To enjoy the full benefits of playing in the 360 Rally, you need to condition your feet first. Transitioning to barefoot shoes works muscles in your feet that don’t get much use in “normal” shoes. Like any workout, you want to start with small challenges, focus on good form, and then steadily improve your strength, control, and flexibility as your feet feel ready for more.

Our trainer, Connor Derrickson, has broken this into three phases, so you can start strengthening your feet in an efficient way.

3 Steps to Elevate Your Game

1. Rebuilding Balance & Anchoring Foot Control

Before you add speed or force, your feet need to relearn how to stabilize your body. These exercises retrain balance, toe engagement, and ankle control so you can feel the ground and move with intention. Single-leg balance and walking lunges teach your feet to anchor, distribute load evenly, and stay stable through full ranges of motion.

2. Developing Lateral Strength & Improving Stability

Pickleball is built on side-to-side movement. This phase focuses on producing and absorbing force laterally, using the hips and feet together to stay strong and controlled during every push-off and recovery. Kettlebell lateral lunges and mini bounds build single-leg strength and improve stability — like real match play.

3. Training Speed, Reactivity, & Court Movement

Once strength is in place, it’s time to move faster. These drills sharpen your ability to react, change direction, and stay light on your feet when points speed up. Single-leg hurdle progressions and pogo shuffles build elastic power, quick ground contact, and explosive lateral movement.

The content of this post does not constitute and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of a physician or other qualified health provider with any questions or concerns you may have about your health or a medical condition.