How do you quench the firepower of an opposing team with two bangers?
That was one of the many questions Zane Navratil answered in this week’s PicklePod. And his answer might surprise you: You don’t.
Beating bangers begins with a mentality shift; then you need to back it up with your positioning and your paddle. Zane explains…
✅ "People think you need to slow down a banger in order to get them to stop banging,” says Zane. It’s a natural instinct; they’re so aggressively on offense, so you should focus on defense, right? Nope. Your mentality should really be the opposite.
✅ If you continuously reset against a banger — that is, just blocking the ball back every time they drive — it shows them you're not a threat. Worse still, it keeps giving them attackable balls that are bouncing at waist-level. You need to break this cycle.
✅ Instead, it’s better to fight power with power from the very beginning of the match. Don’t reset their drives, punch them back with force. Or, slide step and hit a drive right back. You know what’s coming, after all, so get your paddle in front of your body and get ready to attack rather than defend.
✅ Mentally, this puts a team of bangers in a pretzel. They want to sit at the baseline and swing their hearts out. If you counter with pace, they’ll learn quickly that this isn’t going to be that type of game. You’ve tipped the scales to your advantage.
✅ Better yet, you’re not giving them meatballs anymore. You’re punching the ball hard back at their feet — and a banger simply can’t bang a ball that’s bouncing down at their ankles.
