Your camp group: eight players, one coach
Drilling at the net, not standing in line
Everyone here started exactly where you are
Four hours, and the game finally clicks
RallyUp Beginner Camp in Scottsdale, AZ
The best way to learn Pickleball with like-minded people
✓ Fully refundable until camp day
Full refund anytime before camp day.
And if the camp doesn’t win you over, your next one is free.*
*T&Cs apply
What your $249 seat covers.
- 4 hours of coaching with a world-class certified coach
- Your personalised performance plan, emailed after camp
- Lifetime access to our players community
- Courts, balls and paddles all provided
- A few more surprises waiting for you after camp day
...and so much more that will be revealed once you register
Kris James
Hi, I'm Kris James. Around Scottsdale people call me KJ.
I've been teaching racquet sports for a living since 1986. That's forty years of standing on a court next to somebody who has never played, which turns out to be a completely different skill from playing well yourself.
I played first singles at Kansas State on a scholarship, then spent years as a world-ranked player on the ITF tour. I've also spent a long time as a USTA and ITA official, which means I've officiated matches for John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Martina Navratilova and Michael Chang.
None of that is why you should come to this camp. It's context. What actually matters on Saturday, September 26 is that I've watched a few thousand people hit their first ball, and I know the order to teach things in.
We're indoors at The Orchard, which in Scottsdale in September is the whole point. Two courts, eight of you, air conditioning, and nobody standing in a queue waiting for a turn.
How I coach
- 1
Fundamentals in order. Grip, then contact, then feet. Beginners who get taught in that order are playing real points by lunch; beginners who get handed a strategy lecture on day one are not.
- 2
I watch first. Everybody arrives with one habit costing them most of their points, and it is rarely the one they think it is.
- 3
Forty years of first lessons means I have heard every version of “I’m too old for this” and “I’ll hold everyone up”. Neither has been true yet.
- 4
And the rules, properly. Where to stand, whose ball it is, how to keep score. That is the actual barrier to joining a game, not your dink.
Walk in having never played, and here's how you walk out:
- ✓Your serve goes in, and you know what you changed to make it go in.
- ✓You know the kitchen rule, the two-bounce rule and how to score, without being reminded.
- ✓You stop reaching for the ball and start moving to it.
- ✓You play real points with other people and enjoy it enough to come back.
Here’s your whole Saturday.
Names first, then paddles
Meet your group of eight, easy warm-up, first rallies while Kris starts reading your game.
The court, in plain English
The kitchen, the two-bounce rule, scoring. Ask anything.
Grip & soft hands
Looser than you think. The touch drill that makes day one feel like week three.
Dinking, the soft game
The little shot everyone talks about, drilled until it stops popping up. Ends with a longest-rally contest.
Serve & return
In. Deep. Repeatable. Drilled against a target until it's yours.
Break
Water, a seat, and the part where the group chat gets made.
Volleys & the third shot
Hands at the net, and the one shot that gets you up to where points are won.
Where to stand in doubles
Move together, take the middle, stop colliding with your partner.
Real games, Kris courtside
Live points with your coach calling what to try next.
Your path forward
A recap of what you improved, and what to work on next week.
What a RallyUp camp looks like.
It was never about the paddle.
The paddle is just the excuse. What actually changes is that you stop saying maybe next time when someone asks you to play, and you walk onto a court full of strangers knowing you belong there.
You spend the day with seven people in exactly your spot, learning the same things at the same speed. Nobody is waiting on you, nobody is showing off. By the afternoon you're laughing between points with people whose names you didn't know at 9am.
Most groups swap numbers before they leave, and the chat keeps going long after camp day. That's how one Saturday turns into a standing thing you look forward to all week.
All of it starts on one Saturday
Is this camp for you?
It’s for you if…
- ✓You picked up a paddle recently and love it, but real games still feel shaky
- ✓You're 40, 50, 60, 70. Most of our players are
- ✓You want a coach watching your game, not a lecture with a paddle in your hand
- ✓You'd rather learn with 7 other beginners than sink-or-swim at open play
It’s not for you if…
- ✗You're a 4.0 with tournament weekends booked
- ✗You want 20 straight games and zero coaching
- ✗You're looking for a kids' program
What it would cost you anywhere else.
Your seat is $249. This is just what the pieces go for on their own.
The Orchard Indoor Pickleball Club.
Everything under one roof.
9035 E Pima Center Pkwy Ste 15, Scottsdale, AZ 85258 · indoor, climate-controlledFAQs
It's September in Arizona. How hot is this going to be?
Only eight places? Why so few?
What if I've barely played? Will I be the slowest one there?
Where is the camp, and what's it like?
Do I need a rating to come?
I'm in my 50s, 60s, or beyond. Is this really for me?
Can I bring a friend?
Will I actually get individual attention?
What do I bring?
What if I can't make the camp date?
How does the guarantee work?
Saturday is four hours.The game is yours for years.
Register now for $249 →Tell us and we'll bring one closer to you.
This date not working, or the drive too far? Leave your name and email and we'll tell you first when we run one nearer to you.