The Singing Pickleball Instructor
February 5, 2024
Gehm loves music and pickleball, though not necessarily in that order
-
Did you ever see a pickleball instructor sing out loud during a lesson? I haven’t either.
“I break out in song all the time!“ Jeff Gehm says. “My favorites are when someone hits an out ball, I'll start singing ‘Let it go' from ‘Frozen.’ Or when I correct a habit, like making someone quit pulling their paddle back while dinking, and they fall back into the old habit, it's ‘Oops, I did it again.’ The final one is when they hit a shot hard when they should have dinked, I have adapted ‘You gotta think,’ from Aretha Franklin’s famous song, ‘Think’ to ‘You gotta dink.’”
Gehm’s favorite musicians include Chicago, The Eagles, Elton John, Billy Joel and “lots of groups from the ‘40’s and 50’s...I love great harmony, great voices, and appreciate great instrumentalists!,” he says.
Gehm is a Professional Pickleball Registry certified instructor and pickleball addict. The 68-year-old resident of New Castle, PA, was born into a musical family and music has been a major part of his life. His father was a violinist and high school choir director. In fact, his dad was Jeff’s choir director in high school in Ellwood City, 45 miles from Pittsburgh. His mother played the cello. Gehm played the trumpet and sang baritone in his high school’s concert band. He was also on the tennis team.
Gehm majored in music education at Geneva College in Beaver Falls and graduated in 1978. He wanted to be a music teacher like his father but says, “It was hard to find a [teaching] job in the late ‘70’s and early 80’s due to the steel mills shutting down, families moving away and shrinking enrollments. I went into insurance and never looked back.”
He sold insurance for 38 years and when not working sang in barbershop quartets. He’s been a church choir director for 45 years. He retired five years ago, then discovered pickleball.
“I loved pickleball after playing it for 15 minutes,” Gehm says. “I had just retired and was looking for something to do with my spare time. Found a good coach, took weekly lessons for about three months, drilled consistently with a friend, also new to pickleball. I would say I played five days per week, and drilled two to three times per week.”
In an email, Gehm wrote, “I knew right away that this was something I wanted not only to do, but play in tournaments, and within a year or so, teach. And I knew with that time table, that if I were to complete that task, I would have to really bear down and absorb the wisdom coming from my coach. I came from a very musical family, but alas, NOT a very athletic one. So it made me all the more determined to advance as quickly as possible. I also understood that starting at 62 years old, that this would be something that I needed to move on quickly. Teaching has really helped me work on my own game. Watching beginners and intermediate players make mistakes reminds me not to do those things. Correcting them over and over helps me stay focused in my own game mindset about not doing those mistakes myself.
“I’ve been a ‘teacher’ all my life. I enjoy helping others improve, albeit music, tennis, golf, and now pickleball! When I see the students’ faces light up when they finally ‘get’ a comment or stroke I taught, [it] makes me very happy.”
Gehm teaches pickleball at two country clubs in Northeast Ohio, and does private lessons and pop-up clinics.
Gary Jergler is one of Gehm’s students. “Jeff breaks down pickleball technique into easy to understand basics,” Gary says. The 69-year-old resident of Sharon, PA, has been taking lessons from Gehm for several years and is “edging closer” to a 4.0 DUPR. “Jeff has surprisingly begun to sing on occasion to the delight of his students,” Gary says.
Angela Shehadi says Gehm is an effective instructor
-
Another longtime student, 43-year-old Angela Shehadi of Youngstown, OH, says, Gehm keeps it light. “Usually he's telling jokes making everyone laugh.” Angela adds, “He's really good at finding analogies to reinforce what he's teaching in a way the student can understand.”
Here are Gehm’s top five tips for 3.5 players. They apply to all players:
1) Work on footwork. Keep your feet behind the ball, be still, and be in the right spot, facing the ball.
2) The ball is always in front of you. Keep your paddle 60-65 percent away from your body, in front of you around net height.
3) Knees are ALWAYS bent, weight slightly forward, wide base so you can move laterally.
4) Get to the NVZ line as quickly and smartly as you can. Always have an appetite for the line.
5) Your paddle moves because your body moves. Use big muscles to hit the ball. You will be much more consistent than flicking your wrist or elbow at the ball. Ready with your knees, and have your paddle go with you.
Regarding the trend towards more bangers entering the sport, Gehm says, “People want to win! They figure the best way to do that is to hit it hard. Makes sense on the surface, right? But given that the court is only 20 feet across, there is only so much real estate to attack without getting the shot smacked right back at you. Bangers bang because their opponents keep feeding them attackable shots! Move the ball around, hit to their backhands, make their paddle go below the net, and let out balls be out! Bangers win because WE make them successful with our lack of knowledge on how they hit their favorite shots and don't know how to stop giving them freebies!”
Gehm has a YouTube channel, “Limitless Pickleball” and website by the same name.
Gehm ended his work career selling Allstate Insurance. Now, his students know they’re “In good hands.” And learning pickleball from an instructor who at any time just might break out in song.
Thoughts of the week, not all pickleball
· During the first week I became addicted to playing and learning everything I could about pickleball in 2020, I Googled “pickleball magazines.” I became a subscriber to Pickleball Magazine and since last May I have been a contributing writer. In the new issue I profile Ben Johns, the most-awarded player in the sport’s history. Johns was candid and discussed off-court topics he usually doesn’t address publicly.
· How sick or sad or both does a person have to be to post a fake death of a celebrity online?
· I’ve written this before but in case you missed it, I find it mildly annoying that in the middle of a Facebook thread about pickleball or another pleasant topic, someone injects a totally irrelevant comment about politics or a politician. The posters often sound angry. I feel sorry for them. There are a million other groups in which they can post political stuff.
· I’m late to the party on this show but we’ve been binge watching Younger on Netflix and it’s funny, poignant and smartly-written. No surprise considering its creator is Darren Star.
· I will never understand why people buy dogs from puppy mills or breeders while millions of wonderful dogs sit in shelters and rescues. For those of you who absolutely must have a purebred, there is a misconception that they aren’t available at these places. They are, you just might have to wait a bit to adopt one.
· If you play pickleball without wearing protective glasses, I think you’re gambling with your eyesight. Especially if your opponents are bangers.
· Franklin X-40’s are good pickleballs but they sure do crack often when the temperature is below 40 degrees.
· Less than one week to pitchers and catchers.
Remember, if you buy any Hudef paddle that costs $169.99, use my discount code MS30 to knock down the price by 30%, to $119.99. Any less expensive paddle, the code is MS15, giving you 15% off.