Third Shot Drop Blog

Here at The Dink, we know a lot about pickleball strategy and technique. We live this sport, after all—studying it, watching it, and playing it ourselves.

Every new pickleball player wants to improve quickly, but many skip the fundamentals and jump straight to advanced shots. According to Senior Pro Gina Cilento, building the right foundation is still the fastest way to become a better player.

It’s fun, rewarding, and productive to focus on how we can all win more pickleball games. But we often overlook the heart of the problem: why we’re losing to begin with.

We’ve harped on this before. Warned you about adapting or being left in the dust. And yet, we’re still seeing plenty of amateur players stubbornly go about their business without a reliable two-handed backhand.

Kitchen defense is often talked about in absolute terms: you want to be a brick wall up there, defending the line like your life depends on it. 

Topspin gets treated like an advanced skill, but it's really just a small swing adjustment with a big payoff—a dipping ball is harder to attack and easier to keep in bounds than a flat one.

The concept of poaching in pickleball gets a bad rap. Too often, it implies someone over-playing their position, being too aggressive, or just generally acting like a ball-hog. And nobody likes a ball-hog.

What happens when a really good pickleball player gets on the court with a great one?

From the time you just start playing to the most competitive courts at your local facility, there’s one piece of advice put on repeat: get the ball down at your opponents’ feet every chance you get.

There’s nothing wrong with hitting a comfortable and safe third shot push or shovel drop. But sometimes you need to apply a little extra pressure, right? 

When rising pro Cam Luhring found himself facing Eric Oncins and Dylan Frazier at a recent PPA event in Sacramento, he knew he had an uphill battle to stay in the match and be competitive.

Play pickleball long enough and you'll start to see certain patterns emerge — both in your own game and that of your opponents. The sooner you recognize winning patterns and implement them into every point you play, the sooner you'll start to see that DUPR creep up. Here are three to start with.

The moment your opponents see you lean back or look up, they're already retreating.

When your fourth player bails on pickleball night, most amateurs panic.

We’re going to let you in on a little secret: even the best pros in the world don’t hit perfect drops 100% of the time.

There’s a common misconception around practicing patience at the kitchen line. Most people think it means staying the course until your opponent makes a mistake. It doesn’t. That philosophy is passive. True patience in the midst of a dink rally is anything but.