Why a Drop is Better for a Third Shot

After I reached a certain level of pickleball play, I learned about third shot drops.  I had not heard of them early in my play as I started with two other friends and we taught ourselves to play.  We were starting from scratch, we had all played tennis, so it wasn't too hard to play proto-pickleball, but of the interesting details and shots, we knew nothing.  I found some videos and made my friends watch them.  What is a game without homework?  

The three of us played at the Downs for about a year.  It was pre-Covid and we never saw another player.  We played two on one for that entire time.  Finally we found a fourth.

Then Covid showed up and then a hoard of players showed up and the rest is history.  Two of the original four retired after pickleball injuries.  

Now since those early days, I like to think that my knowledge of the game has moved on a bit.  And I wanted to talk about third shot drops.  They showed up in my experience at some point, probably not early on.  My early play was pretty ignorant.  Ok, on to discussion.

My current "model" of the game is that it's like king of the hill.  The hill being the kitchen line or net area.  Dominate that and you dominate the game.

To that end, all play that allows you to move towards the net, is good stuff and ought to be encouraged.  

Drop shots are the main tool that the serving sides uses to get to the net.  There is nothing more effective than a good drop.  

Frequently a third shot drive is effective, but it less effective in allowing the team to move up.  My reasoning for that is that a drive is a harder hit shot and thus is returned faster.  If you move up when hitting a drive, you might get only one or two steps before you have to defend the fourth shot.  With a drop, more time is available and you can move forward earlier and you have more time to move.

If the service returner is not coming forward to the net, then always drive back at them and you rush the net.  

Finally, I find it easier to play when I know that partner is going to drop.  I will move up as the drop is hit and hopefully be ready to aggressively defend the fifth shot from the kitchen line.  A driven shot requires that the serving side needs to hang back a bit and see how the fourth shot is handled.  

That's my case for a third shot drop.  Yes, they are more difficult to hit than a drive, but more satisfying when they come off.  If you hit a bad third shot, you stay back and defend.  That defense is a needed skill and don't feel you failed because the third was not perfect.

Mini lesson on how to hit a drop.  The key to this shot is to lift the ball and to do this you want a swing that will end over your head.  Think of a big lazy, long swing.  The ball should be at least eight feet in the air at its apex.  Too high is not an issue, but how close it comes to the net is vital.  A high shot will be dropping vertically and is hard to hit.

But Wait, here is a bit more... Apparently a third shot lob is an actual thing.  I'm not a great fan of lobs as I think they distort the time space fabric and are awkward at the best of times.  But you can lob as a third shot.  The downside would that you hit it out or you get an overhead back, both of which you'll have to weigh against pushing the people off the net.  So maybe a frequency analysis would be a good thing before doing this a lot.