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.
One addition that I think is important is the “other dimension”. Which may be vertical or horizontal, but could be viewing the clock from directly above the player looking down. 12:00 is straight ahead from where they are facing. Many recommend a 10:00 position to favor the backhand. I do this because it is easier for me to transition a longer distance to a forehand, plus I can use the backhand to quickly take all shots bangers hit at the body. Thoughts?
ReplyDeleteSo if we’re playing doubles together and you hear me yell “Knight to Queen’s Bishop 4!” You’ll know I am saying in code for you to hit a cross court deep dink to the opponents backhand.
Excellent comment. One of the pb congratulations mentioned set plays, e.g., return cross court short, crowd line and middle, look to end the point quickly.
DeleteIgnore the typo in the first reply... I've seen advice that you want to hit the ball when it's in front of you. There is a hemisphere of activity centered at one's naval. And how often do we hit our own knee? But that's a post for another day. I find it easier to have the paddle across my body a bit when at the KL, when at the back line, there will be more time to shift around and I favor the forehand a bit for hard shots, so the paddle might be held more like a sword facing outward.
DeleteI was defending against Mats today and realized that if I could get in a low crouch with a slight backhand bias, I was in good shape to return successive shots. I liked my ability to see the ball from that position. Thanks for the thoughts.