The difference between 5.0 and pro pickleball players are usually small decisions made in the moment, and especially WHEN to hit WHAT shots. Pickleball coaches Barrett and Danea Bass will teach you some small decisions you can practice so that you will be ready during your next pickleball game, including which shots to use, rules to follow (and which ones to avoid), and how to train yourself to make the right decisions in the moment.
3rd shot drop or drive?
What shot should you hit on your third shot: a drop or a drive? If the return is deep and hard, a drive is recommended because it's very hard to hit a drop shot off a ball that has a lot of pace and is pushing you back. Another great time to drive the ball is if you get a return that someone has sliced, because they're putting backspin on that ball — which means that ball will likely dip down really easily and you can apply topspin to it.
If the return is a little bit slower and you can contact that ball as it arcs down, a drop is a good option for your third shot. This ball will be an easier ball to manipulate and hit a good third shot drop.
The 2-drive rule
When deciding how to hit the ball in pickleball, always keep the two-drive rule in mind. Many players will drive the ball, get a response somewhere in the transition zone, and they'll hit another drive — so, two drives back-to-back.
You want to avoid hitting two drives back-to-back in the same point. When you drive the ball, your goal is to get an easier response so that you can hit an easier drop, which will help you win more points.
You can drive the ball multiple times in a rally, but try not to ever do it two times in a row.
Decision making at the kitchen line
Decision making at the kitchen line is important, especially when thinking about whether to speed a ball up. Whether a ball is off the bounce or in the air, how do you know which ball to speed up and which ball to stay patient on?
First, you will want to understand dead dinks, a ball that doesn't have a lot of pace or a lot of spin. There are two types of dead dinks:
- One that is more shallow:
- These are actually good shots, because there's not a lot that your opponent can do with the ball when it's shallow.
- Even if this ball doesn't have action or doesn't have spin, the more shallow it is the harder time your opponent will have in speeding the ball up.
- A dink that is deeper:
- This ball is easier to speed up because you have more margin over the net.
A drill you can work on to practice decision making at the kitchen line:
- Have your partner give you some dinks that are nice and shallow.
- These balls won't have much spin on them unless they bounce really high, so it will be difficult to speed those balls up.
- If you get one that bounces really high in this area, then you can give it a little miniature speed-up.
- If your partner is giving you dead dinks that are a little deeper into the kitchen and that bounce a little higher, you can do much more with that ball.
- The deeper the ball is in the kitchen, the more pressure you should be putting with your dink.
Staying balanced during a speed-up
When you speed up a ball, it's important that you are equally balanced on your feet.
If you get a dink that pulls you wide and you’re off balance, it becomes very difficult to speed up the ball. You run the risk of “maybe it's a good speed up” but now your momentum could take you off the court or out of position.
It's really important when you're making the decision to speed up the ball that you're completely balanced and you're ready for that next ball, because when you play at the higher level it's not your speed up that's the winner — it's typically the ball that comes after that.
Reading your pickleball opponent
When playing pickleball, one of the most important things you can do is to read your opponents. You should consider speeding up the ball if: you see your opponent with their paddles down, their bodies turned, or pulled out wide (which will likely open up a big position or gap on the court).
A great time to speed the ball up is if you see your opponents holding their paddle down, which is a great opportunity to hit them in their chicken wing spot.
It's important when you do this that you're ready for a response, because sometimes people look like they're not ready and they actually are.
Avoid the pickleball drop volley
Another great tip to affect your decision making is that you should always try to avoid the drop volley. This can look like a fancy shot, but it might work one out of 10 times, which is not a great percentage.
It's also not that smart because a lot of times you're just inviting the other team into the kitchen line, which is the best place on the court.
Utilize the lob on offense
When making decisions on the pickleball court, don't forget about the lob — and specifically lobbing on offense.
The reason the lob is especially important on offense is because there is a risk element to the lob: when you lob on offense you don't have the punishment of the opposite team getting a point, and when you lob on defense and you're behind, you're running the risk of losing a point on it. So when you lob, try to do it when you're on offense.