New director of pickleball at Fit Life Fitness helps to launch new expanded courts at the gym

Zak Miller, 29, started playing pickleball seven years ago and for the past five, he’s been coaching those new to the game at the Phoenixville YMCA, Spring Valley YMCA, the Phoenixville Recreational Center and Smashville in Pottstown.

As of June 1, Miller is the director of pickleball at Fit Life Fitness, the 24/7 access gym that’s new to North Coventry Township, Chester County. His history of coaching players mostly 50 and older who are drawn to the sport and fall into the beginner or intermediate category.

“I teach at a welcoming pace,” he said. “My goal is to go through all the fundamentals of the game and they learn the rules and positioning on the courts.”

This includes technique, ground strokes and spins – all with a goal that players can then go out and join the pickleball community to find their own games to play.

“The rules take a while to learn,” Miller said. “The best way to learn is to keep playing – it’s a really easy game and anyone can pick up a paddle and pickleball and pop a wiffle-like ball around.”

Coaching and managerial duties

In Miller’s director role at Fit Life, he’ll be coaching and will have managerial duties at the gym’s courts.
“I’ll be overseeing the courts coming in, encouraging playtime and hosting events, like tournaments and clinics,” he said. “We’re looking at late August, possibly early September for the launch of eight full courts and four skinny singles.”

Compared to tennis, he said it’s easier to coordinate the extension of your hand and the ball.

“It’s an easier sport to pick up than tennis,” he said. “It’s for all ages and pickleball is a good first step to racket sports for the younger generation.”

Miller, who lives in Phoenixville, keeps up his own game by playing two to three times a week.

“At Fisher Park in Phoenixville there’s a wonderful public group there where I play mix and match,” he said. “I also play at a private court in Pottstown.”

Team Reach and Meetup

He said Team Reach and Meetup are two mainstream pickleball apps to find play out in the community. Players can use a self-rated system of 1 to 5 to enable them to match up with other players of equal ability.

“A 4.0 session is a high-level session and 2.5 is a more beginner level,” he said.

Miller also engages in tournament play.

“He took gold at a luck of the draw tournament last January in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico,” said Miller’s father, Eric Miller, owner of Smashville in Pottstown, who explained ‘luck of the draw’ meant there was a mix of partners in each round.

Meet new people

Zak sees the game as a good opportunity to meet new people and has enjoyed witnessing the spike in popularity of the sport over the years.

“It’s great to see all ages out there enjoying the game,” he said. “It’s now televised and it’s huge – that’s a huge step for getting it built into the mainstream.”

He also sees it as a sport that connects generations.

“At first it started as an older demo and now you get to see different generations participate,” he said. “It’s incredible to see the growth of pickleball – everyone can play and that’s what’s so fun about the game.”

Fit Life Fitness is located at the Coventry Mall. For more information, visit  www.fitlifefitness.net/pottstown/