If you are looking to advance as a 4.0+ pickleball player, these five pickleball shots will help you improve your skills to become an advanced pickleball player. Plus, learn some pickleball drills you can do with a partner to improve each of these skills.
Shot #1: Pickleball return of serve
Something 4.0+ pickleball players have in common is they all return the ball with PURPOSE.
The return of serve is one of the most underrated shots in pickleball because it can give your team an important advantage. Typically the third shot of the rally (how someone responds to your return of serve) is the most difficult shot to master. So the better your return of serve, the harder it is going to be for your opponent to get to the kitchen line.
But how do you master the return of serve and how do you return with purpose?
The first thing you can do is to find someone's backhand: Aim to the backhand side or aim away from your opponent’s paddle side. If they're returning the ball from this side of the court and they're right-handed, you should aim to their inside foot that makes them have to determine “do I run around this ball?” or “do I hit a backhand?”
The swing path of the return of serve is not a low-to-high motion like you might experience with a drive, it's more of a flat motion (because you will want a nice flat ball that's going to penetrate deep into the court). Make sure you practice a flat motion versus trying to hit topspin on the return of serve. You don't want the ball to dip over the net, you will want it to penetrate deeper.
Players who are 4.0 and below tend to have really poor footwork and stay flat-footed after they hit the shot. 4.0+ players will hit the shot as they're running and they'll make their way to the kitchen line.
Shot #2: Transitioning from the baseline to the kitchen
When transitioning from the baseline to the kitchen, many 4.0 players and below have a hard time moving and advancing to the kitchen because they either: 1. Don't have a split step and they're so out of control, or 2. Hit a good shot that they can advance on but they actually don't move forward.
Here are some tips that will help you get to the kitchen every single time:
- When you're at the baseline hitting your third or fifth shots, look at the body language of your opponents in order to read whether you should move forward or not. This has to do with your trajectory on the ball, and the goal is to move forward on any ball that your opponents have to hit up on.
- There are some balls that you think might be high, but your opponents don't take advantage of.
- If your opponents have their paddle tip down below the net, that's a green light for you to move forward. They are hitting up on that ball, which will allow you to come forward.
- If they have their paddle at net height or above, that's a yellow light (proceed with caution). You might be able to take a few steps in, but you should get ready to split step.
- If your opponent has their paddle up in an overhead position, you should consider that a red light. You will want to stay back and wait for another opportunity to move in.
- Many 4.0 and below players will get a third shot and continue running through the shot, out of control. What you should do instead is to incorporate having some control with a split step (a split step is stopping your momentum and being balanced on both feet). The minute that you see your opponent about to hit the ball, you should stop in a split step, so you can decide and adjust where to hit the next ball in the transition zone.
This drill will help you practice moving from the baseline to kitchen:
- Start at the baseline.
- Your partner should be opposite from you at the kitchen.
- Your partner will feed you a cooperative feed.
- You should try to hit a really aggressive drop shot.
- You're looking for your partner to hit a low to high motion, popping the ball up.
- At this point, you should run up to the net.
Shot #3: Hitting a reset while in transition
The next shot you need to master, if you want to move to 4.0+ pickleball level, is learning how to hit a reset and then transition.
It is important to learn how to close and crash on the ball, but there are going to be times when you have to stop and split step before your opponent hits the ball. Because of this, you will want to learn how to hit a reset, which is a ball that you're going to block into the kitchen. To do this, you will want to have an open paddle face and get low (a good player will try to put the ball at your feet, so you will want to be set low so you can let anything go out that is too high).
This drill will help you practice hitting a reset while you are in transition:
- Your partner will be at the kitchen line.
- Your partner will be working on tgeur speed-up, applying pressure off the bounce at your feet.
- You will be working on resetting or blocking the ball into the kitchen.
Shot #4: The 4th shot
Anytime your opponents are working their way into the kitchen, the main goal with your 4th shot is to keep your opponents back. The best spot to play is always the kitchen line, so the more you can keep your opponent back, the better chance you have to win.
A good way to keep your opponents back is to apply pressure by volleying the ball out of the air. If you wait for the ball to bounce, you are giving them an opportunity to work in. Taking away time from your opponents can be really advantageous.
You may not be able to volley every ball out of there, you might have to let some bounce — and that's okay. You can still let that ball bounce, take a step back, and still hit an aggressive top spin shot that will keep your opponent in the transition zone. Your biggest goal here is to make it as hard as possible for them to get to the kitchen line.
The work-up drill will help you practice your pickleball 4th shot:
- You will be at the kitchen (you are the one practicing your 4th shot).
- Your partner will be at the baseline.
- You will give your partner a cooperative feed, simulating a return.
- Your partner will try their best to work their way up.
- You should do your best to apply the most aggressive fourth shots that you can until they hit a really really good shot (forcing you to let them come move forward).
Shot #5: Attack from the kitchen line
Another skill to learn if you want to advance to a 4.0 or above player in pickleball is how to attack from the kitchen line (how to create offense).
If your partner gives you a dink that bounces a little deeper, you will want to speed-up off the bounce. If you’re taking balls out of the air, you can lean in and take some of these out of the air — but the key is to not try to hit a big shot. You’re not taking a big back swing.
A lot of players below 4.0 can pick the right ball, but they just hit it too hard. You should look for about a 60 percent speed-up because players that are 4.0 and above know that the speed-up itself often isn't the winner — it's just to create a pop-up to put away the next one.