If opponents continually attack your dinks, it is usually not because they are overly aggressive — you are likely hitting attackable balls. Adjust these five common dinking mistakes to regain control of the kitchen line.
1. Lower Your Bounce Height
High-bouncing dinks leave you compromised and vulnerable.
- Relax your grip: Maintain a 3 or 4 out of 10 grip strength. A "death grip" transfers too much energy to the ball, causing it to bounce high.
- Control the follow-through: Avoid finishing straight up toward the sky. Keep the upward paddle path modest.
2. Stop Hitting Flat Trajectories
Flat dinks sit at net level, making them easy targets for opponents to attack out of the air.
- Add arc: Use a low-to-high stroke to force the ball to arc and dip.
- Adjust paddle angles: Open the paddle face on backhand slices to add backspin and reduce depth. For topspin rolls, keep a loose grip and brush low-to-high.
3. Adjust Your Contact Point
Poor contact point ruins your balance and forces bad paddle angles.
- Avoid reaching behind: Hitting behind your body puts weight on your heels and tilts the paddle face upward. Hinge at the hips and keep weight on the balls of your feet.
- Stop short-hopping: Hitting right off the bounce requires an open paddle face that pops the ball up. Wait to hit the ball at its apex — the highest point of the bounce before it falls.
4. Vary Your Shot Placement
Dinking continuously to the exact same spot makes you predictable and gives opponents time to set up attacks.
- Mix up targets: Alternate shots between your opponent’s outside foot, inside foot, and the middle.
- Create movement: Keeping opponents moving makes it harder for them to attack even if you accidentally leave a dink a bit high.
5. Avoid Overreaching Out of the Air
Taking balls out of the air when overextended leaves you out of position to defend a counter-attack.
- Dink with intent: Only take air dinks if doing so gives you an offensive advantage or takes away your opponent's time.
- Keep air dinks shallow: Ensure any air dink lands in the opponent's kitchen so they cannot volley it right back at you.