm up?
  • Did the coach ask the student if they had any questions or concerns at the conclusion of the lesson?
    Problem areas observed
  • Suggestions for improvement

If the director of the center does not pass the perspective coach, provide a written explanation of why and a list of specific areas the coach needs to address before re-taking the final portion of the exam.