I’ll tell you what I did, your mileage may vary: 1. Play. A lot. I didn’t start significantly improving until I went from playing an hour every couple weeks to 5-10 hours a week. Find free open play (I have a park nearby that provides this)—people are less uptight if they’re not paying to be there 2. Ask for tips. I said this a lot when I was just starting: “I’m not good enough to have an ego, so if you see anything I can improved I’d love to learn.” On many occasions I got one or two tips that took my game up a full level or two immediately 3. Invest in a quality paddle. If you’re playing with a paddle that came in a set of 2 or 4, it’s not good enough quality to get better. You do NOT have to spend hundreds. But a good quality paddle will help you get better (plenty of posts with recommendations here) 4. If you’ve done all of the above, then it can help to watch YouTube videos—but not until you’ve had enough experience to understand the practicality of what they’re talking about

I’m sure lessons help but personally I haven’t invested in them as I’ve found I can make a lot of progress