The Beloved Youth Drill, Pigs in Space
By The Pickleball Weekly Editorial Team • July 15, 2026 • 7 min read
A drill to teach young players to hit with confidence
One of the biggest challenges in teaching young children pickleball isn’t introducing the paddle or explaining the rules. It’s convincing them that practicing fundamentals can actually be fun.
Children between the ages of five and ten learn differently than adults. Their attention spans are shorter, repetition quickly becomes boring, and they respond far better to imagination and play than traditional drills.
Ask a child to hit 25 forehands in a row, and they’ll often lose interest long before reaching ten. Turn the same lesson into a game with silly names, friendly competition, and the possibility of becoming a “pig in space,” and suddenly they can’t wait for another turn.
That’s exactly why the youth drill known as Pigs in Space has remained a favorite among coaches for years, and even more so for youngsters.
Originally developed as a youth tennis activity, the game has transitioned naturally into pickleball, where it teaches several of the sport’s most important fundamentals while children simply believe they’re playing a game.
Learning Without Realizing It
The beauty of Pigs in Space lies in what children don’t realize. While they’re laughing, racing back into line, trying to catch a flying pickleball, and hoping to avoid being sent into “space,” they’re developing skills that every successful pickleball player needs.
Each repetition teaches players to recognize an incoming ball, move their feet instead of reaching with the paddle, hit the ball in the sweet spot of the paddle, place the ball into the transition zone, transfer their weight through the shot, and recover quickly for the next rally. Those fundamentals become the building blocks for virtually every stroke they’ll learn as they progress through the sport.
Because the drill requires movement before contact, it naturally reinforces one of the most important habits in pickleball: taking a decisive first step toward the ball.
Young players often want to stand flat-footed and simply reach with their paddle. Experienced coaches know that proper footwork creates better balance, cleaner contact, and more consistent shots. The Pigs in Space drill encourages those movements without children ever feeling like they’re practicing footwork.
Instead, they’re simply trying to stay out of space.
Setting Up the Drill
The setup is simple, making it ideal for youth clinics, after-school programs, camps, or even family play.
Players form a single-file line along the center line of the court, each holding a paddle. The first child stands just behind the kitchen line while the coach positions themselves on the opposite side of the net near the kitchen. The side of the pickleball court where the coach is standing is also now known as “space” to the children during the drill.
One at a time, the coach feeds a gentle ball that lands just in front of the player. The child moves to the ball and attempts to hit it over the net and into the transition zone, also known as “no man’s land.”
The target isn’t accidental. Rather than encouraging children to simply hit the ball as hard as possible, the drill emphasizes control, balance, and placement. Landing the ball in the transition zone rewards players who make solid contact instead of swinging wildly.
When the shot lands successfully in the target area, the coach calls out “Safe!” and the player returns to the end of the line to wait for another turn.
If the shot doesn’t make it over the net, lands in the kitchen, or travels out of bounds, the player is sent into “space.”
Life in Space
Being sent into space isn’t really a penalty. In many ways, it’s one of the most enjoyable parts of the game.
Children who enter space place their paddles safely outside the court and move to the opposite side with the coach. From there, they become active participants in every rally, attempting to catch balls in the air before they bounce. A successful catch earns them a return trip to the player line, while the player whose ball was caught heads into space.
This constant movement keeps every child engaged, even when they aren’t hitting balls. Nobody stands around waiting. Everyone has something to do.
As the game continues, the player line gradually shrinks until only one child remains. If that final player’s ball is caught, every child in space returns to the line and the game starts building all over again. If the final player successfully lands the shot without it being caught, they’re declared the winner.
Then, more often than not, the children immediately ask to play the game again with lots of laughs and giggles.
Why It Works
To children, Pigs in Space feels like a game. To coaches, every rally is quietly reinforcing essential pickleball fundamentals. To the parents, it’s a win-win situation.
The repeated movement toward the ball improves footwork and balance. Tracking the incoming feed develops hand-eye coordination. Targeting the transition zone introduces placement rather than power. Recovering to the end of the line reinforces court awareness.
Even the catching element serves an important purpose by improving reaction time, visual tracking, and anticipation. Every successful repetition builds confidence, especially for beginners who may still be learning how to control the ball and paddle.
Rather than focusing on mistakes, the game rewards effort and encourages players to keep moving.
Coaching Tips
Success depends more on encouragement than correction. Young players should receive feeds that allow them to succeed while still requiring movement. If every ball is too difficult, frustration quickly replaces fun.
Coaches should remind players to move their feet instead of reaching with their paddles, stay balanced throughout the swing, and focus on placing the ball rather than hitting it as hard as possible. Most importantly, keep the pace moving.
Children thrive when they stay active, and quick rotations ensure everyone remains engaged. The goal isn’t perfection. It’s confidence.
Adding New Challenges
As players become more comfortable, coaches can introduce simple variations to keep the game fresh.
Placing hula hoops, spot markers, or baskets in the transition zone encourages even greater accuracy while creating new scoring opportunities. Different colored targets can award bonus points, or coaches can challenge players to land shots in specific locations before advancing.
These small adjustments increase difficulty without changing the basic structure that makes the game so successful.
More Than Just a Game
Every youth coach has a handful of activities that children request over and over again. Pigs in Space almost always makes my list.
It‘s one of my favorite drills played at the end of akids’ lessons since it transforms essential fundamentals into imaginative play, allowing children to improve movement, coordination, balance, and shot placement while laughing with their friends.
And that’s the real magic behind the drill. The children remember the fun. The parents area happy and the coach knows they just completed one of the most valuable lessons of the day.
The Pickleball Editorial Team produces in-depth reporting and cover features that examine the sport’s growth, innovation, competition, and culture. With contributors who understand both the strategy of the game and the forces shaping its future, the team is committed to telling the full story of modern pickleball.
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