A Couple of Things from Today's Play

 Item One:

My partner served from the left court.  The service return came slightly to my side.  It was mishit and popped up and it was going to bounce about middle of the transition area and bounce high.  There was no confusion about who would take the shot and I moved to hit a forehand.

The opponent was a couple of steps into the court from the baseline.  He is a reasonable player and if his return were deeper he would have advanced all the way to the kitchen.  

I was able to hit the shot I wanted, not very hard, but it landing just outside of his backhand foot and he wasn't able to return it.  So, end of point.

He asked about what he could have done with the point.  It was a good question and I hadn't thought much about it.  My answer was that since his shot was pretty weak, he would be better placed to stay fully back, or to make sure he was in a very low crouch as that was the likely location of the shot.  Staying upright was wrong as the ball has to be hit quite low to stay in the court.  Whether he could play the shot well from a low position is another question, but he would have had a better chance.

Rather than retreating, how about coming in deeper and trying for a volley?  With his shot short and bouncing high, I think that would a more difficult shot to return.  He would have less time, though the shot might have been higher in the air and easier to hit.

Let's think about a different service return that might be short, but was not going to bounce very high.  This is actually an effective return as the ball has to be hit upwards to clear the net.  With that return, I like the play of moving in aggressively and looking for volley and perhaps a put away if the third shot is poor.

"If the ball will bounce high, stay back.  If it's going to be low, then come on in."

Item Two

I played with a couple that were new to the game.  There were some tennis skills there and there could some very nice shots.  The problem was they didn't know how to play pickleball.  Where to stand and where to move were unknown to them.  So, basic knowledge of the differences between PB and tennis were the missing element.  

On the good side, their ability to hit the ball will allow them to get pretty good quickly.  

Some of the commentators on the pro matches have mentioned the transition of pro tennis players to pro PB and have talked about this.  

There is enough material in positional play for a full class.  It not too complex, but there are some patterns and situations that are not obvious.  Good play also requires both players to be aware of the same things.   I'm reminded of Angel discussing these things for multiple hours with his partner.  The curious reader will find a lot of info on this in prior posts.  :-)