Paddle Position and Movement to the KL

Dear Readers,

I'm a big proponent of the proper paddle position (PP) and have written about it frequently.  Let me extend some thoughts for PP when not at the kitchen line.

Let's think about the fifth shot.  The first shot is the serve, the service return is the second, third is by the serving side, the fourth is hit by the service returners, who should be at the net at that point.

In a game with good shots, the serving side should be moving into the transition area or at least want to.  The fifth shot is the first shot that the servers can volley and in most cases you would prefer to volley than let the ball bounce.   

Finally a good team will usually try to keep you deep in the court and not allow you to advance to the kitchen.

We've recognized that a good shot will be low, maybe going out, and usually will be deep.  Where is our paddle at this time?  

A good player will be split stepped, stopped and have the paddle about knee level.  Low balls and foot shots can be fielded with the paddle in this position.  And, as an added bonus, any shot that is above the paddle and has not bounced, is going long.  A knee high paddle is a great rule of thumb for allowing out balls to, well, go out.

The closer to the net that you get, the higher your paddle should be, so gradually raise it up based on position.  When you get to the kitchen line, the paddle should be above the net and protecting your chest.

Pro tip: when you get to the kitchen line you are interested in two things, one is hit a good dink if that is best shot you have based on ball height, or two, you want to hit the ball down into the court, not trying for the base line, but more the foot line of the opponents.  You have to be ready to hit down on a high ball from both forehand and backhand positions.  The usual error I see is a scooping motion with the paddle handle pointing to the body and an upward stroke on the ball.  That results in a pop up and usually the end of the point.  The paddle handle should usually be parallel to your body and to the net.  Usually setting up for a backhand shot is a good ready position for net play.

Below is a link to a good video talking about the paddle positions and few other things.  It's highly recommended.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oobjlzCSY0c

Hitting the Ball Badly

 I was playing today and an opponent remarked about how they mishit a particular shot.  I think I said that all I hit are mishits and then I lapsed into deep thought.

In a previous post I said that about 40% of sitter shots over the net get missed.  I still think that's true, and I suspect that there are more 40% that don't get hit with the sweet spot of the paddle.  Might be 60% or so.  I would not be surprised.

The one complaint I have about paddles is that the sweet spot is fairly small and any shot that is off towards an edge looses a lot of power.  I think that most dinks and touch type shots are short due to mishits.

So what's the best way to avoid this problem?  Well, adding some lead to the edges of your paddle will help a bit, but fundamentally we are just missing the ball.  There are few common reasons for that...

• Hitting a ball while running
• Stretching for a shot
• Bad bounces or shots with a lot of spin

And that is probably about it.  Let's chat about how to limit errors.

Hitting a ball on the run is often due to not stopping early enough.  If you have split stepped and are ready to go sideways or forward, you are well placed to get to the next shot and hit it.  Often not stopping early will cause to try to reverse direction and deal with your momentum.  It's much easier to move sideways from a stopped ready position than when running in the wrong direction.  I think the fear to doing this is that you won't get to a ball if you stop.  I don't think that is a valid fear.  I think you'll be much less rushed after stopping.  So we want to stop, move to the shot, stop again and then hit while stationary.

Stretching for a shot is due to being at the wrong place when it's ball hitting time.  And this certainly a problem that the above point should address at least partially.  I contend that moving early and stopping early and then reacting to the shot is a very efficient way to play.  Now, on occasion you have to stretch.  Stretching to your sideline is unavoidable on occasion.  Pro tip: don't stretch on a middle shot, let your partner take it.  A good partner will also be ready to hit the middle shot, so take the ones you easily can, but let the others go to partner.  

In a perfect world you will hit all balls with your elbows fairly close to your side, also known as "your bubble."  This will give you the best chance to hit the ball in the middle of the paddle face.  Also, it's easy to think you have to hit the ball hard and/or use a long swing.  This is false and with a little swing you should be able to hit the ball beyond the baseline.  

Timing: The ball weighs less than an ounce, so it slows quickly, and what can seem like a fast shot, will be at a more modest speed when it gets to you.  Don't panic.  I see more swings that are too early in hitting the ball than too late.  When you are warming up pay attention to ball speed, hit them with short swings and practice a "late" hit.  You've got more time than you think.

The third issue is bad bounces.  Some of those are due to the court surface and that's not an easily solved problem.  Some are due to the spin that the opponent puts on the ball.  

There are three types of spin, top, cut, and side spin.  I've not written much about spin, but you have to be aware of what your opponent is doing.  A top spin shot will jump up a bit, the sidespin shot will kick sideways, and the cut spin shot will not bounce as high.  You need to compensate for all of that.  You want to anticipate the bounce off of all shots.  And even if you hit the ball properly, the required trajectory is affected by top and cut spin.  

You need to hit a cut shot higher and a top spin shot lower as the spin is going to react to the paddle face.  I'll write another post about spin returns, but you need to get under a cut shot and on top of a top spin shot.  Watching the spin is a very important part of becoming an advanced player.  Watch your opponent's paddle movement to see the spin.  If they swing low to high, then it's top spin.  High to low, aka a chop swing, then you will get cut spin.

So I think that should take care of all the mishits!  All these changes require a lot of work to incorporate them into how you play.  Knowing what you want to do is the easy part.  Drilling, practicing, or playing games while concentrating on doing a single new thing are approaches that will help.  

Pickleball Theory at the Monastery

It is Spring at the monastery and Po has been been playing a bit in the village down the hill.  There are reasonable players there, but they, like a beginning monk, strive to win points by brut force and not the power of the mind...

Po seeks out the Master as he is confused with play in the village.  The Master was in his room, working on a new manuscript, "Wrist Angles When Applied to Top Spin Dinks."  The Master expects to finish in a couple of years.

 "Master, I have noticed that hitting a shot from the kitchen, that the players in the village call a "sitter," is a shot fraught with peril.  Am I wrong about that?"

The Master looked up from his manuscript where his pen had been scratching along at a furious pace.  

"Eh, what is that, Po?"

"Master, the over head from the kitchen line seems to be more difficult than expected?"

"Ah, Po, it's nice that you have realized that.  All players go through the phase of hitting the ball too hard.  When they finally realize that and turn their attention to a more controlled game, they, like the Spring flower, will grow and blossom.  But they play and still hit over heads too hard.  Thus the final answer is that there is no great success to be had by over hitting any ball, including the so called "sitter," heh, heh."

"But Master, it is fun to hit the ball hard," said Po.

"Yes, Po, but the true satisfaction comes from hitting the correct shot every time.  You are starting to realize that hitting hard overheads is not always profitable."

"Why is it so hard, Master."

"There are several factors Po, as found in the nine volume set, "Play at the Kitchen Line," by Master Jo, blessed be his scholarship.  He has been dead these hundred years, still his knowledge proves to be true.  One difficulty is that a ball, even if it falls close to the net, will have a very vertical path.  Thus the timing is critical to hit the ball.  Too early and you will bruise the net, too late and you are over the baseline.  Secondly, the net itself and the angle to cross the net and stay in bounds is small and gets smaller the harder the ball is hit.  So we find the eager player, awash in emotions and seeing a point ending shot, blasts at the ball and fails.  The current numerology is that close to 40% of such shots will fail.  While that is still profitable in that we will score more points then will be lost, it's much better to choose a different shot."

"Do we then dink the ball back, Master?"

"While that would be more effective and win more points, there are better choices.  Why do we dink at all, Po?"

"Well, Master, dinks provide time to get into position and a good dink can be offensive..."

"Yes, good points, Po, but the end result of a dinking point is that at some point a ball will be popped up and thus we can hit it hard.  We don't dink when we can hit a ball hard.  Speed ups lead to points, Po.  However, like the errant overhead, all shots have their time and place.  A bad speed up or overhead is a major error.  Unless the shot is sure, a dink or push shot is a better choice.  And as I said before, the numbers suggest that a lesser skilled player should be very wary of attempting an overhead."

"So, Master, if the ball is in the position of an overhead, but we decide not to attempt it, what better shots are there?"

"The advanced shots are usually not taught until your tenth year, but since it has come up and scholarship is prized, I will suggest some alternatives.  If the ball is coming straight down and will bounce near the kitchen, then let it bounce.  At its apex, swing more sideways than vertically, hit the ball with an emphasis on taking advantage of your opponents' positions.  If they are covering the middle, then angle the shot to a sideline.  If they have spread out, then aim for the middle.  Note that in an angled path the ball must not be hit too hard.  The sideline looms, and above all we want to hit the ball in.  Our advantage is that we are at the net, and the opponents are not.  A shot that is gentle will prove quite effective."

The Master, continued.  "Of course, the spin on a ball, if for example the ball came off the edge of a paddle, can be quite surprising.  You must watch the spin on all shots, but these shots are frequently extreme examples.  The good player will get very close to the ball and expect a sideways kick.  Paddle ready, heh, heh.

"Also if the opponents are quite deep, then a simple dink will usually win the point.  If the dink is returned, your side is at the net and ready to take advantage of a weak return.  Note that hitting a very short shot on the run is very difficult and you should expect a weak return.  If they manage to actually hit a great shot, that's acceptable.  Remember that we are not hitting 40% of these shots out, so a player who walks the path of softness is well rewarded."

"As we stress in our teachings at monastery, a player who makes few mistakes is rarely beaten."

"You are wise Master and I will seek to walk the soft path," said Po.

"There is much to learn, Po.  Er, perhaps you could find some hot tea for this Master, the room grows cold."

"Of course, Master."

Your Partner Returns the Serve, You have Responsibilities Too!

 I've thought that going over the requirements of a player in a specific situation, might be worth talking about.  If you're new to the game, these are things you are expected to know in a more advanced game.  Some of this is obvious and some is not.  I wish I would have known about such items when I started out.  There is a summary at the end.

The most important position is probably the guy at the net when a point is started.  One should note that there is only one person at the net and there are things that can be done from that position and no other.

First, watch the serve as it comes to partner.  You are allowed and encouraged to call the serve out if it's out.  That allows partner to concentrate on just hitting a return.  Just turn your head for this task as you want to be facing the other side of the net real soon.

Second, your partner returns the serve and you might have to duck to let it go past.  You are now going to change your location on court based on where your partner's service return will land.  There are three cases here.  First is that partner returned down the middle.  This is an excellent choice by partner and is considered to be the classic return location.  In this case you will move very closely to the center T of the court.   The reasons for this will be discussed later.

If the service return goes straight across the net, let's assume to your right, for this explanation.  When the ball is in this corner, you should move even more to the center of court, perhaps getting a foot well to the right of the T.  Partner should cover the side line, so the middle needs additional coverage and you are expected to provide it.

Third case, the service return goes cross court.  In this case you must move to cover the sideline, with the service returner moving to cover the middle.

Those are the basic movements and note that in all cases that some movement is required.  It's rare that your ready position at the net will be perfect for the return.

Let me talk about the ready position.  As mentioned above you want to be able to watch the serve hit into the service area.  Also you usually will be moving towards the center of the court, so you might was well start several steps towards the center of the court.  Hanging out at the side line puts you out of position for most shots and will require more movement as the point develops.  Frequently the third shot will be well over the net.  Be prepared to hit this shot down into the court.  Also, if it's hit hard, high, or has a lot of under spin you want to duck and let it go out.  This happens a lot, please watch for it!

OK, now the point will develop quickly.  You are in position and your team has good coverage of the middle of the court.  Your partner will have joined you at the net after returning the serve -- do I need to mention that?  

Note that the sideline(s) might not be fully covered, but the middle might have coverage from both you and partner.  This is valid and what you want.  You and partner will be shifting side to side as the play goes on, with less coverage to the far cross court sideline.  This is very strong play as the out boundary provides its own protection to the cross court shot.  I'm not saying you won't be beat here, but the cross court shot is technically difficult and can't be hit very hard.  Note that some players can hit this shot and usually you will notice this behavior and you can adjust your play with that knowledge.  That is a discussion for a future post.  As for now, ignore it, and work on middle coverage.

There is one more thing to discuss and it's the most important one.  All middle shots (with the exception of the cross court scenario mentioned above) should be handled by the net guy.  The reasons for this are several.  Firstly he is already there and dancing on the kitchen line and has his paddle up and can easily cover the entire middle of the court even extending well into partner's side.  Secondly partner might not be all the way up to the net so aggressive coverage is a help to partner.  

The net guy must be ready to move into partner's side and thus good foot work is vital.  The big error to move a little bit, then stretch to hit a ball.  Frequently that will result in a miss hit.  Move the feet and get as close to the ball as you can.  I see this a lot and tell partner that I want him to hit this ball, but make sure he's in position to hit a good shot.  

A team really wants that net guy to hit the fourth shot.  This is another reason to avoid a cross court service return.  A center return or somewhat down the line makes it difficult for the third shot to be hit cross court.  That gets more shots to the middle, where the coverage is, by design, very aggressive and you will defend this shot from the net, while the opponents are still at the baseline -- it won't get any better than this and this is the essence of the game of pickleball, if you control the kitchen, you control the point.

Summary, as the initial "at the net guy":

• Watch for service errors
• Move towards the ball, usually move more middle
• Expect to take the fourth shot if it's near the middle
• Be ready to hit this shot down at someone's feet, i.e., paddle up
• Have your feet ready to move in front of partner if required

Why I Lose at Pickleball

This post was originally called, "Why you lose at PB," but I lost a couple of games on Monday in a row to the same team and I'll try not to be a hypocrite and talk about the problems with my game too.  But at the end as I still want to talk about problems with intermediate level games...

Why You Lose at PB

I played the other day at May Nissen with one of my regular partners.  She is very good and we play well together -- warning foreshadowing....

We played a three games against the same pair and they scored, 4, 5, and one points in the games.  

So what was their problem?  They hit the ball harder than we did and they hit some winners up the sideline, which we did not attempt.

They lacked a couple of skills.  Firstly, they were not as consistent and we scored almost all of our points on their errors.  They hit a lot of shots long, i.e., too hard, and they missed on the sidelines while trying to "win" the point.  And in trying to be aggressive, they hit many shots into the net even service returns and serves, which are the two shots where being well over the net is a really good idea.  Note that if you hit the ball too hard, sending it high above the net is not a successful strategy!

They were also not very good at covering the middle of the court.  Most of advanced play and pro level rallies, the middle area is the busy area.  Covering the middle requires that the defenders are not symmetrically placed on the court.  There must always be a bias towards the middle.  This is true of all shots from dinks, to the baseline.  If you and partner "split" the court, there will always be a seam between you.  This particularly true of the middle.  Having both paddles capable of servicing the middle seam is a great idea.  

Next, they were not very good at advancing to the kitchen line.  The KL is the most important characteristic of pickleball -- the two bounce rule was designed to make this happen.  You absolutely have to embrace a keen desire to be there.   The big error is not automatically following a service return with a run up to the kitchen line.  I see that hesitancy from a lot of players at May Nissen, even those who play at a reasonable level.  This is not optional.  I suspect that it feels scary and they feel much more confident that they can return a shot from deeper in the court.  The fallacy in this approach is that the shot they are comfortable hitting will be more difficult than the volley they would have had from the KL.

And that was about it.  Partner and I got all our serves in.  We didn't hit many shots out, we played a lot of balls to the middle.  Our shot selection was conservative, we kept the ball in play and were willing to rally and be patient. 

Teams that don't make many mistakes are incredibly hard to beat.  The opportunities for put away and winning shots are pretty rare, so relying on them as a means to score points, just doesn't work.  Consistency might be boring, but it's effective.

In the prior post about playing against better teams, I mentioned that thinking about why you lost is where the lesson and areas of improvement are found.  I still maintain that this is not a very difficult game and the number of areas that you have to have is small.  We have serves, volleys, dinks, and movement.  I'd add on to that short list, figuring out what your opponents like to do and then play for that -- for example some folks will only hit a cross court dink.

Why I lost at PB

So with a reasonable partner, I took on a good player whom I know from my days at Downs Park and a fairly new player.  It looked like he was mentoring her.  Initially I was in my play gently mode as I didn't want to beat up on the beginner.  As it turned out, the beginner could hit the ball very well.  She also hit everything flat and hard.  These are tough to defend as there is not a lot of extra room above the net for return shots.  

She hit it hard and flat and with that style, she hit a lot of out balls.  We needed to duck and we should have let more go than we did.  The game was very bangy and almost no dinking.  And they beat us I think, 11-5 or so for each of the two games.  

What partner and I didn't get right was that we needed to duck more, and dink more.  Both players had good hitting skills, and if you can't out hit them, then draw them in to a soft game.  We were not successful in doing that.  

Also my side made too many errors.  In a lot of points we had the net advantage and got shots that were high enough to put away.  But when the incoming shots are hard, you want to hit them softer yourself, as the paddle will generate power from the incoming shot.  So we needed to think more control and not power with those shots.  We didn't do a good job with that either.  

So summation of problems was, as usual, too many mistakes, not much power, not enough keeping the ball in play.  Trying to hit winners is a very hazardous business and requires great precision as the difference between and winner and an out or net ball are small.  The higher speed the incoming shot has, the smaller the angles for good return shots.  And finally, recognize and execute the general problem, which was to force the bangers into a dinking game.  

Playing with or Against Beginners

 I've written a whole bunch of posts about playing when the skill levels are different.  Basically, the better player(s) should dial down their play to just a smidge above the other players.  That provides some challenge and keeps the rallies longer.  The better player can work on placement and consistency and try to play error free as their own challenge.  This way everyone gets some challenge and fun out of the game.  As one of my partners said, "It's not about the score, it's about the rallies!"  She is correct.  Savor the good rallies.

What I have not written about is the case where there are two good players and they want to play together.  I've gotten push back a bit when I do this.  It kind of boils down to, "it's not even teams, or fair, etc."  And I will agree that it isn't fair, but depending on how the good partnership plays, this might be the best way to divide the skill set.  Allow me to explain my position.

I think that PB is a pretty simple game.  Once you can hit the ball reasonably well and stop hitting too hard, then the only thing you have to learn is where to move for the next shot.  That's it.  Sure you have to observe spins and soft shots and drop shots, but those are really not too difficult and a year or two will see you a very good player if you're interested in becoming one.

One of the beauties of PB is that anyone, even the very beginners can pull off a great shot on occasion.   Let's keep this in mind as we move to the next point...

If you trust me that the game is one of movement, then it soon becomes very important to know where your partner will be, what they are going to do, and as part of that, who will hit any particular shot.

If you develop a partnership with someone, you will gain this information.  At some point your team will operate as a well oiled machine.  Soon you can trust your partner to do the right thing.  Of course the play at most parks there is a lot of partnership shuffling and I would suggest that that is not a great policy.  I would encourage you to find someone who is at your level and play with them as exclusively as possible.  I will get back to this.

So, when the forces of evil and the grand karmic schemes break up my partnership, then chaos and injury can lurk nearby...

As I mentioned beginners don't understand where they need to be; when to advance, or stay back or retreat.  And they, if aggressive, will go after balls that belong to their partner.  So, I find that if I want to play well, then I am stretching for shots that partner should take, and I can become a pin cushion when partner hits pop up when they should have dinked, for example.  And I've taken partner's paddles to my hands on occasion.  Band aides have a place in my gear bag.  I'm getting old and the skin is thin and, well, I bruise and bleed easily.  I'd prefer to avoid all that.

So I really don't enjoy playing with beginner as a partner, but I'm happy to play at a lower level against them.

When I was a beginner and played at Downs there was no interest in playing at a lower level by the better players.  One specific player would simply put away every shot that came to him.  Well, pretty soon no one would hit him a ball and he couldn't really understand why.  Had he played back a shot that would have made more a longer and more interesting rally, he would have had a lot more action.  Out of this learning ground came the idea that better players should not play was well as they can, but play to match the game they are in.

Now, if you are interested in becoming a better player, then you will learn a lot more playing against a good player than playing with them.  You'll have to think about why you are not winning and what you might be doing wrong, but the instruction is there.  Most players are more than welcome to talk pickleball and asking a question in the middle of a rec game, I think is very appropriate.  I would welcome that, speaking for myself and I think the PB 101 teachers would be happy to talk.  There is usually some standing around between games, so don't be shy!  

(Maybe the next post should be, "Why you lose at pickleball."  That's been written in the blog over and over, but maybe a short summary would be useful.)

 

Third Shot Thoughts

I had an interesting question asked today and that was, "You and your partner are at the baseline and both opponents are at the kitchen, how do you drive the ball through them?"

It was stated but this is the third shot strategy, so every time you are serving, you are faced with this situation.  So, let us reason a bit together.  And take under advisement the idea to "drive it through them."

You've got three basic options, drive the ball, drop the ball, or lob.  The idea of lobs came up and regular readers with already know that I'm not a fan of lobs.  If they outlawed them, that would be fine with me.  I think they upset the nature of classical PB game and are aesthetically upsetting to me.  I know that there are players out there who don't mind and even, relish, the idea of lobbing.  Well, we shouldn't shun them and we would like to the adult on the court, but still something ought to be done.  Perhaps a snide, "Nice shot partner" would work.  However if I am honest, I don't mind my partner lobbing, but I do mind the opponents doing it.  It's a vast streak of weakness in my character and I'll apologize here and now.

So we don't lob...  So drive or drop?  Well, for a long time I've been a dropper.  If I don't drop, then I'll hit a softish shot with a lot of top spin as it will be below the net when it's returned and that is really the key to a lot of shot choices.  If the opponents have to lift the ball over the net rather than being able to hit the ball flat or downwards, I'm very happy.  And I'm happy in that I can advance towards the net.  The game is played at the net and until you are there you are at a serious disadvantage.

Now, life pro tip, as soon as you see that the ball will bounce or the opponents will have to hit the shot from a low position, you want (must) move aggressively to the kitchen line.  If they hit a pop up, you can usually end the point by hitting the ball at their feet.  If they manage to dink, usually their best choice, then you will be in a position to dink it back.  (And if they hit it in the net, you are well placed to offer sympathy.)  This is really important and beginners don't see it or know it or look for it.  But this is the crux of pickleball, hit a soft or low shot and then get into an aggressive position at the net.

And where do we aim this soft shot?  Even if both opponents are at the net and ready, a shot that lands in the middle is very effective.  If you only hit the ball to the middle, you will do very well.  I probably hit 90% of my shots to the middle.  Beginner and intermediate players are horrible at covering the middle.  And if they are both there, frequently there is confusion about who will return the shot.  Since most games change partners every game, those details are never discussed.  

One more option and that is to hit the third shot hard, then drop the fifth.  I'm fine with this strategy and you will see that very frequently in higher level games and at the pro level.  But they always follow the hard third with a soft fifth.

I'll close with thoughts on driving the ball.  When you start playing, it's easy and fun to hit the ball hard.  And it will work very well until you run across 4.0 level players or racquet ball players, i.e., folks who can handle a hard shot.  At that point, the drives without a soft game will not work and you'll lose like crazy.  The soft game is not needed early on, but it's vital if you keep playing.  And one more point, hitting ball hard at beginners is poor sportsmanship in my opinion.  We are playing to have a good time and when players are nervous about being hit or hurt, then the drive is not the way to play.  It's also been my experience that bangers have too much power and very little control, which makes it possible to really hurt someone.  So play appropriately to your opponents, thank you, thank you very much.

Service Returns

 I was talking to a long term PB friend and I asked him what area of the game he would like to improve the most.  He said, "Service returns."

Ah, an excellent choice...  I pay attention to how many times I err when returning and it may be a topic that I've not written about much, so allow me to explain my thoughts.  Maybe that will create a conversation or give you all something to think about.

First off, I like to get well behind the baseline.  This gives me some extra time to get into position and I will never have to back up to hit a return.  There is a disadvantage to this and that is that "clever" server will assume I can't get to a short serve.  The trick is to watch the serve closely and judge how hard it has been hit.  The sound of the strike is also a good indicator as to where the serve will land.

As soon as I've figured out the serve, direction and depth, then I'm moving.  I would like to stop before I hit the return, but that's not always possible.

If I can hit the return with my forehand, I will almost always hit it with top spin and into the middle of the court.  Deeper is better than shallower, but I'm not worried too much about a short return as I will always move to the kitchen line and stop and get my paddle up to return the third shot. 

The importance of getting to the kitchen line cannot be over exaggerated.  Being stopped with paddle up is very important too.  I'll digress away from our topic for a moment.  If I hit the service return to the middle of the court, then I will run towards the middle of the court.  Some of this depends on my partner, who should have already moved over to cover the center of the court.  If I return to my sideline, then I will advance directly towards the ball.  I want to be directly in front of my opponent.  That cuts down on the angle available to my opponent for the third shot.  My partner will cover more of the middle in this scenario.  

If I return cross court, my partner slides to their left and I will move to the middle of the court at the kitchen line.

Backhand returns...  I tend to hit backhands with some back spin, which causes the ball to float a bit and it's easier for me to hit a shot long with that kind of spin.  The avoid that, I will generally not hit as deep a shot with the backhand.  And like a lot of players my backhand is more awkward than my forehand.

And like the forehand, I'm happy to hit this shot to the middle of the court and then move up as described in the above paragraphs.

And that is about it.  I rarely hit cross court as I don't want to start an angle war with my opponents and I find that hitting almost all shots to the middle causes fewer misses on my part and a middle shot can be difficult even for good players.

Playing in an Unevenly Skilled Game

 I've talked about playing with players who have very different skill levels before.  I wanted to touch on this a bit more.

The May Nissen games are interesting.  I spent my formative years at the Downs before seeking more social contact and more fun.  MN is quite good in both those areas.  And in my opinion, the play is about what Downs was a few years back.  Maybe not quite at that level, but the differences between the beginners and advanced at MN is a lot closer than it was at the early days of Downs.  And everyone is getting better.

When I get the chance, I like to play with a regular partner.  And the last couple of times out to Muirwood and MN, I've done that.  Most of the time that means that my partner and I are more experienced than the people we play against.  My goal and usually that of my partner, is not to win every game, but to play at a good level and try not to make a lot of mistakes.  I will also frequently not put away pop ups and such as there is no real point to that, it ends the rally, which is bad, and is boring.  

If you remember the post about Mark, a 4.3 player, who was almost too tough to beat.  I realized that I could learn more by playing against him than playing with him.  To do that there are a couple of things you want to do.  Forget about winning, you probably can't in any case and there worrying about the score will get in the way of your ability to analyze what's going on during the points.

For example, Mark was very fast and would poach almost always.  Hitting a floating shot over the middle of the net towards his partner would not work.  OK, note to self, keep the ball low.  Maybe hit it down Mark's alley on occasion to keep him more honest.

If you play against me, I will try to control the kitchen line, always.  If you stay on the baseline after hitting a service return, I will always hit the ball to you and then I will move to the kitchen line.  That will require you to hit a vary good shot.  Anything marginal and I'll try to keep you pinned in the back.

After playing awhile we all find a style of play and a set of shots with which we are comfortable.  It's hard to stray from the style of play and shots.  Fine, we all do that.  But if we come up against a pair that are challenging and maybe play a different style, it's rarely good to try to outplay them by adopting their style.

A example of this from my play.  There are some pairs that hit the ball pretty hard and whether it goes in or not is kind of a secondary consideration.  It is not in my best interest to try to outhit them.  And it's been my experience that bangers are happy to hit hard balls, but struggle with soft shots.  Even soft serves can cause them problems.  Basically, you have to play your own game.  That can be scary, but it's been my experience that it's surprisingly effective.

A couple more thoughts on playing against bangers.  They hit a lot of out balls.  And since they hit the ball hard, if they don't skim the net, there is a good chance the ball is long.  It is very much a skill to duck a hard shot.  A proper ready position will allow you to drop your entire body.  And, most importantly, expect and look for these shots.  Most players will telegraph such a shot with a big windup; your first indication that a duck might be proper.

To improve your skill at spotting out balls, watch some of the games with the hitters.  You will see that a lot of balls that are going out are played.  Make your opponents earn their points, don't hit out balls.

Final word on ducking, a useful phrase my friend Betsy passed on to me...  "Shoulder high, let it fly!"  Or something like that.

Good ducking and happy play my friends.

Errors and Winners Part II

 Readers will remember the post from yesterday and described a ratio of about 4 errors to every put away.  Those data were found in a 4.0 men's doubles game.

I watched a women's pro doubles match.  The first game ended at 11-1, and what was surprising is that there were almost no outright winners hit.  There were 15 errors for every put away.

So although the pros get back almost everything they can get a paddle on, the big loss of points was net balls and balls gone long.

Keep the ball in play my friends!

Errors and Winners

 It is generally reported that PB is a game of errors.  And that the team with the lesser errors will win most games.

I wanted to try to confirm this so I watched and counted all the errors in a 4.0 men's double game to 15 that I found on YouTube.  There were 12 put aways and 45 errors.  In this match, points were about four times more likely to end in an error than in a put away.  My experience is that this is fairly representative of rec play at most levels.  Few of us are at the 4.0 level and that would mean more errors. 

These guys were not seniors, but they were not 20 either.  Many points were classical pickleball with some dinking.  Most of the shots were not very hard.  This was not a banger game.  There was some driving and blocking, but for the most part, it was drops and strategic play and dinking.

What can be learned from this?  It was a slower and more controlled game than one would see normally at the various parks around the local valleys, and still the big problem was the lack of control on shots.  Most of the errors were into the net with probably long shots the next most frequent error.  There were some wide shots, but not too many.

In this game, where there are four errors to any winning shot, the prudent player might strive to avoid errors.  There is little need to hit winners, if three quarters of the points are decided by errors.  

The lesson here is to get the ball back and in play.  Don't speed it up unless you are hitting a sitter.  If the shot is difficult at all, then hit a conservative shot or dink or something up the middle and give the opponents a chance to fail.

Where to Hit It

 I was teaching a Skills and Drills class last Friday.  This was my first time teaching in the evening and while it was quite hot to start with, the temperature dropped with the sun and grew comfortable.  The light wasn't the greatest towards the end, but I never needed to switch to non-sunglasses.  Always wear glasses!

One rule of thumb had occurred to me recently and I passed it on to the students I had.  

Here is the scenario, you've served the ball and it's been returned to you.  We are hitting the third shot.  My philosophy about the game lists the third shot as the most important in a point.  What direction the point takes is mainly controlled by where you will hit the third shot.

Case 1)  If the service returner does not come up to the kitchen line, then always return the ball to that person.  You want to keep them at the baseline.  You will hit the ball deep and automatically move to the kitchen line.  You must move up, this is such a strong strategic position for your side, that you cannot ignore it.  Hit and run up.

Case 2)  If the returner is still running up to the kitchen line, then hit the ball to him.  Aim for the feet.  The shot doesn't have to be hard.  The deeper the person is, the more you can advance towards the kitchen line.

Case 3) Both opponents are at the same depth on the court, be it up or deep, then hit the ball in the middle.  If they are at the kitchen line, then I like to drop the ball, but still target the middle of the court.  These shots are a problem for even experienced partnerships.

One more situation that comes up, it is fairly rare but it's important to get right.  You are going to hit a ball and you are deep in the court and your partner is at the kitchen line.  Both of your opponents are at the kitchen line.  You must hit the ball to the opponent in front of your partner.  You can cheat a bit towards the middle, but make sure the person in front of partner will field the shot.  Why is this?  You and your partner are split apart and there is a large vulnerable diagonal alley between both of you and you cannot cover it.  If your shot goes to the person in front of you, they will return the ball down this alley.  Hitting to the opponent in front of partner provides coverage for the alley.  If you hit a bad shot, partner might get whacked, but it gives your side a chance to get into the point.

So I tell my students this in the Skills class and student looks at me like I've got mismatched sneakers on and suggests that it's a really good bit of knowledge, but she had no confidence is controlling her shot to that degree.  Well, yes, maybe not now, but soon...

The astute reader will realize that I've never mentioned hitting the ball for a sideline.  There are some really good reasons for that.  It's a much more difficult shot.  Lot's of misses for each perfect down the line shot you hit.  Hitting for edges cross court is very difficult unless you are hitting at dinking speed.  I will hit for a sideline when I'm up at the net and I get a high ball and my opponent can't cover it.  I'll hit it very gently to keep it in.  PB is a game of mistakes and hitting the shots to the middle will eliminate an awful lot of errors.  Try it!

Getting Ready for the Next Shot

 Recently I played against a 4.3 player for about five games and here are some thoughts about that experience...

A couple of observations:

    He could be beaten - kind of depended on who his partner was

    He made mistakes; he hit it long, netted, rarely wide, didn't miss serves

    His super power was getting around the court - so basically movement and anticipation of play

    He didn't hit the ball extremely hard, but he was happy to drive third shots and go mano a mano with the player directly in front of him.  He might have been playing down a bit in play level as he was the best player on the court.  The others probably in the high 3 DUPR level.  

    He mentioned one aspect of play that resonated with me and that is to make sure you are stopped and split stepped before your opponent hits the ball.  I've been aware of this, but probably was willing to trade getting closer to the kitchen line rather than being in a good ready position.  Well, Mark, was really good at hitting to my feet and had I been more ready for that shot, I think it would have been better for me.  After he mentioned this, I made a point of stopping sooner and being ready.  I found this an improvement as I could return shots more accurately in re speed and location, and since I was deeper in the court I had more time to adjust position and paddle and hit the ball.  The important factor was the increased time I had to hit the ball and the ability to move laterally -- really hard when you are moving forward.

Let me talk a little bit more about the above paragraph.  If you are playing against opponents who don't play a saft game, then you don't have to stop as early.  A hard shot is usually easier to play as it is less likely to be at your feet.  Basically, the more control your opponent has, the earlier you want to stop and split step.

The strategy of PB is one of removing time your opponent has and gaining it for your team.  Poaches and Ernies and Berts are all designed to short cut the time your opponents have.  Maybe you can catch them moving or out of position with those plays.  I believe that poaches and crashing are required at any advanced level of play.  

When it All Comes Together

 I have a couple of thoughts to pass on.  

I played a nice two out of three game match the other days with some young guys at MN.  Their strengths were hitting the ball pretty hard.  Weaknesses were common issues that beginners have.  Firstly, they typically didn't follow service returns with a gallop to the kitchen line.  They liked to hang back and anticipate a ball that they would be comfortable with.  Probably comfortable in that they could hit it hard.

I think following a service return to the kitchen line is a fundamental part of playing the game.  It's right up there with "Pass Go and Collect $200," kind of thing.  If you don't do it, you are giving away all advantage which comes from the two bounce rule.  When I teach the beginners, I stress this positional need.  It is not readily accepted and not often remembered for the beginners, but after you've played a bit, there is no real excuse.  You have to do it...

My partner and I were able to just play back deep to the service returner, capture the kitchen and easily win two of the three games.  Yes, they managed to win a game, it was close and their ground strokes might have been better than the ones from my side but their lack of understanding of the game made for fairly soft opponents.

The other issue that shows up in that skill area between beginner and advanced, is hitting the ball too hard.  It's so very common and it's usually quite successful until it isn't.  When they come up against players who can block and duck, they are usually easily beaten.  Why do players moan about a shot into the net, but don't react when they hit it eight feet long?  Clearly the longer shot is less accurate and skillful than the shot to the net which was two inches from perfection.

Now on to something different.  I've gotten in a couple of private games with pals in the last couple of weeks that were just great.  And they were great for a couple of reasons.  All the players were very close in skill level and that skill level was probably in the high threes in re DUPR levels.  Which meant that the points might be long, no one was being picked on as the weakest player, and finally, there was agreement as to pickleball style.  There was aggression, thord shot drops, dinking, and speed up, but also resets and even, sadly, a number of lobs.  :-)  All very cat and mouse type play then trying to overpower the opponents.

There has been a number of videos on YouTube about how the soft side of pickleball has died and that dinking is dead and everything ought to be sped up.  I would agree that you can play that way and maybe as a pro you'll have to.  

However, some styles are more interesting to play.  And I'll agree that what is interesting and boring are different for all of us.  If we accept that, then clearly some games will be more enjoyable and fun than others.  There is a reddit group about pickleball and bangers have sought advice about whether their style is good or bad.  A number of repliers have mentioned boring points and frequently that hitting every shot hard might lead to a lack of folks that will play with the bangers.  In the Livermore park play area I don't see much of "I'm not playing in that game" or "with him/her."  Though at my last day at Down's someone tried to hit me in the face three times, not only did I not play to that player for the rest of the game, I avoided him after that and realized that the style of Downs play was no longer of interest to me.  

The Downs style was not always like that.  But as players got better they hit the ball harder and then a bunch of younger players from other sports came in and the style changed to a very aggressive banging game.  

Interesting to me, I see the May Nissen group to be much like the Downs was when I was learning my basic craft.  In the time I've played there, the level has gotten a lot better and also there is a fairly narrow level of skill.  It was more divergent at the Downs for some reason.  But at MN, almost all the players are OK and fun to play with. 

So these last couple of games I mentioned were like going back in time when we were all a bit more innocent and the world was a kinder place, but with better skills and in the company of like minded players -- kind of what it's all about. 

Pickleball 101 Syllabus and Stuff

 PB 101

Here are the things we teach and some thoughts as to why it is so.  There are two parameters in play.  The first being that the class is only an hour and half.  And the second is that there is only so much information we can pass on that will be remembered.  It seems to be an hour and a half is about right to introduce the students to a new game with strange scoring and a lot of new physical skills and strange ball and paddles.  We used to try to teach a lot more, but it was too complex and difficult for the students.

The simplification came about that instead of making students into PB players, we now provide and introduction to the game.  If they like the game, they can develop skills as they play.

The philosophy is to provide enough skills and knowledge to get them to play a couple of games.  Usually I've found that the students will have enough skills to play in the Tuesday, Thursday games and I mention that to them as a path to improvement.

Here is an outline that I use, that has worked well:

1) Introduce yourself.  Go over the names of the areas of the court.  Which lines are important, etc.  You have to mention the non-volley rules, but don't go crazy.  You usually have to define what a volley is, etc., and there is so much new for them, it's only going to stick a little bit.  Not a problem.

2) Demonstrate dinking.  Get a couple of people on each side of the net.  As they try it, check their grips.  Correct bad grips to the Continental or shake hands grip.  If the grip used is from tennis and they know what they are doing, I'll mention problems with a strong grip, but I won't insist they change it.  If they can't get the dinking, then put down the paddles and just toss the ball back and forth over the net underhanded until the light bulb goes on.

3) As soon as they can control the ball a little in hitting and returning, then break for water and then it's service time.  I will demonstrate drop and bounce serves, then have each person hit a couple with one on one supervision.  If they get it, then send them to the far side of the court and instruct them to catch/stop/pick up any balls and then serve them back.  I'll get all four going and then roam around while they hit them.

Spend some time on this as it's usually the hardest stroke to hit.  They usually will not swing at all hard enough.  "Hit the back fence!" I tell them, it works occasionally.  The serving target is the center of the service area and I generally will say nothing else.  Things to watch for, are foot positions and sideway swings.  It's usually the ball position relative to the body that causes the most problems.

4) After serving, take another water break, and then go over rules as it's time to play.  The scoring will be the most difficult topic of the day.  I stole  a good explanation of the scoring system: in that on every side out, both players get to service and the score keeps track of the first and second server.  

This is true with the exception of the first point and that's where the struggle is.  

5) Let them play while you are on the court.  You'll need to move folks around as their roles change -- Up, Back, etc.  Somewhere along the way you need to spend some time on the two bounce rule.  Getting the servers to stay back on the baseline and the service returner to come up is good training, but it usually will not happen.  No problem!  So let them play, make sure they call out the score properly.

And that's it.  Other topics you can blend in as they come up: don't fall, don't run backwards, get some safety glasses, make sure a new paddle will match their eye color, etc.  All the little bits of knowledge you learned in a year or two.  Note that you can't pass all that on.  Less talk more play is my philosophy.

Forehand Drives and Using that Core

 John Cincola has a nice channel of PB content on YouTube.  He had a video the other day about forehand drives and I wanted to talk about that for a couple of reasons.

Let me summarize the stroke as John sees it.  He wants to face the shot head on and then take the ball just at or inside and in front of his right hand foot.  (Right hand foot???)  He doesn't move his feet sideways as you would hitting a tennis shot.  There is shoulder rotation, hit the ball in front of his feet and let the paddle wrap around his left shoulder.

I like this stroke.  With no real feet movement, it's really easy to reset for the return shot.  Also using your core in a rotational pattern and not, for example, moving your upper body towards the target, is efficient.  The stroke is also short.

I was using this a lot today while playing and I was getting very good power and speed from it.  Then I realized that with little modification, this becomes as excellent service stroke.  While I am happy to see some body and weight shift towards the target on a serve, it's not really required to get enough speed for a good serve.  I started using it as a serve.  I hit the ball lower than I usually do and with more speed.  My control was very good.  My consistency was excellent, I didn't serve out all morning -- but I usually will only serve out about once a week, so I can't claim more control with a small sample.

While I was thinking about this, I was watching my partners serve.  They had pretty good serves, they got them in for example and the depth and speed of the shots was fine.  I did see some body motion towards the target, again, something I like if you have trouble with serving.  But I could see from my partners that there was a lot of power loss in doing so.  The balls were hit from too far forward and as they had to reach for the ball to hit it, they hit softer shots than the effort they put in.  I think having a more square stance and dropping the ball off the front right knee and just using their core to rotate and hit the ball would be more efficient.

Pro tip on serving, you absolutely need to tightly control the location of your ball drop to control angle, direction, and spin.  If you miss serves then check this first.

Link to John's post: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/9J9lwF01gSE

This stroke felt different to me.  I don't use my core rotationally much and I probably want to.  It felt good and strong and I'm going to pursue it.  Now let's seek understanding and progress in other areas.  I also play golf.  If you hit golf balls correctly, you also want this core rotation.  One of my many golf flaws is to move my body towards the target.  What I want to do is to force my body to stay somewhat stable and in position and use that leg brace to power a rotation via the core.  I'm hoping to make this work too.

Take a look at the video, it's all of 30 seconds long, see if it helps you.