Read My Reviews

To whom it may concern

I have recently taken a great class with Coach regarding the above.

I have taken quite a few of his clinics…both practices and lessons this past summer and now fall season.

He has a great method of starting people off with a practice that addresses the skill in question by breaking that skill into components that are easily practiced and acquired before moving on to complete the full skill set in question.

I always learn something particularly effective that I can bring to my pickleball game.

I love that I can obtain these lessons easily at the centre that I play pickleball at and that they are so inexpensive…particularly for the level of coaching I receive…always very tailored to my abilities and kindly offered…with extension ideas to continue outside of the session so that I can practice the skill further.

Coach is definitely a great asset to the Pickleball program at Cedarbrae Community Centre.

I very much enjoyed the lesson and practice today. It was nice to have a semi private, but I have attended with a number of others and it was very helpful as well.

Today we learned how to send a lob and to return it accurately, knowing when to hit it out of the air and when to let it bounce or see if it goes out of bounds.

I found breaking it down in stages really helpful, and providing techniques, such as looking through the holes of the ball very helpful. I think that both Lynn and I improved quite a bit during the drills, keeping the tips coach gave us in mind.

We both enjoyed playing skinny singles and feel that it would be beneficial to continue to attend practice, and if I was more of a morning person, attend the skinny singles more regularly!

It is very convenient to take lessons and to play at the same venue.

I am happy to be providing feedback on my lesson experience with Cedarbrae pickleball.

In the spring of 2023, I was introduced to pickleball and subsequently took an eight week series of lessons at my local community courts in the summer of 2023. These lessons were satisfactory; the coach was not overly engaged in teaching and apart from one notable session, we were left to play on our own.

However, I was left wanting a higher level of play than that offered at my community courts and through contacting Ayesha Shaikh whom I sang with in choir, a friend and I joined the early morning pairs coaching program at Cedarbrae in November 2023.

From there I was invited to join the early morning drilling sessions.

These sessions have been transformative to the development of my pickleball game. Coach Brent is patient and knowledgeable and structures each session for maximum skill development and enjoyment! There have been many sessions where there have been two participants and one where I was the only student. The small class size lessons allow players of commensurate ability to learn together at an accelerated pace. It is this environment which keeps me looking forward to these sessions each and every week.

We will play skinny singles at the end of the small group lessons, and I find these games to provide critical application opportunities of newly acquired skills as well as overall shot strategy and precision.

As a result of the lessons from Coach Brent I developed the confidence and skills necessary to play with the Advanced weekly group. From there I have competed in several tournaments, and I look forward to continuing with competitive play. I have recommended lessons at Cedarbrae to friends and fellow players and will continue to do so. The feedback I have had from these recommendations is also positive.

I am delighted to have found and to be a part of the Cedarbrae pickleball program. I sincerely hope the small class size of any of the lessons will not interfere with their viability going forward as they are an integral component of the top caliber pickleball instruction at Cedarbrae.

I want to share why I chose Cedarbrae for the place to learn about pickleball.

First, as someone who has played sports her entire life, understanding how to play a sport, the rules of the game and importantly, how to remain uninjured by playing with people at the same skill level as yourself, is important to me.

Coach is remarkably patient. He breaks down the game into good learning segments, while remaining remarkablyencouraging. At each lesson, he continues to build on the previous in his clear, simple to understand approach.

This experience has allowed me to leave each lesson more confident in my abilities and eager to play. So eager, I convinced my husband to join and now he’s an excited participant evenings and weekends. And we enjoy doing something active together.

As someone who has coached in other sports, and has been taught by Coach Johner, I have enormous respect for his approach and consideration. He instills a love of this sport in his work and we grateful for him.

Please describe to our Board of Directors your experience as a student in my lessons program so far.

I have signed up for quite a few early morning practice and training sessions with Brent Johner over the past 8 months. I think these sessions have helped me to improve my skills as a pickleball player.

I particularly enjoy how each session focuses on one aspect of the game of pickleball with easy to understand skill drills and practice time with a small group of people who are usually at the same skill level as myself.

Brent is particularly skilled at breaking down the different stokes into segments to help someone new to that stroke acquire proficiency quickly and easily. The lesson is set up to learn something new and then practice it in a variety of ways to reinforce the new skill.

If you have taken lessons elsewhere, how would you compare these experiences to your experiences at Cedarbrae.

The Cedarbrae sessions are more in depth than the ones I have taken at another training Centre. However those classes were booked as beginner learn the rules type sessions so perhaps a comparison can’t really be made. The classes I have taken at Cedarbrae’s classes are intended for people who have some familiarity with how to play the game already but want to improve their skills and strategy of the game.

Have you told any of your friends about our lessons program? If so, what did you tell them?

My friends are members of the Cedarbrae Community pickleball club so they were familiar with these classes and they too have come out to many that have been offered this past season.

If you have had the opportunity to participate in a very small group lesson at Cedarbrae – such as one or two students – please describe your experience and what you perceive to be the value of going ahead with such lessons rather than canceling them due to low enrollment.

I have had the good fortune to have had two classes where I was either the only person in the class or one of two people…these sessions were particularly helpful as the classes were quickly tailored to help me improve my serve and forehand drive. I am grateful that when the class size is small, the class isn’t cancelled as it ensures that I can continue learning skills during a pickleball season at the community center that is convenient for me to attend. If classes were cancelled, it would be very irritating to me as I would not be able to continue to improve and would likely have to go elsewhere for additional lessons.

Please describe to the Board how, if at all, participating in my lessons program has impacted your decision to either purchase a new membership or renew a membership at Cedarbrae.

I have renewed my membership with Cedarbrae this season partly because there are always new practice and lesson options to take part in as well as a great collection of session times weekly to play at my level.