About Those Out Shots

 At the meet and greet, sadly without wine, one of the Downs' regulars asked about out balls, when and what, basically.

This topic has been addressed a couple of times most likely in conjunction with other topics, yet it deserves its own post.  Let's explore this useful topic.

The first point I will make is that out balls are not rare.  But frequently they do not end the point.

Secondly, if you want to get good at ducking, then a big part of that is to expect out balls.  Actually, you want to hope an out ball is hit to you.  What is more consistent than ducking?  A good ready position allows you to duck easily.

Most out balls that you can duck will take place when you are at the net and the opponents aren't.  They might be at the baseline or moving up, but this is one of the more frequent scenarios.

So, how to judge...  Firstly watch a match and evaluate how many shots would go long.  It's a surprising number.  

Secondly, an out ball is usually hit pretty hard, it's usually pretty high over the net, and it might have some backspin on it.  So a ball that is hard, high and spinning, is not going to land in.  Step aside and give your opponent a wry smile.  I like to add a compliment, for example, "You got all of that one!"  Just to keep things light you understand.

Spin is a big part of this as it causes the ball to sail a bit, so if it's spinning, it doesn't have to be very hard nor high to go out.  

The one shot that can fool you is a high shot with a lot of top spin on it.  The good and the bad about the pickle ball is that its velocity decays rapidly and with some top spin, it will stay in.

Like poker, you want to be playing the player and not just the shot hit.  There are those players who will always hit the ball hard, and others who will always chop spin the ball.  And there are folks who do both, sometimes always!  These guys are most likely to hit out balls.  Know your opponents!  Study them and compile a book of weaknesses. 

When all parties are at the net, there are a lot of out balls too.  Mostly from folks who don't dink much.  They hit shots that are not "lobby," i.e., they have little spin and will not land in the kitchen.  A lot of those shots are going to go long.  However it's hard to let them go or even to duck as decision time is limited and you might be the target.  But stepping aside is worth doing on occasion as it keeps the opponents honest and you can learn what shots are going to be long.  Again, looking for specific shots is a way to speed up your decision making.

I hope this helps, it's a big part of the game.  The more people let bad shots go out, the more likely folks will adopt a more genteel style, which suits my vision of a wonderful future.