Responsibilities, Shots, and Positions
If you think about PB as being a bit of a chess match, then position and positional advantage is worthy of discussion. Summary at the end of the post.
Case 1, Defending against the Third shot
The usual scenario is that the second shot (service return) is hit deep into the middle (of course) and the guy who hit the second shot moves toward the net. The servers will usually hit the third ball back to the guy moving toward the net. (Pro tip, be settled when the third shot is hit. If you can't get up the net a lot, then hit a more "lobby" second shot to get more time to move forwward. The pros frequently will be sprinting to get into position.)
The proper/aggressive/unfriendly play here is that the guy already at the net should want to poach that third shot in the worst way. He should be looking for any shot that's above the net that he can cover. He feels free to cut across the entire court to get to it, and is prepared to move in front of his partner. The bad way to do this is to stretch and lean to hit the ball, instead take an extra step or two and be in a good position to hit it. Keep your feet moving as the third is hit and react to it.
You want to tell the opponents that any weak shot will be poached. That adds a lot of pressure to third shots, especially if the second shot is deep and or hard.
If you don't poach the third shot, establish a position in the middle of the court if the second shot is in the middle or on partner's side of the court. If the shot is coming from your side of the court, then you must cover a lot of the line and forsake the middle a bit. Not to worry, in that case partner is advancing into the middle position. From partner's point of view, this is the "run towards the ball" rule of thumb, rather than just moving straight ahead to the net.
Case 2, Third Shot Selection to Avoid the Above!
In Case One we saw that any marginal second should be poached. What to do about that? I like drop thirds, but they are difficult. So let's talk hitting the ball harder.
Hitting to the returner is a good shot usually. In a rec game the returner might not be getting all the way to the net and or might still be moving, making their fourth shot very difficult. If the returner wants to stay back, and it happens in the best of families, then absolutely hit the ball that direction and make sure the ball is going over the net and in the court. You've been handed a huge advantage, so don't do something silly like a net ball or hitting too long.
If your opponents don't poach, then absolutely hit to the returner and keep the ball well above the net.
If you can hit a top spin shot, this is the time to do it. If you can make the ball dip below the net, then it doesn't matter where you hit it. This is a very strong shot and difficult to attack. Expect a high shot coming back, so be ready to move into the court and volley the 5th shot.
You and partner will move into the court following all reasonable third shots. If you can hit a deep return to a non-advancing defender, then expect to move all the way up and own the net.
Typically on driven third shots, the returns are not as hard as the drive, i.e., you've gained some advantage. You follow the shot in towards the ball as you'd like to volley the fifth. You don't want it to bounce on your side and you're hoping it's been popped up, and you'll volley down into the court. Even if it comes out low, a soft volley is good as it will allow you to advance further towards the net.
Your goal as servers is always to get to the net. Don't hit a huge aggressive fifth shot unless you get a very weak fourth shot. If you drove the third, then a dink, or softly angled fifth is a very nice shot. You will not generally be hitting this ball from the baseline, so you should be more accurate with it. Hitting this shot hard is usually not the best play, think soft and low. Again, work to get to the net.
The third shot drive doesn't have to be low to the net. It's better if it is, but most players can't put away a hard, driven shot. You usually will get a blocked ball that drops at mid court, you then drop or continue to drive.
Don't worry about that third shot going out as if it's in reach it's unlikely the opponents will duck it. (They should be looking for an out shot, but usually you'll get away with them. A future post will be on "How to Hit Out Balls Successfully." See more on this below.)
If the fifth is returned, you keep volleying and advancing. It's fine to hit a soft shot off the volley if it gets your side to the net. Middle shots at any speed will work well in this scenario. I prefer soft because I want the ball to be below the net when the opponents hit it. If that happens the next shot has to come up and those balls are easier to hit down into the opponents' feet, as long as you are up at the net.
Note that with a third shot drive you are very likely to be playing the next shot from the transition area. This is not a bad thing. Your goal is to get to the net, so look to hit a soft volley if you've got that shot. It's usually possible to drop to the outside of the court and someone's backhand. Transition play is an interesting subject. I like being there as I advance. When you are warming up, stay in the transition area for some practice. Most shots are at the net, second most frequent are those in the transition area.
I see a lot of bangers who hit every ball that is remotely high as hard as possible. The soft shot dropped to a back hand is harder to return than a high hard shot. They also usually hit the shots with little top spin. A lot of these shots are going out, even if hit from the net area. Watch for them. Most players will wind up to hit the hard shot, be prepared to duck those shots. Expecting out balls when you see the wind up is good pickleball.
Case 3 Dinking Play
General setup... The point has settled into some kind of dinking point. This usually means that the ball will be going cross court most of the time and there will be two players watching the action most of the time.
The point will change when a dink is going to the middle, has strayed too close to the middle and is high, or the ball is sped up. The two players not involved in the cross court hitting should be looking for a ball they can intercept. That ball is up, over the middle and close enough to reach in and slap it. Hitting this up the middle will usually end the point.
Another task for the non-hitters is to cover the middle. You don't want to provide a gap for a hard middle shot. This requires constant side to side movement as the rally goes on. Face the ball's position. Note that protecting the down the line shot is not as important. That is a hard shot to hit and the ball is not moving fast when it is hit there. There is usually time to cover this shot, expect it, but don't worry about it more than a middle shot.
Pro tip: How to know where the shot is going... Watch the paddle angle as your opponent hits the ball.
A rule of thumb would be to be more in the center of the court than the opponent across the net from you, not a lot, but some. The middle is the danger area. You will get speed ups in this area, so be prepared to block shots and not hit them. If the middle shot is not hard, then just gently hitting it back deep into the middle is effective.
Summary:
OK, there is a lot there and it's sometime difficult to understand a lot of this without some diagrams or pictures. But the executive summary would look something like this:
Return serves deeply, keep them high over the net, start moving into the court, expect the third shot to be hit to you.
Third shots should be hit to the service returner usually, but always if they don't move up. If the opponents don't poach, then hit the third shot conservatively above the net. Top spin shots are well suited to this. Drop shots to the middle are fine.
Fourth shots should be volleyed if possible, because you were moving into the court to follow up on your great third shot!
At the net, someone needs to watch the middle, always. Keep your feet moving, face the ball, watch paddle faces.
No comments:
Post a Comment