It's a Poetic Game Afterall

 

My game was a bit in the sink

I thought it was due to my dink 

So I loosen'd my grip,

and vowed not to flip

No good, I'm returnin' to drink

Thomas Sowell, a brilliant guy, heavy thinker, might play pickleball, don't know.  He has spoken out on numerous topics, one of which is equality.  The quote that caught my eye the other day was. "No man is equal to any other man.  And no man is equal to himself on different days."

I'm sure we've all thought about how we played as we've driven away from the PB court.  There is the day you won them all and the day you couldn't win any.  None of which is a reflection of the state of your game.  I've seen beatable opponents that suddenly could only hit it at your feet, their lobs landed in, and the cross court rollers hit all the lines.  It's easy to feel clumsy and out of sorts if your opps are playing perfectly.

The answer?  Remember the good days and forget the bad ones.  I've heard Bjorn Borg was a master at it.   Jack Nicklaus claimed he never missed a putt on the 18th hole when it mattered.  When they showed him videos of his untimely misses, he still denied it.  Maybe denial is a great way to play pickleball.

Always look to the next shot, it's the only one you can control!

One More Knot

 One of the guys I played with today had a problem...  Here is a solution!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3R0Lp86GEBk&list=LL&index=2

It's a knot for draw strings and we all have a couple of those.

Cheers!

Crisscross Thoughts

 The question of who will return a ball can be resolved a couple of ways.  One of the more utilitarian ways is the crisscross rule of thumb.

Basically it boils down to the idea that the ball is usually heading towards one of the players.  And that is the player who should hit it.  The difficult part is that the ball frequently starts on the side of the other player.  We can think of this as applying to all cross court shots, which move diagonally across the court.  This will cover a large majority of the shots.  It's something to talk to your partner about before the game starts.  Most people have heard of it and it's a chance to ensure that you and partner are thinking along the same lines.

The shots that come up one side, aka straight back, bring with them little confusion.  Which leaves the shots up the middle that are still a problem.

 The rule of thumb I hear a lot is that the forehand should take them.   I think it's a bit more complex than that.  Let's look at the various scenarios.  

A soft high bouncing ball is easily handled by either player.  There is usually time to allow a player to take on the challenge, call the shot and promptly dump it into the net -- ok, maybe just return it nicely back and see how the point develops.  

If the short is low and hard, I think it is easier for the player who was not serving the ball to handle it.  That player should be fairly close to the center line and behind the baseline -- you were behind the baseline, right?  And the non-server has more time to prepare for the return.

And if the ball heads for one of the lines and you expect the dreaded "Downs" skipper ball, then I think both should take a swing at it, one high and one low.  "Mine is high!" or "I'll take low!"

This also appears to a lesser extent when in a dinking battle.  The trajectory of the ball is sometimes harder to react to, and can lead to the deadly "hesitation" when placed in the middle of the court, but the time to react to a dink is about a second and that provides enough time to figure it out.  

Sarah Ansboury on YouTube claims that the difference between 3.5 and 4.0 is that the 3.5s move their feet at the net too much.  She likes a bit of sway, paddle in front, use forehand and backhand and try to cut off wide balls with a volley, elbows in.  I'm personally working a bit on this.  I'm not quite convinced, but I lack a lot of data at this point. 

Of course, having one of the team call all the balls works well too.  That's what the pros do and if it didn't work, they would do something else.  "You, you, you, hurry, hurry, hurry!"

The Master Explains Another Secret

 "Master, why did the ball go left?" asked Grasshopper.

"You were late hitting it," replied the master.  "Everything in its time.  You must respect the ebb and flow of time around the paddle, you, the court, and the game."

"Master, there is no time limit in pickleball, what is this ebb and flow?"

"Time is the silver and gold of pickleball.  You can earn it and spend it, wisely, or like the drunkard down in our village, foolishly."

"How can I control time?  I don't understand," said the student.

"It is simple and it is not.  When you hit a ball hard, you compress time, when you dink, you expand it.  When you poach, you take time from your opponents, as when you speed up during a dink.  Fast, slow, long, short, are all time elements."

"When do you want more time, young one?"

"When I'm trying to get to the kitchen line."

"When else?"

"Hmm, when they dink well and the ball is almost past me, is that right Master?"

"Yes, being out of position is a time squeeze.  It can be anywhere on the court or off it.  If you are late, you are squeezed.  If you are early, you have gained time.  Gained time is valuable, owing time is like the sore on the foot, it will stop you walking on a long journey.  With plenty of time you can setup for a hit, consider where your shot should go, evaluate the opponents' positions and greed, and execute with the seeming nonchalance that proclaims a mastery of your game."

"Thank you master, once again I am awed at your knowledge."

"Grasshopper, let us reason together...  When you are out of time, what should you do?"

"I could hit a high soft ball for a service return or when the opponents are back.  That always gains time as the ball must be allowed to bounce."

"Very good.  What else?"

"When I am trying to get to the kitchen, or am out of sorts, I could dink.  Oh, or I could lob!"

"The dink is fine, elegant and approved, but lobbing upsets the digestion.  Use it as a last resort, and never show glee if it succeeds, it is contrary to the nature of the game."

"Yes, master, I will remember that."

"Now, if we are done, perhaps you might refill an old man's rice bowl?"

The Master Helps Again

 "Master, I bring you tea," said the acolyte.

"Thank you," said the master.

"Master, I have a problem."

"Yes, usually you do.  You are young and most things are problems for the young.  With experience, one improves.  Why this reminds me of a time when I was young..." said the master.

The acolyte interrupts.  He has heard these stories before and while they make for an interesting hour, he has more pressing needs.  "Yes, master, I do recall it too.  But I have been getting strange stares from my partners and strange questions too."

"Ah," said the master, "What questions are those?"

"One of my partners asked me how long it takes me to get to the kitchen line."

"And what did you tell him?"

"I said that I didn't know."

"And did he reply to that?"

"Yes, he said, 'why don't you run up to it a couple of times and find out.'"

The master allowed himself a small chuckle.  "Yes, a typical beginner error.  Grasshopper, is it easier to score points or defend against them?"

"Defend, I guess.  It can be a challenge to score."

"That is correct.  And why is this a universal pickleball truth?"

"Well, defenders usually can reach the kitchen earlier than the serving side."

"Well said grasshopper.  But to do that you must get to the kitchen line.  Do you always seek the kitchen line?"

"I do, but sometimes I cannot get there quickly.  I return the serve and it comes back before I can get to the line."

"Yes, there are three common problems with that.  You stand too close to the baseline and lend the deep serve additional menace, or you admire your return and stand wreathed in pride loosing time, or you see your return might be long and you stand in angst."

"Hmm, I can see that master.  Pride and fear and setup lead to dismal results."

"Yes.  Be prepared for a deep serve.  Strike your return with righteous force, believe in your return and stride, neh, leap forward to do battle."

"Is that all master?"

"One more pickleball pro tip, grasshopper.  If you start deep in your court to return the serve, then as you move forward to hit it, run through the shot and use that speed to arrive at the kitchen line.  You will easily get there and setup before the ball comes back.  Very strong position, very early preparation, very happy partner."

"Thank you master.  I will try that."

"Do not try, do or do not. ...Er, the tea has cooled down, would you please fetch the master another cup?"

Paddle Position Thoughts - Updated 10/27

 Update is in the last paragraph...

 Hello there PB fans.  I have taken a renewed interest in paddle positions.  To be more specific about that, the position of the paddle's center line, extending from the bottom of the grip to the end of the blade, that line, would be parallel to the ground for most strokes.

Serves are more of a dropped wrist position, and some dinks would also be more of a low to high scoop shot where the paddle would point towards the court surface than parallel or upwards.

I was watching the pros play and they all seemed to do it that way.  I don't know if this is because they are mostly tennis players, or if this paddle position provides power, accuracy in trajectory, or advantages in producing spin.

I have no answers here and would like to hear your thoughts.  Kirby teaches to have the head of the paddle up, so the center line described above would be above the parallel line to the court surface.

That's the PB thought of the day.  Chime in any of you classically trained pickleball players!

Update: Jordan Briones has a pickleball channel on YouTube.  Good information though he is a bit repetitive for my taste.  He addressed the wrist position in one of his videos on dinking drills.  His view is that the natural wrist position will cause you to hold the paddle with a 30 to 45 degree angle to the arm.  Let your arm dangle with the palm out and you will see the straight nature of hand, fingers are down, but the grip of a paddle will have the angle to the arm.  His view is that this is a more stable condition for the wrist and thus the paddle.  I wonder that if you are having wrist pain, that a different position might be added physical stress.  Something to look at. 

Tennis Elbow, a Public Service Announcement

 For all those who suffer from tennis elbow, I pass on an observation...

Tennis elbow is when the inside of the elbow joint is hurting.  Golfers' elbow is when the outside of the joint is unhappy.

I watch a disc golf video on how to throw a side arm shot.  It's the same motion if you were to skip a stone.  But the important point is that the elbow leads the forearm.  And the forearm leads the wrist/hand.  At the moment of truth, the wrist joint snaps across generating a lot of the speed.

I tend to look for universal solutions and the leading elbow shows up in the golf swing with the trailing arm, and disc golf, and I thought I'd try it with my pickleball shots.

I do have tennis elbow and there are shots in PB that really hurt.  Sorry, I can't tell you what they are, you might be tempted to abuse me.

I tried to lead with the elbow on forehands and of course, that means the serve.  I found that I was getting all the power and accuracy I was used to, plus I could feel that the elbow joint was not being stressed at all.  It felt good.

This also is part of the backhand stroke.  I was not very good at implementing that, but I think it has a lot of promise.  

If you are hurting with the various elbows pains, you might try this modification to your stroke.

Game of Five

 It bothers me when the number of players is not right and one or two people are waiting for a game to finish.  If there is only one game in play it is worse.

I've played five handed a couple of times and it is a nice way to get some practice in, play with all the players, and be punished just a bit for bad play.  The way it works is to start a normal game.  When someone misses a shot, long, short, wide, etc., they sit out the next point and the fifth person takes their place.  

The serve moves to the next server in normal order.  Score is not really kept, as players will be changing sides as the points are played out.  The best part is that the wait time is only one point.  Hey, how long is that?  Probably about three hits on average.

The only thing that is done is keeping track of which server is serving, be it the first or second server.

Now, how do you minimize your own wait time?  That's easy too, don't make any mistakes.  The game encourages steady, conservative play,  Who doesn't need a bit more of that?

It there are six players, then each "loser" will sit out two points before getting back on the court.

Give it a try, it's a nice way to practice/play.

How Long?

 I got into a set of games with folks that were happy to dink. Kind of a rarity for my play.  I was involved in a couple of cross court dinking battles and I was surprised how far and hard I could hit the ball.  The idea of a gentle shove or lift did not seem to apply.

So I'm thinking, "Just how far is that shot?"  And as the astute among you will already be thinking, the number 596 pops up right away.  "Metric?"  No, but we have to take the square root of that number to get to feet.  Pythagoras and early education rises to the surface.

What is that number?  Well, I don't know that one off hand and I'm too lazy to look for a calculator, ask Alexa, or dive into the box of slide rules to find the exact answer.  I do know that the square root of 625 is 25, so it's a bit less than that.  

The exact number  is not real important, because the number does not take into account the net height, nor at what altitude the initial hit is made.  But the distance is of use.  We'd all like to practice that shot and its utility becomes more important the better your opponents.  

The distance is about 8 largish steps, 24 feet.  If you pace those off from the kitchen line towards your opponent's base line you will find that 24 is about half way into the service box or the middle of the transition zone.  

If you want to practice that shot, then when warming up or drilling, practice hitting balls that will go short to middle of the transition area is of use.

 

For those who don't remember the hypotenuse equation it's the sqrt of the sum of other two legs squared, the court is 20 feet wide and the kitchen area is seven feet on each side, so we get 14 and 20 for the legs:
Hyp = sqrt(20^2 + 14^2) = sqrt(400 + 196) = 24.4...

How to Tie One On

 "And now for something entirely different..."  Monte Python

I've noticed a number of players who hold up the game to... tie their shoes.  Since they were already wearing their shoes, it's clear to the most casual observer, that they didn't tie them properly in the first place.

Oh, I was one of you at one time.  For me it was always the right shoe that came loose.  I never figured out why, but it did bother me.  Then I found the light and have been using the "Ian" knot for a few years now.  It's quick to tie, it stays tied, and it's easy to undo.  

I pass on the following link for your edification, time savings, and general life improvement:

https://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/ianknot.htm

Paddle Up or Down? Yes!

  "Master, this humble student wishes to know where to hold his paddle," said the student (S).

"You need to hold it low, middle and high," replied the master.

"Master, I cannot hold it in three places?" said the humble, confused student (HCS).

"It then, is not where to hold the paddle. You must notice when."

"Please enlighten me," said the humble student (HS).

"When the ball to the opponents is low, where must they hit the ball, grasshopper?"

"Why, it has to come up to cross the net!" said the partially enlightened humble student (PEHS)

"And when the ball is hit high to your foes, where will the ball go?" queried the master.

"Ah, I begin to see the light.  The ball must come down to avoid exceeding the back boundary line of shame," replied the almost fully enlightened humble student (AFEHS).

"And when you, grasshopper, dink the ball too high, what will happen then?" asked the master.

"The vengeful foes will seek to speed the point up!" said the fully enlightened humble student (FEHS)

"Yes, grasshopper.  So it is not where you should hold  the paddle but when."  

"If the opponents have a low ball to hit, raise your humble paddle, look for a chance to speed up the point, hit the winning downward dragon shot, or return a modest dink."

"If the ball has popped up, you must expect their downward dragon shot, and attempt to save the point, move back, lower your paddle, try to block."

"And if the ball is up a dangerous amount, watch for a fast ball from those who don't dink, be ready to provide them with an unexpected block, move your paddle to the holy middle position."

"But in all cases, position your paddle for the expected shot.  Grasshopper, your lesson is complete...  Would it be too much to ask for a cup of tea?" quoth the master.

 

Qui Custodiate Media?

 We had to get to the Latin at some point...

Who guards the middle?  And When?  Bonus, a suggested doubles strategy, see case 5.  

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I think this will be the last post on movement.  The subject has been covered with this post and several of the earlier ones in more detail that probably the average reader is interested in.  Hmm, preposition at the end of a sentence...   Bad writer!  But back to the point.  I've tried to apply the information to my own game.  One of the issues with PB is that the ball is changing left to right, back to front, and up to down very quickly.  It's a very dynamic battle to keep moving for the next shot.  When I watch a pro match, usually on YouTube, I like to follow a player who is not engaged in hitting the ball, but is getting ready for a possible opportunity to hit one.  Lots of small movements, always facing the ball/action.  I also recently noticed the side to side distance between pros.  It looks to be about seven feet or so.  They stay close together.  Which leads us to this post.  Enough talk, time to get to the subject...

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As I've written this, it's gotten a bit long, but there is a lot of good stuff here.  It's the fundamentals of PB doubles and worth the wade through.  However, these are my views and yours may differ.  My PB knowledge is hardly thorough or authoritative.  All additional thoughts are more than welcome.  Guest posts are more than welcome!

Ok, into the breach: 

Case 1: Let's start this with an easy case.  Your team is receiving the serve.  One of you is at the KL.  The person at the KL should cover the middle.  They were looking to poach anyways, yes?  Added points if the player at the KL has moved close to or onto the T position.  This is very simplified and assumes the serve was returned up the middle or to the side line away from the guy at the KL, see case five below.

Case 2: Everyone is dinking, we are all at the KL.  Usually there is a lot of cross court action.  If your partner is the target of the cross court dink, you should be sliding over with your partner and becoming a menacing figure in the middle of the court.  If the dinks move from your partner to you, you shift to return, partner shifts with you and takes over the middle.  But in all of this, there is a player watching and responsible for the middle.  Always face the ball.

Case 3: Your partner served and the return comes back up the middle.  It seems to me that the non-server should take more of these third shots as partner is probably a tiny bit awkwardly placed due to having hit the serve.  This is very important if your partner likes to step into the court after hitting the serve.  Of course, that should never happen, but we live in an imperfect world.  :-)  I like to stand quite close to the center stripe and a couple of feet back from the baseline when my partner is serving.  It gives me more time to return the expected middle shot.  I've never found it a problem to start from that position.  The pros typically advance up the middle of the court in these instances, they do not start spread out.

Case 4: Partner hits a drop shot; third or fifth or whatever.  Well, we are all running to the KL, yes, as soon as we see what partner did?  Middle coverage is not horribly an issue if the drop is a good one as we are expecting a dink back.  But if the drop is up a bit, then expect a strong shot up the middle.  When you run up to the KL, you should be running towards the ball, not straight up the court. One of you should be well placed to look for middle balls.  Again, read case 5, as it relates to this too.

Case 5: Your partner returns the serve, and let's think about where it should/might be going.  The usual answer is right up the middle.  However depending on the opps, you might want to vary that a bit.

Let me suggest this variation, return the serve to a side line.  One of your team covers the "down the line shot," the other straddles the T at the KL.  

What's the opp going to do?  What would you do?  They can drop or drive, things to expect from better players, or try to hit the open court area.  The  open area is pretty small and the sideline comes into play quickly.  There are a couple of players who can do this, but it's a short list.  If the opps can't make great shots, there are usually good opportunities for quick points.  And why quick points?  Because if the returner doesn't come forward after hitting the shot, the opps are split with one at the KL and the other back a bit.  This has opened up a lane between them.  You'll be able to hit in front of the returner and behind the guy at the KL.  Very satisfying...

It's a play that I don't see much of at Downs, so you might want to discuss it with your partner.  Basically, this is like the dink strategy, shrink the space between you and your partner and cover the line.  Ice hockey goalies do this "cut down the angle" move all the time. 

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Bonus historical note about "Who will watch the watchers."  This is used today to suggest that you can't trust police, bankers, politicians, etc., or as Reagan said, "Trust but verify."  But in the play, the speaker was discussing the difficulty of protecting property and if he locks it up, can the guardians be trusted?  Now, to toss one more historical wrench into the whole thing, the property was his wife!  O tempora, o mores!

Guest Post from Scott! Good stuff on Movement, Split Steps, and More Court Movement

 Here is a wonderful post from Scott.  His background is in tennis, he's taught, and he's a very nice PB player.  I asked him about trying to return a shot at one's feet.  He was kind enough to think about it and sent in the following post.

First, let's discuss No Man's Land (NML).

So when is it a good time to be in no man's land?

1. When you hit a shot from the baseline and you start coming in but can't make it all the way to the KL.

2. When you just don't move well enough to cover the short balls you should move into NML so you can cover the court better.

3. When you are at the net and your partner hits a lob or sitter try to move back into NML to give you time to have a chance at making the shot.

How to improve your NML play:

1. When you can't get all the way to the KL you need to take a split step before the opponent hits the ball. This helps you get balanced. Once the opponent hits the ball, you then hopefully move forward to hit the ball and then you end up at the KL or maybe just a few more steps closer.

 

A split step means moving forward and off the lead foot you make a hop step and you land with both feet square and on the balls of your feet, preferably right before the opponent hits the ball so you quickly move forward (or right or left) for the shot.

2. When you have a hard time covering the whole court and need to move into NML, stay balanced and on the balls of your feet. Bend those Knees as best as you can. Don't get on your heels, hold your ground.  A low setup will allow you to volley some of the shots that land closely in front of you.

3. When you are in trouble because your partner threw up a lob and you are at the KL and have time, you need to do a reverse split step and land on the balls of your feet and knees bent and get ready to try and block the ball back. Don't give up and hide! A lot of overheads are playable! Don't ever move back and be falling backward and be on your heels, you give yourself almost no chance to make the shot.

Part 2

When is it a bad time to be in NML?

1. When you are at the net and you give ground and end up in the NML. Your opponents love this, they have no reason to hit to your partner who is at the KL because now they can just keep hitting at your feet and watching you play from your heels.

2. When you hit your serve and you or your partner move into NML BEFORE your opponent makes contact with the ball. You need to stay by the baseline and see where the ball goes before you start moving. When it is clear your partner is playing the 3rd shot you should be moving forward into NML and split step, if you see it is a good return, you should move up to the KL.  Don't blindly move to the KL before you can evaluate your partner's shot.  It puts a lot of pressure on partner to be perfect.  That can result in a lot of net shots due to being too delicate with a third shot drop.

3. When you spend to much time in NML or at the baseline because you think you can win by banging ground strokes. Good luck with that! You might hit some flashy shots but in the long run you are going to lose most of the battles. You need to be at the KL!

How the Pros Dink

 The pros are different than you or I...

A couple of things I've noticed when pros dink:

• If the ball is taken on the bounce, they take it at its apex
• Don't use a lot of spin
• Move feet first,
• stop the feet
  
• stretch their arm(s) out, getting the paddle ready
• Hit the dink with an enthusiastic pop

The big difference I see from the casual player is the pop to hit the ball.  It's awfully easy to kind of move the paddle as one would for a full stroke, then slow down as the contact is made.  This is common in golf and it's a bad habit in either sport.  It makes for a weak hit that may well finds the net more than anywhere useful.

Robo does a nice job with the pop.  There may be others; I've not looked for it much.

Obviously, getting to the ball is critical and so is stopping before hitting.  

I would suggest, without getting too preachy, that spin is over rated.  Any spin you put on any ball, will take away speed from the shot, so it's one more variable that us rec players don't need.  It's also very hard to create enough spin that would bother any player.

OK, try some of this, let us all know if this helps.  Good dinkage!

The Many Shots of PB

 I thought I'd make a list...

 Ground strokes - includes drives (5): 

     top spin, flat, cut spin, side spin, inside out

Half Volleys/Short hops(1)

Dinks (21)

     Cross court, middle, straight ahead

        cut, flat, side spin, top spin, body shot, lob, push

Overheads (1)

Drop shots (3)

    From baseline, middle ground, resets when at the KL

At the kitchen line, when punishing opponents longish shots (3)

    flat slap, chop, roll 

Well, that adds up to 34 distinct shots and when we suggest that having them from forehand and backhand is a good idea, we're over 60.  Hmm, lots to learn.  How many of these shots are on your Christmas list?