Lakeshore Sport and Fitness at Lincoln Park is a premier fitness destination in the city of Chicago featuring an expansive indoor/outdoor fitness space in addition to many different programming options for the whole family. Having established themselves as a full service fitness center, Lakeshore boasts almost every competitive sporting activity you can imagine on top of a spa sports massage and physical therapy clinic and a restaurant with a full-service wine and smoothie bar.
While the fitness center as a whole has been in operation for decades, their pickleball programming is relatively new compared to the rest of their activities. Nonetheless, Lakeshore strives to be a leader in the pickleball community in their area in both programming and training. This begins with their PB 101 clinic which is targeted toward beginner-level pickleball players and aims to give them a rudimentary level of understanding for the game so they can continue to progress their skills. Josh Korin, Director of Pickelball at Lakeshore, says the PB 101 clinic is a “focused [introduction] to the game and] what people need to know in order to play the game recreationally.” Some of these skills include scorekeeping, from where to serve and receive the ball, and things about the non-volley zone such as when you can and can’t be inside the zone. Further, players can expect to learn shot technique, court positioning, pickleball rules, and basic match play. These foundational skills are sure to set players new to pickleball up for a successful future in the game.
The class size for PB 101 is capped at 12 students in order for each student to have ample personalized coaching from the instructor, which also allows the participants to get to know one another and learn from their fellow beginners. In both the summer and winter, Lakeshore hosts two 5-week PB 101 sessions – Session I and Session II. However, they host a single 10-week session in both the spring and fall. Lakeshore plans to continue to add additional clinic sessions as the demand for PB 101 grows.
PB 101 is marketed for all ages and skill levels, meaning that sessions can include someone “looking for an introduction or… [someone who has] played once or twice and liked it and want[ed] to explore it further.” This conglomeration of participants makes for a lively class with many opportunities for students to share their various pickleball experiences with one another.
While PB 101 is a great way for rookie pickleball players to get their feet underneath them, Lakeshore has also created PB 201 for players who have completed PB 101 and are looking to take the next step in their pickleball instruction. PB 201 focuses particularly on dink shots, volleying, serving, doubles strategy, and point play. Lakeshore’s focus on foundational level pickleball training serves their members well as it gives them the confidence and skills needed to further their pickleball experience through league and tournament play.
