From the common eye, pickleball might seem like a silly sport, but soon you’ll find yourself watching live PPA tours and tutorial videos for the newest serve (bye spin serve).
Your pickleball playing foundation consists of the basics:
- getting your serve over
- being quick at the kitchen
- not yelling at your partner for taking your ball
If you have these basics down, it’s time to elevate your game. Here are 5 specific moves to add to your pickleball arsenal:
- learn how to consistently third shot drop
- hit service returns within 1’ of the baseline
- get comfortable in the middle court
- confidently be able to reset the point
- hit a defensive lob
learn how to consistently third shot drop
Like anything in life, practice is the key element to a successful pickleball game. The third shot drop should drop in the kitchen, so that your opponent has to work pretty hard to return the ball well. The perfect third shot drop is hit from the baseline, and takes a lot of precision to get the pickleball to drop short enough into the kitchen.
The beauty of a third shot drop is that if your speedy opponent gets the ball back over the net, it’s common that the shot pop’s up too high, giving you the perfect opportunity for an overhead smash.
This is a skill that takes practice, and a little bit of luck, but is crucial to have in your pickleball shot arsenal. Keep practicing and don’t feel discouraged if your shots aren’t landing where you want, you’ll get there!
hit service returns within 1’ of the baseline
Very specific, but true. Next time you’re out drilling see how close you can get to the baseline with your service return. Since your opponent needs the ball to bounce before they can hit it back, pushing them deep puts them in an awkward position, and you are controlling the point.
get comfortable in the middle court
Ben Johns, professional pickleball player, discusses the main difference between a 4.5 and a 5.0 pickleball player is that they’re “typically not as good at the midcourt, '' said Johns to his Instagram followers, “They all understand it and what they should do.”
Transitioning is a major element of pickleball, and sometimes a shot might come at you mid-transition, midcourt. Even if you’re not aiming for the 2023 pro pickleball circuit, it can still be a great tool to utilize a common weakness, and become comfortable in mid court. Specifically hitting a drop shot from mid court is unexpected and a power move if you are consistent.
confidently be able to reset the point
Specifically learn how to hit drop shots off of a hard overhead hit, to reset the shot and slow the point down.
As pickleball grows in popularity, casual and professional players are getting better, which means the shots are coming harder with more precision. It’s common to return a hard shot as a pop up, because the ball is coming too fast. This will generally result in playing defense the rest of the point, which can be fun but tiring, and the odds of getting the point are low.
Having quick hands comes with practice, but a huge skill that will set you apart at open play or a tournament is slowing down the point. If an overhead shot comes wailing at you, practicing control and nailing a third shot drop into your opponents kitchen will 100% elevate your game.
Again, slow the point down, slow the point down, and slow the point down!
hit a defensive lob
Lobs have been a controversial move in pickleball, but it’s part of the game! Welcome to lob city, where pickleball karen's are not thrilled about looking into the sun.
Lobs are high shots that land in the back of your opponents, forcing them to run back away from the kitchen and scramble to return the tricky lob. Lobs take practice, but can be risky if the conditions are windy, because there’s less accuracy and control with your shot.
If successful while playing doubles, the lob will confuse your opponents and force the two players to communicate and often the return isn’t a hard-hitter.
Watch this insane point from the recent PPA tour, showing player Spencer Smith pull off a new move: a tweener defensive lob.
Looking to vacation in San Diego soon, and need the best places to play pickleball? Check out our blog “top 5 places to play pickleball in san diego.”