From 3.0 to Professional Pickleball Player with Aaron Donofrio

Unlike most other professional pickleball players, Aaron Donofrio doesn’t have a background in racket sports. He recalled falling in love with pickleball when his uncle from Michigan introduced him to the sport during a Christmas break back when he was in high school.

Aaron, his brother, and his father started together at the 3.0 level and worked their way up from there. Aaron considers pickleball a significant part of his professional and family life. He played on a team with his brother for quite a while, and his father is his drilling partner now.

Having grown up playing baseball and volleyball rather than racket sports, Aaron says he has ugly strokes. He was never blessed with what they call a killer forehand drive or an exceptional overhead that most players with racket sport backgrounds have.

Aaron has worked on turning what he calls his “awkwardness” on the court into an asset. Some of his strategies work better than others, but it’s always interesting as he never knows what he will get this time. In Aaron’s opinion, there are certain benefits of not having a racket background.

On the Pickleball Fire podcast, Aaron was asked if he ever struggled against certain players because of his lack of a racket sports background. He says that some of his greatest struggles have been against players like himself, who don’t have experience in racket sports. Aaron says that both sides are equally unpredictable in such games, and games are always exciting and entertaining. He says that many players who played tennis at the high school or collegiate level are doing some “misdirected shots” now also. 

Aaron has a unique grip as he holds it like a ping pong paddle with his finger up, and due to such a grip, he can flick his wrist a little differently. 

Now he is doing some clinics to teach newer players, and the advantage that his background gives him is that, like many of his students, he started at the 3.0 level rather than the 4.0 or 5.0 levels like many other pros. He enjoys teaching players from non-racket-sport backgrounds like himself. And he is still an effective teacher for those students who want to learn classic shots.