Tennis to Pickleball: Can Jack Sock Succeed on Another Court?
It’s hard to imagine that Jack Sock wouldn’t be an immediate force in pickleball. Now, before we get all worked up, let’s carve out the things this article is NOT about:
- Anything not related to Jack’s readily transferrable skills into pickleball.
I may come near the touchy subject that is the evaluation of the nature of pickleball, but I assure you I want nothing to do with a discussion. I will do my best to not suffer the fate of Icarus, by flying too close to that sun. Ok? Now that I have narrowed the focus, we can move forward.
Transferable Skills
Most of us have either intentionally consumed or been inundated with pickleball content, so we understand that there is a certain skill set that is required to be successful at it. Guys like James Ignatowich, Christian Alshon, Thomas Wilson, Hunter and Yates Johnson, and several others were elite juniors and high-level college tennis players. While these guys and others all had to learn the intricacies of pickleball, they had certain tennis skills that were applicable and readily transferrable from tennis to pickleball which made their transition fairly quick.
While tennis level may be somewhat relevant when evaluating a tennis player making a transition into pickleball, it’s not a necessary direct correlation so that increased tennis level equates to increased pickleball level. The skills are the issue. As such, I would take those aforementioned guys (and others) over many ATP pros on the pickleball court – and not just upon immediate crossover by the pro tennis guys, but perhaps forever… because not all ATP guys have the skills required to be successful at pickleball at the highest level.
You know who I think has skills that readily transfer? Jack Sock.
First, his hands—they’re outrageous, both defensively and offensively. YouTube is littered with singles and doubles highlights of Jack’s reflexes and his ability to manipulate the ball in small windows in the front parts of the court. Athleticism? So obvious it’s not even worth answering. What about instincts and general feel for the game? I mean, I know he hasn’t played a ton of pickleball, but is this really a potential concern?
Also, we don’t only have to imagine what Jack would look like on the pickleball court. Jack has played some pickleball. I watched the replay and highlights of some of the matches he has played. To my incredibly untrained eye, he looked pretty good. And by pretty good, I mean better than that, I’m just not sure how far to go (I think we can all appreciate the opinion of people who have no idea what they are talking about. Let’s be honest, that’s a lot of what the world is now, and I’m just trying to fit in). I’m not trying to get carried away here, but I’m also not trying to sell him short.
Jack Sock’s Potential
I have talked enough to high-level pickleballers with quality tennis backgrounds to know that there are details in pickleball, like any other sport, that you can only ascertain by spending significant time in a competitive, high-level setting. But, for Jack specifically, here are some questions perhaps worth considering. If Jack did a 4-to-6-week training block (no tournaments) with some top-tier pickleball players and then went and played six tournaments on weekends (still playing in those weeks when not in the tourney), how good would he be after those 12 weeks? Would he be contending to win big tournaments? Is that too short of a time? Too long? I leave room for the possibility my questions could be incredibly ignorant – wouldn’t be the first time.
Of course, he won’t dominate from day one. At times, he may be notably the worst guy on the court (especially depending on who he plays with/against). Maybe I’m just flirting with the dangerous word that is “potential.” Regardless, I’m not sure I see it taking that long for him to belong on the court with the best in the game. Honestly, it wouldn’t surprise me if he fit right in almost immediately.
Questions and Speculations
Maybe there are too many intricacies for anyone to understand and hone in that short of a time. Maybe those top guys are doing things that I just can’t see on the screen (back to the untrained eye thing). Or maybe I’m overrating and overestimating his tennis skills and their transferability; meaning, while he could get close to and perhaps co-exist level-wise with some players near the top of the rankings, he would not be distinguishably better or more impactful than other pros to truly dictate winning outcomes.
Ok, now I feel myself getting close to a conversation about the evaluation of pickleball as a sport concerning things like barrier to entry or the potential limitations that pickleball inherently has in its nature that may disallow for variances in level (or at least the appearance of such). As I said above, I’m really not interested in that conversation. What I am interested in is what Jack will look like when he plays high-level competitive pickleball again, which I believe will be in North Carolina in early May.
I’m not sure if he has played much pickleball over the past few months or if he will before then. Even if he has “trained” some over the past few months, he still hasn’t played that much grand scheme. Either way, people will be checking in to see if it even matters.
