What are the rules of pickleball singles and how do you play? Learn the best ways to transition from doubles pickleball to singles, the most important shots in the game, and how to master the art of pickleball singles.
The most important shot in pickleball singles
The most important shot in singles for lower-level to intermediate pickleball players is the serve, and the most important shot for intermediate to advanced players is the return of serve.
Your pickleball singles serve
To win more singles pickleball games, a good tip is to serve deep and very aggressively. You should miss at least one or two serves during every singles pickleball game, because that's how aggressively you want to serve.
The pickleball singles return of serve
Much like the serve, the return of serve in singles pickleball is important. When you return in doubles, you're running forward immediately almost every time. But there in singles, many times you will actually want to return and then stay back.
So when should you stay back and when should you advance to the net?
A good rule of thumb is that if you can make contact with your return as you’re moving or running forward, you can move up to the net on that shot. But if you’re returning deeper off you’re back foot and are not able to advance forward as you’re hitting your return, you should stay back and wait for a better ball to advance.
Just like in doubles pickleball, it plays to your advantage in singles (especially if you have some length and speed) to get to the kitchen line, because it's going to put the most pressure on your opponent.
How to hit a good passing shot
The next part of becoming an effective singles player is learning how to hit a good passing shot. What makes a good passing shot is not necessarily a ball that's super hard, but a ball that has downward spin or trajectory: It gets down over the net quickly, it's at an angle, and it's away from your opponent.
In order to hit this shot, you will want to make contact out front and get low to see the bottom half of the ball and hit an aggressive roll. The goal is not speed, the goal is more of an aggressive spin on that roll.
Pickleball singles game scenarios: How to create patterns
To create a pattern in singles pickleball, it’s important to ask yourself questions after every point. After you serve the ball, you should pick a spot and pay attention to the results. For instance, if you usually like to serve to their backhand, you should pay attention to 1. where they returned the ball and 2. how strong it was. You should then make adjustments accordingly.
If you received the type of return that you wanted, you should stick with the backhand and then build on that pattern.
To see the patterns drill in action, watch the video above.