Hitting the Shot You Wanted, but Doing it Well

 In almost all rallies that last more than a few shots, someone will get to hit the shot they want.  Or get a chance to hit the shot they want.

Almost all of the "sitter" shots are at the kitchen line and are fairly high above the net.  

So what happens?  About 40% of those "easy" shots end up going into the net.  I have a theory but before I get to that let's set the scene a bit. The sitter is the culmination of all the play of the point.  You've made shots that were not easily attackable and now you have one you should be able to put away.  This is the shot you've been waiting for.

Technically what I think happens is that most people increase their swing speed by about 50%, which changes the timing of the strike.  You end up hitting the ball with the paddle pointing into the net.  If you had hit it with your normal swing speed, the paddle face aligns with the open court.  

As I mentioned in a prior post about the push shot, the paddle face alignment to the proper target during a shot, if the shot is a swing, is a small window of opportunity.  Swing early and a right hand forehand shot goes left, a late swing goes right.  Most of the slams are forehand shots but on a vertical plane, so early goes into the net and late goes into the back fence.

My solution to this error, and it's my solution to many, many errors, is don't swing harder than your usual shot.  We think that a hard, speedy shot will be successful and it frequently is, but it's prone to producing errors.  People who make few errors are very difficult to beat.  Fortunately they are very rare at the rec level.  If you want to be unbeatable, just get your shots in, don't try to put them away.  I'm frequently called "nonchalant" on the court, and it's usually when I hit a shot by not hitting it very hard.  There is a lot of time to hit a ball.  More than you think and it takes experience to use this time to hit the ball properly without over hitting it.  

Having said all of this.  I struggle with hitting these shots too hard as well.  We get keyed up in the moment and the speed and can't manage to hit a hard drive softly, or a sitter gently.   But I work at this.  

I was talking to one of the regulars at the park today and he had coached tennis a lot.  He is signed up for the Harvest Crush  tournament and we had discussed how frequent errors are a problem.  He and his partner spent a couple of games just counting the number of out shots they hit.  He found that keeping track of how many they made them less likely to create them.  I think that works.  I keep track of service errors per week and also I'm very aware of service return errors.  If I'm playing well, those two statistics are small numbers.  I want to get better at the push shot from a prior post, and then those pesky sitters that frequently go awry.  

There are a number of books written about sports called "The Inner Game of X."  for skiing, golf, and tennis written by Tim Gallwey.  These books are worth reading.  What he suggests is that your mind can figure out very complex things if you just let it.  Give your mind a task, provide some feed back and then iterate.  I'm familiar with the golf book, and as an example, you might want to change your wrist at impact.  He would tell you to just hit balls and for every shot give a number to how successful you were in getting your wrist to do what you wanted.  He found that it didn't take long for your mind to solve the problem with little analytical effort on your part.  

That's enough for this post, I feel I'm on the way to another book, so I'll close.   If anyone tries these feedback ideas I would be interested in knowing how well it works.

Moving While Your Partner is Hitting the Ball

 I've written about time occasionally in the blog posts.  You increase time by dinking and you shorten it by hitting hard.  So if you need time to get into position or for your partner to get into position, look for a soft/slow shot to help.  The extreme example is the lob, of course social pressure and possible ostracism comes with that, but if you are strong mentally and willing to travel to a new park, hey, go for it.  :-)

What I haven't talked about and it's a frequent thing, is moving while your partner is busy hitting a ball.  If it's a good time to go forward, then do that.  If your partner likes to pop it up, then maybe retreating is a good idea (just kidding, find a new partner!  (Just kidding, practice more!))

Any time you are not making the shot for your turn, you want to be thinking about your side's next shot.  And movement is a big part of that.  If partner is dropping or even dinking, then get ready for it.   If you guys are driving, then maybe you can move into the court, but maybe not.  Depends on your opponents, the wind, and the quality of your partner's shot.  But in all cases, you want to move if it's appropriate.

The usual mistake is just standing and watching.  The game is quite dynamic and you should be moving all the time as the ball goes back and forth.  Watch the pros play and watch all four players and ignore the ball.  They only stop moving when they are actually hitting a ball.  Of course, sometimes they are hitting on the run, but it's not something you want to do.  Get to the proper location, get ready, hit a shot, and then start moving for the next one.

If you get good at using your time to move, it gives you more time to actually hit the ball.  Which makes ball striking easier, and that makes your more consistent and more dangerous as an opponent.  

More on the Push Shot

 I touched briefly on the push shot as a way to punish bangers at couple of posts ago.

But this shot is applicable to much more than an anti-bang block.  

One of the difficulties with hitting a pickleball is that the ball is so light that it slows down quickly.  Both of those variables affect the timing of any hit.  I'll also add wind and spin to that list of variables.

So if we want to become more consistent, then we want to minimize the timing of a shot.  The usual way to hit the ball is to swing at it.  This implies that the paddle face is going to square up to the target location for just a moment.  Think about a gate swinging shut, it faces everywhere as it closes and if we were to toss a ball at a closing gate and expect it to be hit back to us, there is a small moment in the swing where this works.  And a swinging paddle is not much different.

We do have a few things going for us.  The paddles don't weight much and we can move them fairly quickly.  So last minute path and face angles are quite possible, usually.  Also, we are paying attention to the wind of course, and also noticing the spin as the ball came off the opponent's paddle and we can adjust a swing before the hit.

But at the last fraction of a second things frequently will not go well.  Now, let's return to the push shot.  Using this pushing technique, the paddle face is always pointing toward our target and we don't swing it, but push the paddle maintaining the face of the paddle and its angle.  Doing this will help remove a lot of last minute issues with a difficult strike.

There are some shots where a push is not useful as sometimes we need to add a lot of energy to a shot.  Think service return or even serve, we need a swing for these as that will deliver more power.

But if you think about defensive shots, say returning drives from the baseline, or when at the net, here the energy comes from the ball and a push or just a block is enough to return the ball properly.

Inherently a push shot has less energy, but you will get more accuracy and control.  It is a difficult opponent to beat who doesn't hit a ball out.  I think the Master talks of that to Po on a regular basis.

So, other than drives, serves, and service returns, you might find that a pushing shot works well.

Crime and Punishment

 It's time once again to return to the most hated shot in pickleball.  No, we will do lobs another time.  Let's do some more banging on bangers.

One of the problems with PB is that a lot of stuff works at lower skill levels and it's easy to just do the one good thing and expect it to work forever.  I've been playing a lot at May Nissen and I'm impressed how the general skill level has increased in just a few months.  So even if you're playing well, constant improvement is needed to remain "skilled."  

So banging...  I get that it's fun and if you come from tennis, you probably find it easy to do.  So it's your super power and you win a lot of games because of it.  And why you win a lot of points is that the other players don't have the defensive skills to neutralize the hot shot.  But in a year or so they will have it.  And if you just hit everything hard, one day it just won't work.  This is also true of hard serves and strange spins; people figure it out and then it's less effective.

The other problem with hard shots is that it cuts into the time you have to approach the net.  Of course, if the drive is good enough, then getting to the net is not a priority and maybe never needed for most games.  And again, that lack of getting to the net is going to be crippling one day.  

So bang away and enjoy it while you can!

Punishment.

One more problem with the bang...  The current defensive play against a hard shot is to block it.  But I've recently seen a couple of pros in YouTube videos who advocate not blocking, but hammering the drives back to the driver.  They teach a pushing shot that keeps the paddle moving in a straight line towards the drive.  There is no paddle swing or chop.  You want to hit this ball with the paddle in front of you, arms fairly close to your torso, on either forehand or backhand side.  It's a simple push of the paddle, done with the intent to speed up the ball.  It's not a swing.

And per Jill Braverman, you want to try and whack it.  I've tried this and I really like it, I took it to the Downs park and it was effective.  

This pushing shot is not unknown.  There is one guy at May Nissen who transferred this shot from ping pong.  It's effective for him and he uses it on almost all backhand shots, which is his more consistent shot.  "A shot of high confidence," as my father might have said.  This player has a highly modified grip to make this shot easy.  That grip is not good for forehand shots, which then require some effort to get the paddle in a good forehand position.  I'd suggest learning the shot with a neutral grip so it can be used on both a forehand and backhand shot.  It's worth learning.

Here is a link to Jill's video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQ1XvktXetc&t=346s

It's All in the Dough

 The acolytes were having an afternoon game.  Yes, trying to be diligent and play their best as a Master might wander past at any time.  Fall had arrived to the monastery.  The air was cool, just right for extended pickleball play.

And indeed, the Master did drop in to see an eight shot rally.  

"Po, may I have word," asked the Master.

Po hurried over to the side of the court and bowed to the Master.  "How can serve, Master?"

"I wish that you remember the last point you played.  Is it memorable enough, Po?"

Po thought about the point and was able to remember it all as he had been on the server side and had hit most of the shots.  "Yes, Master, I remember it well."

"Good, Po, see me in my study at four o'clock and we will discuss it."

"As you wish Master."

The Master swirled his robes and seemed to vanish as he entered the building.  The acolytes shrugged as the point had seemed routine and then returned to their game.

At four O'clock Po arrived at the Master's study door and knocked.

"Come in Po, thank you for being prompt."

Po enter the study and sat on a cushion across the low table in front of the Master.  He was sitting upright and graceful as a man does who controlled his body at the highest levels.

"I have tea, Po, would you like a cup?"

"Thank you Master, that would be welcome as the day is a bit cool."

The Master gestured to a plate with a stack of delicate cookies on it.  "Help yourself to an almond cookie, Po."

The Master readied the cup of tea and slid it in front of Po.  Po helped himself to a cookie and placed it on the saucer with the cup of tea.  He tasted the tea and smiled with its quality and taste.  It was just the proper temperature, too hot to drink quickly, warm enough to sip.

"Thank you Master, the tea is splendid."

"Try the cookie, Po."

Po picked up the cookie and took a bite.  Po had a sweet tooth and found cookies to be a high art form.

"Is it good Po?"

"Very nice, Master."

"How is it nice, Po.  We are here for some analysis, so please be specific.  What are the characteristics of the cookie that caused you to call it "nice?"

Po reflected a bit.  He had done six months in the bakery as all young monks did.  He had baked a lot and found it fulfilling and challenging.

"Master, with a cookie, I start with the aroma.  Clearly this cookie was baked today and it smells of cinnamon, almonds and vanilla.  Then there is the taste and now I sense the sugar, cinnamon again, and the almonds, which are stronger as I am chewing through some of the nut meat.  Then there is texture.  The outer crust has a nice toughness to it, followed by a softer and moist inner texture.  The cookie has been warmed slightly and its temperature probably helps with the aroma and deepens the flavors on the tongue.  It is a very nice cookie Master, may I have another?"

The Master chuckled and waved his hand towards the cookie plate.

"What ingredients are in this nice cookie?"

"There is a flour and sugar base, a pinch of salt, cinnamon, almond extract, vanilla extract, and almond nuts and butter."

"Po, if we wanted to, what ingredients could we leave out?"

"Master, I don't understand.  All the parts are what makes this a wonderful cookie.  If we remove any we make it worse.  And if we change the amounts or ratios of the parts, we will cause damage and it will not be as successful."

"So the cookie was at some point constructed and balanced and eventually created to provide harmony and inner happiness to the eater, yes?"

"Exactly Master."

"So, Po, now we must talk of pickleball and the point I saw you play this afternoon.  Do you still remember it?"

"I do, Master."

"Tell me the shots, most of which you hit."

"I served, a routine top spin serve.  I sought to hit to the backhand of my opponent and it was fairly deep.  I was satisfied with the shot on placement and speed and spin."

"I agree, Po, a very satisfactory beginning to the point.  What was the second shot?"

"The service return as in the middle of the court and fairly deep.  I moved to return it and noticed that there was not exceptional spin on the ball and it was short enough to be aggressive with it."

"So, the third shot was a drive?"

"Yes, Master.  As was the fifth.  I was hoping to get a shot past Jo, but he is pretty good at the net."

"You eventually drove a shot out of bounds?"

"Yes, Jo, ducked after several more drives and the final drive had insufficient spin and too much power to stay in play."

"If, Po, we call the serve flour, and the drives, sugar, what kind of cookie were you making?"

"Er, it would not make a good cookie."

"Yes, Po, it lacks the little things that make a cookie successful.  Such is a pickleball game.  A good serve and a drive are enough for the players in the village, but here we require more texture.  You need to add the cinnamon and pinch of salt!  What will you do the next time playing against Jo?"

"Well, the serve was good and I think a third shot drive is practical and on occasion effective."

"Yes, all true, tell me more."

"So I think that the fifth shot and beyond were lacking texture."

"Yes, so how do you introduce the trace ingredients?"

"All shots have the fundamental parts.  They have speed and trajectory, spin and location."

"Yes, so how do you use these parts to create something that Jo will struggle with?"

"If I don't slow down the shot, I'll hit it out,  So I must hit a slower shot.  And then maybe more spin or a higher trajectory.  A drop shot is the opposite of a drive."

"Yes, it is.  What is the understanding of the effectiveness and power of a drop shot?"

"A good drop shot is more powerful than a drive."

"And why is this?"

"An opponent can't attack a good drop shot, so it allows my side to approach the kitchen.  We would be able to hit the fifth shot from a closer position.  If the opponents hit a poor response to the drop, then we might be able to drive the ball down into the court."

"While it might be very important where you hit a drive, where do you seek to hit a good drop shot?"

"Master, it is my experience that its location is not very important.  I'm happy to drop into the middle of the court or to a sideline.  It truly is not important.  What is important is that we move to the net when the drop is hit."

"Excellent, Po, so we will have no more rallies where it is drive followed by drive?"

"I agree, Master, build a good cookie, not just some flavorless dough."

"That is all Po, feel free to take a couple of cookies with you."

"Thank you, Master!"

A Couple of Items for a Better Hit

A Couple of Tips:  When you swing at a serve you can do it a number of ways.  If you move your paddle horizontally into the ball you are not using the best method if you want to create some speed.

If you swing your arm in a circular path to strike the ball, you have more time to accelerate the paddle and will end up with more ball speed for probably less effort.  The arm path is a long arc and the further you have the paddle behind you when you start the swing, the more you will be moving the paddle away from the ball initially and then along the arc to the ball.  Eventually you get back to the ball on a nice upward path with good speed.  It's worth trying if you'd like to hit the ball harder.

I played a couple of game with Ron today.  He is a 6.0 rated singles player and has the creamy nice strokes that a life time in tennis provides.  What I stole from his game today is that in a lot of shots his paddle will not swipe or swing, but remains pointing to the target during and after a stroke.  It's my observation that a lot of shots fail as the paddle gets to the ball too early or too late.  If the paddle face is accurately aimed and remains in a proper orientation, then it's much harder to pull or push a shot due to timing.  

This is easy to do for shots where you don't have to supply a lot of power to make the shot.  For example, when blocking or hitting shots from the mid court, just a gentle hit is all that is needed and a steady paddle face will be useful.  I've found myself swinging through those shots and it's not good.  I used this technique of a steady paddle today and found it easy and accurate.  Give it a try!

In the works: I've been working on a couple of longer posts.  One about serving and the other a different kind of post that I'll keep under wraps for the moment.  The serving post got really long and it covered topics that I've discussed before and it was becoming a book if I did the job thoroughly.  I recognized my problem and I've shelved it for the moment.  But that's what's happening in my pickleball world.  

Return to Downs:  I've decided to return to Downs on Tuesday and Thursday.  The  bangers seem to have moved on and the group that is left is a lot of the original crew when I was starting out.  It was "old home week" to see them and it's fun to play with them again.  Sadly, the Downs is short on courts as I'm getting spoiled with the May Nissen and Muirwood layouts.  I've made friends and enjoyed the play at May Nissen and I'm going to still hang out there for the social aspects and more relaxed play.

Court Coverage

 I was playing today and watched a number of opponents move apart as they prepared for a return shot.  The usual movement was each moved up the center of their respective service box and often deliberately moved apart to do it.

This is the exact wrong thing to do.  And as I saw this I thought about court coverage in general.  We don't mention it in pickleball 101 lessons nor in the Skills and Drills classes.  Beginners and intermediate players seem lacking in what they should be doing.  Let's take a look in some detail.

Firstly, you don't want to cover the entire court.  The court is big enough that you really can't do it.  Even the pros don't cover it all and they have the quickness of the proverbial cat.

Secondly, you can and should cover about two thirds of the court.  And you and your partner must form a solid wall of coverage.  Which means that the middle is well covered.  The middle is defined as that space between you and partner.  It will move.  You must have coverage overlap in the middle.

The full width of the court is 20 feet and I've declared that you can cover about 12 feet of that, which leaves about 8 feet open for a target for your opponents.  And I'm absolutely sure that you want none of that 8 foot area between you.  So we provide a single alley for the opponents.

So where is this alley?  You want to provide it as a single cross court shot, or as two narrow cross court shots.  

Let me explain.  There are two cases you must understand.  Either the opponents are hitting from the middle of their court or from a sideline.  The sideline case is easier.  One defender must cover enough of the sideline to make it a difficult shot.  So you or your partner slides almost to the sideline and is directly in front of the guy about to hit the ball.  The other player will be in the middle of the court.  Which leaves a cross court shot which has no immediate defender.  Or does it?  Think about that cross court shot.  The outer sideline is only a few feet away and it's only a very good shot that crosses the width of the court and stays in bounds.  Let the opponents try for that.  Ha!

The only other case is when the ball will be hit from the middle of the court.  You and your partner will be defending the middle of the court and allow an opening to both sides of just a few feet.  You will have both paddles able to return an middle shot.  And this is the same case, if your opponents can hit a perfect shot that stays in, you are probably playing in the wrong game.  If they hit it up the middle you will have a good chance to return it and should certainly get a paddle on it.  

And this is 90% of playing pickleball.  You and your partner cover the percentage shots of the opponents and allow them open alleys to very difficult shots.  Note that a lot of those will go out and if they hit marginal shots you may be able to move into the alley to hit them.  As the ball moves around the opponents' court, you and your partner will adjust your defensive wall to block their easy shots.  Simple game really...

Pro Tip: if you play as advised above, you will observe that every opponent has shots that they like to hit.  Sometimes those are drives or cross court shots, or even, and you might not believe this, lobs!  As you play the opponents you want to sucker them into hitting their favorite shot and as soon as their head goes down to hit it, you can adjust your position to counter it.  It becomes a bit of cat and mouse and you'll soon be playing the player and not the ball.  

Wrist Usage

 I was teaching the Skills and Drills class recently and one of my students had trouble hitting her serves hard enough.  

She kept her wrist immobile and was not allowing a wrist's normal action to help produce paddle and ball speed.  Let's discuss the anatomy of the wrist.

We will start with some vocabulary...

Flexion is bending the wrist so that the palm moves toward the inner forearm.

Extension is bending the wrist backward, moving the back of the hand toward the outer forearm.

Radial deviation is moving the wrist toward the thumb side (radius).

Ulnar deviation is moving the wrist toward the pinky side (ulna).

So we have extension and flexion.  We are very interested in extension for this post.  Flexion will show up as needed and in a lot of swing type things will happen automatically -- we usually don't want to try and help it move (heed this, all you golfers!).

The total movement of the wrist in the extension and flexion movement is close to 145 degrees, with a touch more movement on the flexion side than the extension direction.

The total movement available to deviation is about 55 degrees with five degrees more available in the ulnar deviation, i.e., moving towards that pinky finger.  We will revisit this later.

The important concept here is that the wrist can do a lot more movement via extension - flexion than the deviation movement.  And with more movement we can create more speed.

My favorite physical therapist (FPT) also remarked that the wrist/hand has the most strength when the hand is extended about 20 degrees, so just a little wrist break.

So how are these wrist positions used in pickleball?  In dinking, we don't want any wrist movement as any wrist flipping or flopping is going to create a timing issue and lead to less consistency and thus accuracy.  

Hitting volleys is a lot like dinking, less wrist movement is a good thing.  

That leaves us with ground strokes, overheads, and serves where we want to get more power out of our anatomy.  Serves and ground strokes are pretty much the same and let's look more closely there.

Drop serves need to be hit with an upward stroke with the entire paddle below your wrist.  A common beginner error is to swing more sideways than down to up and when doing so allow the edge of the paddle to get above the wrist.  The solution to this is to add some ulnar deviation, i.e., down cock your wrist.  The deviation will put your thumb in line with your forearm and ensure that your paddle is below the wrist.

The most common problem of beginners in the 101 class is that they will not hit the serves hard enough.  This is a learned skill and it's hard for a lot of beginners.  And we want to hit the serve as hard as possible as long as it will stay in.  

Hitting the ball can be done many ways, not all of them efficient.  In a good efficient serve the whole body is going to be involved and we are talking from an initial weight shift and forward body movement to the feet to the torso to the shoulders to arms and finally to the paddle.  It's rare to see the full body serve in the rec area.  And it's not needed much at DUPR levels below 4 something.  (Having a serve that no one can return leads to really boring points and should be avoided as a common courtesy to all the other players.)

Let's look at a reasonable serve.  Maybe there is a forward step with the foot closest to the net, then some body rotation and then the arm will swing in a circular motion impacting the ball as the swing path is on its upward path.

And what is the wrist doing?  Well to make the most of this energy you want to place your wrist in extension before you start the circular swing path.  There is no need to try and help the wrist get from extension to flexion as that may happen due to the physics of the swing.  I will return to this in a moment as the wrist position at impact is important for spin generation.

You'd like to swing the arm fairly quickly.  A fast serve is a happy serve.  But we are most concerned with hitting the ball in the court.  I had this nightmare recently where I served out in a game with the score 10 to 11.  I woke up in a cold sweat on that one.

Let's talk service misses.  How about long?  One variable is how hard you hit the ball, the next is what trajectory the ball has, and finally what spin is on the ball.

For every speed of the service ball there is an ideal trajectory.  The serve is one of two shots where the height above the net is not important.  The proper height when crossing the net should be a couple of feet above net height - leave some room for error.  So basically about head high at the net for a short player.  On the circular swing path there is an area where you will hit the ball on this trajectory without having to make hand or arm compensations.  You want to find this area.  Most of the time you'll find it by trial and error.  It's fairly close to your forward knee -- so a bit in front of you, but not much and fairly low.

Lastly let's talk spin.  The path of the paddle and the face angle of the paddle determine spin.  If the paddle face is 90 degrees to the path there will be no additional spin created on the ball.  Note that if you're returning a shot, there may be some residual spin from the shot you are returning.

The most useful spin when hitting a serve or a deep ground stroke is top spin.  The spin is clockwise if you were observing the ball from a net post as it crossed the net.  This spin is best as it will cause the ball to curve downwards as it slows, thus keeping it in the court.  The more spin you can create, the harder you can hit the ball and keep it in.  Also with the ball curving downwards, you can use a trajectory that is well above the net for fewer service and service return errors.  

Wonderfully, there is an easy way to create top spin.  You put your wrist into extension and then keep it there as you hit the serve.  The paddle is no longer 90 degrees to the path, but maybe 45 or so.  That change in angle creates a brushing of the ball and so some of the energy of the swing goes into producing spin rather than propelling the ball forward.  Just set your wrist and hit your normal serve.  You may have to adjust the impact area of the ball and you might have to hit the ball harder.  This is an important tool in playing PB, you must get serves in and this is an easy way to increase consistency and safety with the benefit of more speed.

My FPT also mentioned that tennis elbow is due to too much flexion when hitting a backhand.  In the flexed position the impact forces will strain the flexed muscular system and eventually create some aches and pains near the elbow.  I suffer from this on occasion and it comes and goes with little explanation as to why.  Well, the flexion information is new to me and when I hit my famous backhand roll, I put my wrist into full flexion always.  See the video below for how the pros hit backhands.  They use more body and arm motion than I do and while there is usually some flexion, it's not a lot. 

Here is a link to a YouTube video of pros hitting shots in slow motion.  Note that their wrists are in extension for almost all shots.  Also they use ulnar deviation for most shots  -- their thumbs are straight down the arm path.  Finally, you might notice how frequently the pros are not hitting the center of the paddle -- there are a lot of balls coming off the edges -- I found this quite unexpected.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7LFGzcM5F0

Blogging Fears and Drop Shots

 The main fear I have is that I'll spew some "technical" advice in a post and find out later that it's wrong and my true believers out there will be doing worse than had I not "helped."

I did ask a pro about the technical quality of the blog, and he was a reader and had no problems with the content from a technical perspective.

What a relief.

However there is an issue that I wanted to bring up for those who are trying to apply some of my thoughts to their own game.

I like to hit soft third shots and then aggressively move to the net when I'm on the serving side.  I have always stressed that the player who returns the serve has to move to the kitchen line without exception -- this is accepted in the PB world and you will not find pros who don't do this.  Is the game "King of Kitchen?"  I think it is.

I believe in those "rules" and think they are fully valid.  Now, it came to me the other day that my stressing being at the net requires a couple of skills and not many beginners have them immediately.  Those skills being the ability to hit a soft shot and be able to blocking shots at the net.

I see a lot of beginning and intermediate players who hang at the baseline after returning a serve.  I've asked about that and the reasons boil down to a lack of confidence in hitting shots at the net, or a fear of getting hit, and if we were to look deep into the intermediate skill space we will find a lot of players who have no soft game.  They hit all the shots hard and hope for good results.  Note that the style of hitting the ball hard at all times will work wonderfully for a while, then it won't work at all.  As the skill level approaches 4, most players have no problem with a hard shot and are quite comfortable with it.

I noticed in my early days at Downs that the people coming from racquet ball are more than comfortable with a hard shot.  To beat them you can't feed them hard shots.

The point is that if you are going to adopt the style I advocate, then you need to drop some shots, not be afraid to dink, and be able to hit a block shot or two.  Yah, you need to stop worrying about getting hit, another real good reason to keep your paddle in front of you.  <Insert standard safety glasses reminder here!>

Drop shots can be more effective than a hard shot in scoring points, they will give you more time to get into a good position for the next shot, and a lot of people are not used to hitting soft shots or returning them.  Many a drop shot will win the point outright.  

What a drop shot does is block your opponents from hitting an attacking shot.  By hitting a short ball you are using the net as your third partner.  The opponent's next shot has to be lifted above the net.  If they hit it hard, it may well go long -- prepare to duck.  If they hit a good dink, then you dink back.  If they dink poorly, then you whack it and try to end the point, or at least put them under pressure with an aggressive shot.  

One of the interesting aspects of PB is that trying to win points usually is not as effective as just hitting good shots.  I see many balls going long or wide or both by a player who thought he could hit a great shot and end the point.  A better philosophy is to try to make your opponents hit more and more difficult shots as a rally plays out.  You want to make them move their feet, hit low shots, keep the ball in play, and make your opponents contend with the net.  Longer rallies are also more funner for sure.

Pickleball 202

 The question came up as I was teaching at the TVPBC PB-101 class last Saturday, what the Skills and Drills class was all about.  That question morphed into what might be the syllabus for a class that players would take after they've taken the 101 and then have played for a while.

Let's talk a bit about what the 101 class is in reality.  It's an introduction to the game.  There is little technical instruction, at least from me, as I think in the short time of the class that students should be deciding if the game is worth pursuing, rather than how to volley a top spin backhand.  There is a real limit to what can be absorbed in the hour and a half that the class lasts.  Indeed, the original class used to be dinks, volleys, ground strokes, serves, and then some play.  It was recognized that that was too much to retain.  The current instruction is try some dinks, learn to serve and I will work with each student individually for that skill, then we play games.  

With the serves comes scoring and setup for a point.  Setting up for a point implies movement by the receiving team -- see the previous blog post.  And I'll repeat here that no student will advance to the net after they return a serve.  It's just impossible at their level of understanding of the game.

Back to the topic.  So what is the syllabus for the next class?  Note that we've not really taught any hard skills.  We've placed them in the court and we've given them some goals, e.g., hit the serve towards the blue dot, try and understand the scoring.

So the goal for the second class would be to take the players and move them to say, 2.5.  We would like to see them serve well, i.e., get the ball in, automatically setup for both serving and returning of serves, know the scoring well.

And the last little bit is to get the ball back more consistently. 

Thus we spend some time on hitting serves and aligning feet for the serve and then should turns and some weight shift and then ball whacking.  

Setting up for points should be well known to them if they've been playing at all.  The same would be for the scoring.  So I would expect that no real time need be spent on that.

Which leaves us with more consistent ball striking.  In my humble opinion, hitting the ball well is merely a function of getting to the ball.  Since the ball is less than an ounce in weight, and the paddles about 8 ounces, there is little strength required to hit the ball.  But there is a real problem if the ball is too far away from you when you go to hit it.  

So, the big topic is movement.  I've written close to 250 posts in this blog and I suspect that a full 100 of them mention moving to the proper place.  And if I have a super power in this game, it is probably in being well placed most of the time.  I don't see this skill as being difficult, but it is for almost all players at the intermediate and beginner levels.

If I were to design the next class I would invent or look up drills to make people get to the correct position.  For example, if someone serves and steps into the court, they lose the point.  If someone returns a serve and does not advance, they lose the point.  If there is no middle coverage, they lose the point.  If the players get too far apart, they lose the point.  

I think these are the fundamental skills to play pretty good PB without needing to hit 40 MPH serves and volleys.  I see these skills as the fastest route to a high 3+ DUPR skill level.  And I would design a course around these points.

It was Five to Two and No One was Feeling It

   I was playing the other day and the teams were uneven, though not deliberately.  I hadn't played with any of the players.  In a couple of minutes the score was five to two and the outcome of the game really wasn't in doubt.  

And everyone knew it.  So there was this let down and it would be easy to grind out the rest of the game while thinking about the next game.  I was pondering this and it looked like the other team decided that the rest of the game wasn't going to be a lot of fun either.

As I thought about this, I thought that there was not guarantee that the next game was going to be better and then I thought, well how can I make the most of this game?  The players were nice and the game was friendly and there was no reason that we couldn't try to make the most of the game we had.  

There is an adage in golf that is, "every shot is a separate contest."  Well, that is pretty much what PB is too.  A nicely struck forehand is a joy forever and sometimes every backhand is a challenge.  And I would suggest that to make any game more interesting that we seek to hit every shot well.  It is incredibly common to not hit balls in the sweet spot of the paddle and just playing attention to that and seek to improve it will provide challenge in any game situation where you are winning or getting killed.

With some of that in mind, I played out the rest of the game and enjoyed the opportunity to just play well and control the ball.  

I've often written about at what level to play when skill levels are uneven and in my opinion you want to play close to the skill levels of the other players.  All of the above is what to do with your excessive skills as you play in any situation.  You can choose to hit the perfect shot to a place where your opponents can easily return the shot and thus extending the rally or just bang it away, which will bring satisfaction to no one.   Longer rallies are fun, I think and make the game more interesting for everyone.

Comfort Zones, Oh My

 One of things that I see in the PB-101 class is where the students feel comfortable standing.  And that position is about 4 feet into the court from the baseline, not quite to the middle of the transition area, but a couple of steps into the court.  

After you've played a bit, you will realize that that location is the absolute worst position from which to play.  I'll return to this in a moment.

A good player will seek to spend 10% of her time behind the baseline, 80% at the kitchenline and the remaining time trying to get to the kitchenline by moving through the transition area.  You might also have to retreat into the transition area as a point develops, but you don't want to be there.  The difficulty is that your feet are most exposed when in the transition area.  (Pro tip: in the transition area, keep your paddle positioned near your feet!)  An opponent can try to hit them with no fear of hitting long and you are too far away from the net, so you'll get no help from the net.  Net help?  Yes, that's why dinks and drops are so powerful, a low ball close to the net requires a very good shot to get the ball up and over the net, but not too high to create a sitter.

Beginners don't like the kitchen as it's probably scary and they are not used to the speed of the ball and there also seems to be an occasional fear of being lobbed.   And that's fine.  When teaching a class I push for them to get to the line and stay there, but it doesn't affect what they usually do.  I hope that as they become players that those words will come back to them and produce a better player.

And they don't like to be behind the baseline.  I think the fear here is that they are too far from the action and they won't get to the ball when it's hit towards them.

So they find their comfort area and while it's comfortable, and maybe a good place for a true beginner in a beginner game, as soon as you start playing regularly, you have to learn to face your fears and become comfortable with being behind the baseline and being at the net.  And you must learn to want to be at these two positions.  They are powerful and give you maximum control of the next shot.  If you are not where you should be, you empower your opponents.

I frequently see a service returner refuse to move up when they hit the service return.  This is very common even with pretty good players who have played for a couple of years, and it's the worst play in pickleball.  By staying back, you will allow the serving side to return deep to you and then move up to the line.  Your side will be split and you will have turned an advantage to a deficit.  The big difference between PB and tennis is the two bounce rule.  The service return has to bounce and this rule is there for the sole purpose of allowing the service returner to advance.  It's a huge deal.  If you don't come up, you are not playing pickleball.  You can still have fun and be comfortable by staying back, but in a intermediate game, you will be expected to be moving up every time you return a serve.  Watch a pro match on YouTube and see what they do.  They will sprint to the kitchenline every time.  Now in rec play, the sprint is not needed, but at least try to trot a bit!

Let's talk about staying behind the baseline after your side has hit a serve.  The error here is to move into the court and then find the service return is so deep that they have to run backwards to field it.  Had you stayed behind the baseline, you won't have to move much for a deep return, and you'll only have to move forward for a shorter return.  You will, of course, be keeping a sharp eye on how your opponent hits the serve and if they hit a short one or a soft one, then you can move forward to deal with it efficiently.  Don't worry about a service return that is so short you can't get to it.  It does happen and usually from a mishit but it won't happen often.  Worry about and be prepared for deep shots!

These are the two things that really separate beginners from a true intermediate player.  Being in the proper position is the most important part of the game.  Good positioning allows more time to hit better shots, less stretching to the side, and less hitting a ball while moving.  Make sure these two items are part of your play -- they are the most important things to learn about this game.

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