A well-served pickleball town at the far edge of the patch - worth booking properly rather than casually.
Napa is the furthest regular town on this site, at the outer edge of the sixty-mile radius, and it is the one place where the honest answer includes "you may not need me". Napa has an established pickleball scene with several experienced local instructors already working in it. If you want a weekly lesson twenty minutes from your house, one of them is probably a better fit than having me drive over from Sonoma County.
Where the drive makes sense is for something specific: a focused block on one part of your game, or a group lesson where you and your regular doubles partner want the same message at the same time and split the cost. Those are worth arranging. A casual half-hour is not. And if what you want is my eye on your game rather than my presence at the court, nobody has to drive at all: film a game you play in Napa, send it to me, and the coaching comes back online.
The practical constraint in Napa is light. Both main public venues are unlit, and one of them carries posted rules restricting private instruction without approval. That narrows the usable window more than it does in Rohnert Park, so Napa bookings are planned rather than spontaneous.
Pick whichever suits you - or say "whichever is nearest" and I will choose. Mostly there is nothing to reserve, and any drop-in fee is included in the lesson.
The city's own facility page for the newer courts states plainly that there are no lights, and the other public site is the same. Play finishes at dusk. Combined with the drive from Sonoma County, that means Napa lessons are daytime and weekend affairs for most of the year.
Napa's public pickleball is non-reservable, so nobody can guarantee you a court at a given hour - here or anywhere else. In practice that means arriving with a plan B, and it is one of the reasons a lesson here is better booked for a quieter part of the day.
Said plainly because it is true and because a page that pretended otherwise would not be worth reading. Napa has several established, certified instructors. Use one of them for your weekly hour. Come to us when you want something they do not offer, or when you want a second opinion on why a shot keeps failing.
Times and programs above are run by other organizations and can change. Check the linked page before you travel.
Every format below runs at any of the venues above. No membership, no joining fee.
Never played? Beginners in Napa start with either a private lesson (From $85) or a group lesson with a friend (From $45 / player). Paddles are provided either way. One is quieter, the other is cheaper each. What a first lesson is like.
One player, one coach, everything aimed at your game.
From $85Bring your doubles partner, or a few friends, and train together.
From $45 / playerCannot find an hour, or want a game looked at that I was not at? Send me footage instead and the coaching comes back online, wherever you played it.
Napa is at the edge of the service area, roughly forty-five minutes to an hour from Santa Rosa depending on the route and the traffic through the valley. It costs no more than a lesson in Santa Rosa does - there is no travel charge at any distance. Lessons are arranged in advance and work best as blocks or longer sessions rather than single short ones.
For a regular weekly lesson, quite possibly - Napa has good certified coaches and they will be easier to schedule. Book us for the things that justify the drive: a focused block, or a partner or group session. Or skip the drive entirely and send me footage of a game you played, and I will review it online.
No, not really. Both public venues are unlit, so lessons finish at dusk. In winter that means early afternoon.
No. There is no travel charge anywhere I teach, and the price you see is the whole price. What Napa needs is notice, not extra money - and longer or grouped sessions make the trip work better for everybody.
Something not covered? The full FAQ goes further, or just send a message.
I teach across 18 towns in the North Bay.
Pick a day and a time that suits you and I will confirm it, usually within a few hours. Nothing is charged when you book.
