If you want to win more pickleball games, one of the most important things you can realize is that it's less about learning how to hit fancy shots and more about eliminating common mistakes on the pickleball court. Here are five mistakes beginner pickleball players often make — and how to fix them — so that you win more pickleball games.
Mistake #1: Being too careful with your serve
Many beginner pickleball players will serve the ball and just try to get the ball in because they don't want to make a mistake. What you should do instead is actually go for your serve and try to get it into the back third of the court. When you don’t try to be careful for every serve, you will create a much easier opportunity for you to have a good third ball because your return is going to be a lot less damaging.
When you go for your serve, you will make more mistakes, but you should prefer to miss a few shots rather than just try to get your serve in. The return on investment is going to far outweigh just getting the ball in.
Mistake #2: Speeding up every ball
Another mistake that many beginner pickleball players make happens at the kitchen line: They think they should be speeding up any and every ball. The problem with hitting a speed-up on every ball is, at some point, you’re going to end up speeding up or attacking a ball that you shouldn't and you will get a hard return.
The pickleball Traffic Light System will help you decide which balls to speed up and which balls you should dink back. Think of three different zones:
- Red zone (from your hip down): Do not speed up.
- Yellow zone (hip level): Speed up with caution.
- Green zone (above your hip): Go ahead and speed up the ball.
Restraining yourself from hitting a lot of speed ups is going to save you points. The traffic light system will help you decide which ball to speed up and which ball to just dink back.
Mistake #3: Thinking the pickleball court is 50/50
Another mistake that a lot of beginner pickleball players make is thinking that the pickleball court is 50/50 — meaning “I play my half of the court and my partner plays half the court.”
However, you're not just responsible for your half, and your partner is not just responsible for their half. You should be sliding side-to-side, depending on where the ball is when it's on the other side of the net. For example, if a ball gets pushed out wide, your partner may slide to cover that line and you would cover the middle.
This is going to eliminate places where your opponents can be offensive, and it's going to force them into the most difficult shot on the court (which is crosscourt). If they go crosscourt, you can then lean in and be offensive. You should continue sliding and being active with your feet.
Mistake #4: Being unprepared for a speed-up
Another mistake beginner pickleball players make at the kitchen line is not being ready for a speed-up. A simple trick to always be prepared for a fast ball is to keep your paddle up on your follow-through and make sure that your paddle ends up somewhere around chest level.
Even if you're in a dinking rally, you should always have the mentality that a fast ball is going to come. That way you're mentally prepared that something fast is going to come at you and you're pleasantly surprised when it's just a dink. But if you're only expecting a dink then when a speed-up comes, you're often caught off guard.
Mistake #5: Not knowing which shot to hit
Another mistake that players make is not knowing which shot to hit in relation to where they’re standing on the pickleball court.
The further back you are, the more you can let the ball go, and really go for your shot. The closer you get to the net, the shorter you should be with your shot. You have to be a lot more defensive with your shot, and it takes a lot more spin to keep the ball in from the net than it does from the baseline. You can't add as much power as you can from the baseline or else that ball's going to sail out of bounds.
Just keep it a rule of thumb that the closer you get to the net, the more you want to shorten up your backswing, use a little bit more spin and a little less power.
Bonus tip: Always go for higher percentage shots
Understanding the success rate for shots is important to think about when you're hitting putaways on the pickleball court. For example, when your opponents are in a vulnerable position and you're getting overheads at the kitchen line, a mistake players make is hitting the craziest angle they want to go for the line and that ends up with some unforced errors.
So when you're getting really good overheads — especially if you're under the 5.0 level — it's important to go for the higher percentage shot.
If you have an 80 percent success rate in hitting a shot, that's a good one to go for. But if you’re going for a line or a crazy angle, you could be putting your team at a massive disadvantage.