With these strong pickleball tips, you can take your game to the next level. They’re as realistic as possible, so you can see a quick and significant change after implementing them.
The most advantageous position on the court in pickleball is right at the kitchen line. It puts pressure on your enemies while also allowing for more shot angles. You want to get to the kitchen as soon as possible, but there’s a catch: you need to do it quickly and safely. We’ve all made the mistake of running up to the kitchen only to be smacked in the face by a pickleball. If you go on, keep an eye on where the ball is going and where your enemies are. Stop going forward and prepare to return your opponent’s shot if you see them about to reach the while moving towards the kitchen. It’s much easier to return a shot like this than it is to try to position a shot accurately while running. After returning the ball, keep going forward quickly.
Simply getting them in is one of the simplest and most effective ways to boost your serve. It’s brilliant to hit an ace with a screaming baseline power serve or a tricky spin serve. It’s not a winning strategy, though, if you’re hitting half of your serves into the best pickleball net or out of bounds as a result. If you miss your serve, you’re basically giving up the chance to score points. By playing smarter and being a reliable server, you will defeat players who are more talented than you. Serve first and let your opponents make the errors. On the serve, your target is not to win the point. Your aim should be to apply just enough pressure to your opponent to prevent them from getting an easy return shot. To challenge your opponent, try placing the ball deep in the court or hitting their backhand – just do it in a controlled manner and hold the ball in play. It isn’t difficult.
If you’ve played pickleball for a while, you’ve probably heard of the ‘third shot drop.’ Although it isn’t your only choice, the third shot drop is one of the most important shots in pickleball and should be in the arsenal of any serious player. Although the third shot drop gets a lot of coverage – and rightly so – a drop shot can be made at any point during a game. If you ever find yourself out of place and need to ‘reset’ the point to get back into position, this is a great choice. Just be ready to eat a few smashes while practicing your drop shot. This is one of the most difficult shots in pickleball to master, and it takes time to master. Keep your sights on the prize and don’t give up – once you have it down, it pays off big time.
This is the inverse of the previous suggestion. Since the best court position is at the kitchen line, you can try to hold your opponents at the baseline. Keeping your rivals at a disadvantage when you’re at the kitchen line is a bad idea. They have a much larger court to cover and the daunting job of hitting a delicately positioned drop shot in the kitchen to buy time to advance.
If either or both of your rivals are unable to reach the kitchen line, position the ball at their feet to hold them down. Returning a ball at your feet is one of the most difficult shots to return, and you’ll almost certainly force them to make a mistake.
