Everybody loves ripping a powerful serve at their opponents. It's your chance to start the point and dictate the pace.
Generating power in pickleball is all about managing space — specifically, the space between you and the ball. Ideally, you want the ball to be at arm’s length to maximize your power.
The decision to hit the ball out of the air vs off the bounce is a core tenant of pickleball. Forcing the opponent to make the wrong decision is one of the quickest ways to win a point.
We covered the three states of pickleball in our last blog post. Now, let's go over how to react in these scenarios.
Knowing who controls the point dictates how you should prepare for your next shot. A transition from defense to offense can happen in a split second. Below are the three states of pickleball.
Here are the examples to identify if you’re on offense, defense, or in a neutral state.
So here’s the thing. Even the most experienced pickleballers forget the score. I think we’ve all experienced a fun game turn contentious:
“No no, you’re on the 2".
“We got one. It’s 6-4, not 6-3”
It happens to all of us, so here are a couple of tips to prevent you from seeming like a newbie on the court
Height is the most important factor in determining if a ball is attackable. That means both the height out of the air and off of the bounce.
Just because a ball lands in the kitchen doesn't mean it's unattackable. Just ask Morgan Evans — he outlines how to attack off the bounce in a new video.
The sport of pickleball has a range of skill levels, typically broken down by pickleball ratings from about 3.0 to 6.0+. The skills and strategies to be successful at each level generally differ. In other words, what works at the 3.0 level may not work at the professional levels. However, there are some pickleball strategies that transcend ratings.
Stop poaching this ball from your partner.
You're both trying to move towards the kitchen and you're a step ahead. The next ball is headed directly for your inside foot.
You just crushed a serve. The return is on its way back. Time to decide: drop or drive.
If you're still thinking about it, it might be too late. For a drive, you want to meet the ball early. Catch it on its way up.
When a lob goes up, all hell breaks loose. Partners forget how to communicate, people trip over their own feet, and somebody always steps in the kitchen while hitting an overhead.
Let's go over some of the basics of the lob culture so you can keep a level head next time the ball hits the sky.
More and more pros and advanced-level players now add lead to the edges of their paddle to add weight or change the weight distribution. Adding weight adds power to your game. Force = mass x acceleration. More mass, more force. When it comes to weight distribution, the effects vary based on where the weight is placed.
The ATP is one of the most beautiful shots in pickleball. It's hard to find one more beautiful than a match-ender to advance to the gold medal.
Hand speed is a luxury in the game of pickleball. With fast hands, you can be more aggressive and play with more margin for error.
"The future of the game is in hand speed.”
A common piece of advice in pickleball is to slice your return, pushing the ball deep into the court and keeping the bounce low.
What you don't hear is what to do if you're the team receiving that ball.
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