If a ball comes to you above net height it calls for an attack. However, not all attacks are built the same.
As Coach Mark Price says: “Often beginners and intermediate players go for TOO MUCH - TOO SOON. Misreading the ball trajectory or attacking a ball while still out of reach are common errors at lower levels.”
As more pickleball players come from tennis, serves are getting faster and more powerful. Naturally, this means if you want to compete, players need to develop a more effective return of serve.
According to Collin Shick, a top 20 Men's Singles player on the PPA Tour, there are three things to focus on if you want a great return of serve.
A semi-Western grip is also known as a pancake or frying pan grip. You can accomplish this by laying your paddle flat on the ground and picking it straight up, leaving the paddle face downward. Your index knuckle should be over the fourth bevel.
Grab a pickleball and head to the kitchen line. Your mission is simple: throw the ball so that it bounces at the opposing kitchen line. This drill might sound straightforward, but it's a great way to mimic the motion needed for a powerful overhead smash.
When teams are close in skill level, who wins and who loses can come down to which team plays more high-percentage shots or puts itself in better situations more often. When you’re playing a team that’s equal or better than you, you can win more often by forcing your opponents to repeatedly hit the more difficult shot throughout the match.
What’s the ideal paddle-ready position? Take a moment. Do you know? Maybe you said, “Slightly backhand” or “Paddle straight up and down.” While these are great answers when standing neutral, the ideal ready position depends on where the ball is on the court.
In a recent podcast episode, James Ignatowich discusses his experience playing on the right side with Ben Johns at PPA Sacramento.
He says he learned a lot about playing that side – typically, he plays on the left in doubles – including how challenging it is for a right-side player to be aggressive on a ball that bounces in front of their inside (left) foot.
Many pickleball players start their matches slowly, whether it’s due to nerves, jitters, or a lack of a proper warmup. This slow start leads to them being out of position, making poor drops and allowing their opponents to start with a seemingly insurmountable lead.
A massive differentiator between 4.0s and 5.0+ players is how they play through the transition zone. Lower-level players tend to be aggressive when they shouldn’t, while higher-level players understand to look for specific tells to know they have the green light to attack.
Your left foot is one of your biggest vulnerabilities on the court. A ball down there is impossible to attack and easy to make a mistake with. If you watch the pro game you will see dink after dink hit to the left foot of the right-sided player. It is one of the safer and more effective spots to hit a dink.
In tennis, an overhead from the frontcourt is a point-ender. In pickleball, not so much. It may take 5, 6, 7 overheads to win a point. Sometimes that’s not even enough, and you’re left with a ball in the net and a really sore shoulder.
Tennis players have an inherent advantage when it comes to playing pickleball for the first time. But not every racquet skill is applicable on the short court.
The biggest key when returning a serve is to keep it deep. Keep the other team back to maintain your positional advantage.
1. One of the most popular spots on the court to send the return is down the middle. Not exactly on the ‘T’, however, it’s a good idea to aim just to the left of the ‘T’, (assuming both opponents are right-handed).
One of the biggest gaps in strategy and technique between 4.0- and 5.0-level players is that 5.0s can execute strong fourth (and sixth) shots that keep their opponents back off the kitchen line.
We all have blind spots in our games and sometimes make mistakes we don’t even know we’re making. That’s why you subscribe to The Dink.
Here are five huge mistakes you’re making on the courts without even knowing it:
The pro pickleball game is becoming faster and faster, and third-shot drops are becoming less common. On the PicklePod, pro Zane Navratil admitted that he drops the ball about “zero percent” of the time.
Instead, he focuses on hybrid drop/drives (about 40 percent of the time) and drives (about 60 percent of the time).
