Coach every kid with confidence
Put Me in Coach is the only youth pickleball coaching certification that pairs real on-court skills with child development, safety, and culture-building—so you're ready the moment you step onto that court.
Every kid deserves a coach who showed up prepared—and this is how you become that coach.— Leigh Baumann
What you'll learn
What you'll be able to do
- Design age-appropriate practice plans with the 20% of skills that drive 80% of pickleball success for players from toddlers through high school.
- Communicate effectively with diverse athletes—including beginners, neurodivergent players, kids with disabilities, and varying ability levels—to keep every child engaged and improving.
- Build a winning team culture rooted in positive reinforcement, inclusion, and confidence-building so players develop character alongside court skills.
- Recognize, prevent, and respond to common youth sports injuries and medical emergencies, and know exactly when to call for professional help.
- Apply youth protection best practices—appropriate boundaries, safe communication, mandatory reporting responsibilities—that safeguard both athletes and coaches.
- Partner with parents, set clear expectations, and lead team-building activities that extend player development beyond practice and create a supportive community around the team.
How it works
A school that adapts to you
This isn't a set of static videos. Every lesson is generated live and tuned to where you actually are.
We learn your level
A quick placement check tailors your starting point so you're never bored or lost.
Lessons adapt as you go
Each lesson is written for your pace and your goal, adjusting as your skills grow.
Your AI coach keeps you moving
Checkpoints, feedback, and gentle nudges turn progress into a real result.
The curriculum
What's inside your school
6 modules · 30 lessons
Know Your Game: Pickleball Fundamentals for Coaches
Gives coaches a confident command of pickleball rules, terminology, equipment, and the essential skills that produce the most wins for youth players.
- 1.1The Court, the Gear, and the RulesIncluded
- 1.2Essential Terminology Every Coach Must KnowIncluded
- 1.3The 20% of Skills That Create 80% of SuccessIncluded
- 1.4Teaching the Core Skills: Serve, Return, Dink, and DriveIncluded
- 1.5Game Strategy and Plays for Youth TeamsIncluded
Know Your Athletes: Child Development and Coaching by Age
Equips coaches to match every teaching decision—drills, communication, expectations—to the developmental stage of their specific age group.
- 2.1Assessing Your Own Coaching Level and Your Athletes' NeedsIncluded
- 2.2Coaching the Little Ones: Ages 3–6Included
- 2.3Coaching Elementary-Age Athletes: Ages 7–11Included
- 2.4Coaching Tweens and Teens: Ages 12 through High SchoolIncluded
- 2.5Coaching Athletes with Varying Abilities and Exceptional NeedsIncluded
Build Your Practice: Plans, Drills, and Keeping Kids Engaged
Teaches coaches how to design and run structured, fun, and productive practices that keep every player active, improving, and coming back.
- 3.1Anatomy of a Great Practice PlanIncluded
- 3.2Drills That Actually Work for KidsIncluded
- 3.3Managing Attention Spans and Keeping Energy HighIncluded
- 3.4Rotating Players and Managing Court Time FairlyIncluded
- 3.5Communicating Effectively Across Ages and Ability LevelsIncluded
Build Your Culture: Teams, Character, and Winning Mindsets
Shows coaches how to create a positive, inclusive team environment where athletes develop confidence, character, and a lifelong love of the game.
- 4.1Positive Reinforcement and Encouraging Effort Over OutcomeIncluded
- 4.2Inclusion, Belonging, and Making Every Player Feel EssentialIncluded
- 4.3Handling Challenging Behaviors and Resolving ConflictsIncluded
- 4.4Understanding and Coaching Neurodivergent AthletesIncluded
- 4.5Team-Building Activities and At-Home Skill DevelopmentIncluded
Keep Them Safe: Injury Prevention and Emergency Response
Prepares coaches to prevent, recognize, and respond appropriately to common youth sports injuries and medical emergencies on the pickleball court.
- 5.1Equipment Safety and Court Hazard PreventionIncluded
- 5.2Warm-Up, Cool-Down, and Injury Prevention FundamentalsIncluded
- 5.3Recognizing and Responding to Common InjuriesIncluded
- 5.4Head Injuries, Heat Illness, and When to Call 911Included
- 5.5Serious Health Concerns and Medical Emergency ProtocolsIncluded
Protect Your Players: Youth Safety, Parent Partnerships, and Coach Accountability
Covers the ethical, legal, and relational responsibilities every youth coach carries—from child protection to building a thriving team community with families.
- 6.1Appropriate Boundaries and Safe Communication with AthletesIncluded
- 6.2Avoiding One-on-One Situations and Following Safe Sport GuidelinesIncluded
- 6.3Recognizing Signs of Abuse and Mandatory Reporting ResponsibilitiesIncluded
- 6.4Partnering with Parents: Expectations, Communication, and CommunityIncluded
- 6.5Putting It All Together: Your Coaching Certification CapstoneIncluded
Who it's for
Is this you?
First-time volunteers
You said yes before you felt ready—this certification gives you the foundation, drills, and confidence to actually deliver on that yes.
PE teachers adding pickleball
You know how to teach, but pickleball has its own vocabulary and skill progressions—this course bridges the gap between educator and court coach.
Recreation department staff
You're running programs for kids of wildly different ages and abilities all week long—age-specific development breakdowns and ready-to-use plans were made for you.
Church & school program leaders
Character, inclusion, and community matter as much as the sport itself in your program—the culture-building and youth protection modules speak directly to your values.
Coaches of players with disabilities
You have athletes with varying abilities and neurodivergent players on your roster and you want practical, respectful tools—not vague advice—for coaching every one of them well.
Experienced coaches leveling up
You've been doing this on instinct for years—now you want the child development frameworks, safe sport protocols, and parent communication strategies to back it up.
Questions
Frequently asked
Your teacher
A note from your teacher
Leigh Baumann
If you've ever stood at the edge of a court thinking, I want to do right by these kids but I'm not totally sure I know how—this letter is for you.
Maybe you're a first-time volunteer who got voluntold into coaching because your recreational league needed someone. Maybe you're a PE teacher adding pickleball to your curriculum and realizing the sport has its own language and rhythm. Maybe you're a recreation department staffer running programs for kids from age 4 to age 17, all in the same week. Whatever your situation, you care enough to be here, and that already puts you ahead.
Here's the thing: knowing how to play pickleball and knowing how to coach pickleball to kids are two very different skill sets. Great coaches don't just demo the dink and tell kids to go practice. They understand that a 6-year-old and a 16-year-old learn in fundamentally different ways. They know how to hold a group's attention when energy is flagging at the end of practice. They can spot a concussion, handle a conflict between teammates, navigate a tough conversation with a frustrated parent, and still make the whole thing feel like fun. That's what this course is designed to give you.
I built Put Me in Coach because I kept meeting passionate, well-meaning coaches who were winging it—not because they were lazy, but because no one had ever handed them a roadmap. So that's what this is: a practical, honest, step-by-step certification that covers everything from the rules of the game to mandatory reporting responsibilities, from running a drill that actually works for 8-year-olds to coaching an athlete who processes the world differently than most of their teammates. Every lesson is grounded in real child development research and translated into plain language you can actually use at your next practice.
You don't need to be a former pro or a credentialed educator to coach kids well. You need the right foundation, the right tools, and the confidence that comes from knowing you've done the work. That's what I'm here to help you build. I'm glad you're here—let's get to work.
— Leigh Baumann
Start your journey today
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- 6 modules, 30 lessons
- AI-adaptive lessons tuned to your level
- Quizzes & checkpoints to lock in progress
- Your own AI learning coach
- Learn on any device, at your pace
- Full access for as long as you're subscribed