More Thoughts on Dinking

 I like a dinking game for its finesse and stylish points.  But I'm not real sure of my theoretical foundation.  I've hit dinks that I thought were unattackable, yet they were attacked.  The more I dink the more questions I have.  And another dinking post is probably overdue.  I'm still learning a lot and the knowledge base continues to change.  Then as my father would say, "Don't forget your aperceptive mass, as it won't forget you."  Well, he might not have stated it that way, but he was aware of the aperceptive knowledge base...

In an earlier post about dinks, I think it was called "Dink like the Pros" or something.  I mentioned a couple of things that pros do, to wit, they extend the arm, then run, then lean, then stroke the ball a little bit.  The stroke is with the arm, not the hand.  Also the angle of the wrist/paddle and the direction of the stroke are important.  The shorter the dink, the more upward and lifting the stroke is, and the longer, typically cross court shots are more of a push, and are flatter in trajectory.  

I have no quarrel with any of the above.  I think there is more to say on where you want to place the shot and other aspects.  

Assume I'm dinking and I'm in the left hand side of the court at the kitchen line (KL).  I can hit to the left most side line, which a few degrees to my left, straight ahead, to my direct opponent (DO), to his left side, the cross court opponent's (CCO) right side, at the CCO and to the CCO's left side, which is basically the right side line and finally right between the opps - but more discussion about that later.

And that is about it, assuming I don't want to speed it up.  We'll talk more on that down post, too.

A couple of observations.  A lot of the dinks points consist of cross court shots. The shots tend to get closer and closer to the net as those shots build on each other.  Question, what is the reset shot for that?  The ball is getting closer to the net, you're getting pulled wider and wider and it doesn't seem to be going in your favor.  Where do you dink to interrupt this?  The experts say to hit it to the CCO's right side, which is right middle if you are hitting it from left side.  One thing to be careful is that your DO is looking to whack a ball that crosses the middle too high.  This shot needs some care, but it should get you off the cross court merry go round.  It may be you will be right back into a cross court battle, but you will reset from the "how close to the net can I hit it" circus.

If you are hitting cross court, the ball tends to be closer to the net and with that trajectory, they're going to go deeper into the court.  If the opps are fairly close to the KL, then the ball probably can't and won't be sped up.  There is always the body shot, however.

High dinks: if the ball is short enough, then it won't be sped up. But, then the lobbers like to lob, bless their hearts, rather than hit a respectable dink.  Such is life and there is little to be done about them.   (Hmm, maybe booing them would help to change behavior?)

Lobs are one of the problems with a dink or any shot that gives the opp a lot of time to think about their next shot.  You'll see this same issue when a serve is too high and not very deep.  Sharply angled shots with lots of top spin come out of that scenario.  The solution is more pace and depth, with depth being more important.  

A high dink that goes cross court is usually safe.  These can be quite high actually.  Beware the opp who is not receiving the ball, but has long arms.  A high dink to the middle will be punished.

Let's talk of depth too.  A lot of the pros will keep most dinks landing in the deep third of the kitchen.  But they are good at them and don't hit into the net like us rec players.  I think a touch more height and depth are a better goal in general.  

I like the dink that is deep enough that the opp wants to volley, but short enough for doubt to creep in.  That causes more thought and limits what shots are available.  

Note also that the ball is near the opp's feet, which is a great place to hit and they really can't hit it hard from there.  Look for a lot of net balls if you can hit it there and weak pop ups -- be ready to punish.  Tip: if a dink looks like it's not coming over, then prepare for a net ball and maybe step into the kitchen. 

Hitting unexpected dinks...  If you watch Matz a bit, you'll see some crazy angles and paddle work.  It may be a deal with the devil, not sure, but there are insane things coming from his paddle.  They are hard to read too, which can make an opponent feel disoriented and out of position.  So how can we steal a bit of Matz's magic?  If you hit a shot with the paddle wildly out of alignment with the stroke, the ball will go in the direction of the paddle.  If the angle of the paddle is altered just at impact the ball's direction will be hard to read.

A lot of players will watch your body position and arm movement to predict where the ball will be directed.  Practice looking one way and hitting the ball elsewhere.  It's kind of a blind shot, but since it's not hit hard, it's not too difficult to do.

What do you watch when dinking, the opp's paddle or body or head, or eyes?  There are valid reasons for all those, but I think watching the paddle is the best technique.  It's difficult to do, but worth the effort to learn.  But the best way to be prepared is the history of your opponent.  It's rare that people will do unexpected things.  Watch and learn!  A small number of folks will dink directly back across the net.  For the others it is a cross court shot almost always.  And a cross court shot will be followed by another cross court shot, so if you are the cross court position, move to return it.  If the ball doesn't go to you, you'll have time to move to a more central location as your partner will be returning the ball.

Middle shots...  I mentioned them up above.  I'll almost always hit a speed up shot there if the ball is high enough and I can hit it with top spin.  As to just hitting a dink in the middle, I don't have enough experience to evaluate the shot.  I would say, that if you normally don't do it, then do it occasionally just to keep the opps guessing.

Speed ups:  In the world of Down's PB, I think you should speed up any time you can get it over the net.  If you miss a lot of them in the net, then your view of what is "high enough" is lacking.  When in doubt don't do it.  Also there is statistical data about speed ups.  If your opps are good at counter hitting, you may be at a disadvantage to start the speed up if you can't hit a real good one.  But if the opps don't counter well, then do it as much as you can. 

 Body Shots: I've done them, the pros do them, I don't have a problem if they are hit softly.  Whacking the ball hard is not nice per my new way of thinking.  I don't want to hurt anyone, but I'm fine with a couple of gentle pops to the chest.  (Well, Robo didn't like it and hasn't forgotten!  Another story for another time.  :-)) They are easy to hit from a dink that is soft and right in front of the victim.  Keep your paddle up at all times!  Beware!  Look for the gleam in the eyes!

I guess I'm done for the moment.  Time for more play, observations and data.  See you when the courts allow it.  Merry Christmas to my fellow PBers.  It's been a great year and I look forward to next year's challenges.