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 a coach driving over from Sonoma County.
Where the drive makes sense is for something specific: a video analysis session, a focused block on one part of your game, a partner lesson where you and your regular doubles partner want the same message at the same time, or a small group splitting the cost. Those are worth arranging. A casual half-hour is not.
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 Michael will choose. Court booking and any reservation fee are handled for you.
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 programmes above are run by other organisations 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.
One hour, one player, everything aimed at your game.
$75The long session, for when one hour is never quite enough.
$110Bring your regular doubles partner and fix the team, not just the strokes.
$100Three to five players, one theme, ninety minutes.
$35 / playerNever played? Two hours and you will be playing real games.
$50 / playerSee what you actually do, not what you think you do.
$85Napa 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. 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: video analysis, a focused block, or a partner or group session.
No, not really. Both public venues are unlit, so lessons finish at dusk. In winter that means early afternoon.
The prices on the site are the prices. What Napa needs is notice rather than a surcharge - 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.
Michael teaches across 10 towns in the North Bay.
Pick a day and a time that suits you and Michael will confirm it, usually within a few hours. Nothing is charged when you book.
