Playing with or Against Beginners

 I've written a whole bunch of posts about playing when the skill levels are different.  Basically, the better player(s) should dial down their play to just a smidge above the other players.  That provides some challenge and keeps the rallies longer.  The better player can work on placement and consistency and try to play error free as their own challenge.  This way everyone gets some challenge and fun out of the game.  As one of my partners said, "It's not about the score, it's about the rallies!"  She is correct.  Savor the good rallies.

What I have not written about is the case where there are two good players and they want to play together.  I've gotten push back a bit when I do this.  It kind of boils down to, "it's not even teams, or fair, etc."  And I will agree that it isn't fair, but depending on how the good partnership plays, this might be the best way to divide the skill set.  Allow me to explain my position.

I think that PB is a pretty simple game.  Once you can hit the ball reasonably well and stop hitting too hard, then the only thing you have to learn is where to move for the next shot.  That's it.  Sure you have to observe spins and soft shots and drop shots, but those are really not too difficult and a year or two will see you a very good player if you're interested in becoming one.

One of the beauties of PB is that anyone, even the very beginners can pull off a great shot on occasion.   Let's keep this in mind as we move to the next point...

If you trust me that the game is one of movement, then it soon becomes very important to know where your partner will be, what they are going to do, and as part of that, who will hit any particular shot.

If you develop a partnership with someone, you will gain this information.  At some point your team will operate as a well oiled machine.  Soon you can trust your partner to do the right thing.  Of course the play at most parks there is a lot of partnership shuffling and I would suggest that that is not a great policy.  I would encourage you to find someone who is at your level and play with them as exclusively as possible.  I will get back to this.

So, when the forces of evil and the grand karmic schemes break up my partnership, then chaos and injury can lurk nearby...

As I mentioned beginners don't understand where they need to be; when to advance, or stay back or retreat.  And they, if aggressive, will go after balls that belong to their partner.  So, I find that if I want to play well, then I am stretching for shots that partner should take, and I can become a pin cushion when partner hits pop up when they should have dinked, for example.  And I've taken partner's paddles to my hands on occasion.  Band aides have a place in my gear bag.  I'm getting old and the skin is thin and, well, I bruise and bleed easily.  I'd prefer to avoid all that.

So I really don't enjoy playing with beginner as a partner, but I'm happy to play at a lower level against them.

When I was a beginner and played at Downs there was no interest in playing at a lower level by the better players.  One specific player would simply put away every shot that came to him.  Well, pretty soon no one would hit him a ball and he couldn't really understand why.  Had he played back a shot that would have made more a longer and more interesting rally, he would have had a lot more action.  Out of this learning ground came the idea that better players should not play was well as they can, but play to match the game they are in.

Now, if you are interested in becoming a better player, then you will learn a lot more playing against a good player than playing with them.  You'll have to think about why you are not winning and what you might be doing wrong, but the instruction is there.  Most players are more than welcome to talk pickleball and asking a question in the middle of a rec game, I think is very appropriate.  I would welcome that, speaking for myself and I think the PB 101 teachers would be happy to talk.  There is usually some standing around between games, so don't be shy!  

(Maybe the next post should be, "Why you lose at pickleball."  That's been written in the blog over and over, but maybe a short summary would be useful.)

 

Third Shot Thoughts

I had an interesting question asked today and that was, "You and your partner are at the baseline and both opponents are at the kitchen, how do you drive the ball through them?"

It was stated but this is the third shot strategy, so every time you are serving, you are faced with this situation.  So, let us reason a bit together.  And take under advisement the idea to "drive it through them."

You've got three basic options, drive the ball, drop the ball, or lob.  The idea of lobs came up and regular readers with already know that I'm not a fan of lobs.  If they outlawed them, that would be fine with me.  I think they upset the nature of classical PB game and are aesthetically upsetting to me.  I know that there are players out there who don't mind and even, relish, the idea of lobbing.  Well, we shouldn't shun them and we would like to the adult on the court, but still something ought to be done.  Perhaps a snide, "Nice shot partner" would work.  However if I am honest, I don't mind my partner lobbing, but I do mind the opponents doing it.  It's a vast streak of weakness in my character and I'll apologize here and now.

So we don't lob...  So drive or drop?  Well, for a long time I've been a dropper.  If I don't drop, then I'll hit a softish shot with a lot of top spin as it will be below the net when it's returned and that is really the key to a lot of shot choices.  If the opponents have to lift the ball over the net rather than being able to hit the ball flat or downwards, I'm very happy.  And I'm happy in that I can advance towards the net.  The game is played at the net and until you are there you are at a serious disadvantage.

Now, life pro tip, as soon as you see that the ball will bounce or the opponents will have to hit the shot from a low position, you want (must) move aggressively to the kitchen line.  If they hit a pop up, you can usually end the point by hitting the ball at their feet.  If they manage to dink, usually their best choice, then you will be in a position to dink it back.  (And if they hit it in the net, you are well placed to offer sympathy.)  This is really important and beginners don't see it or know it or look for it.  But this is the crux of pickleball, hit a soft or low shot and then get into an aggressive position at the net.

And where do we aim this soft shot?  Even if both opponents are at the net and ready, a shot that lands in the middle is very effective.  If you only hit the ball to the middle, you will do very well.  I probably hit 90% of my shots to the middle.  Beginner and intermediate players are horrible at covering the middle.  And if they are both there, frequently there is confusion about who will return the shot.  Since most games change partners every game, those details are never discussed.  

One more option and that is to hit the third shot hard, then drop the fifth.  I'm fine with this strategy and you will see that very frequently in higher level games and at the pro level.  But they always follow the hard third with a soft fifth.

I'll close with thoughts on driving the ball.  When you start playing, it's easy and fun to hit the ball hard.  And it will work very well until you run across 4.0 level players or racquet ball players, i.e., folks who can handle a hard shot.  At that point, the drives without a soft game will not work and you'll lose like crazy.  The soft game is not needed early on, but it's vital if you keep playing.  And one more point, hitting ball hard at beginners is poor sportsmanship in my opinion.  We are playing to have a good time and when players are nervous about being hit or hurt, then the drive is not the way to play.  It's also been my experience that bangers have too much power and very little control, which makes it possible to really hurt someone.  So play appropriately to your opponents, thank you, thank you very much.

Service Returns

 I was talking to a long term PB friend and I asked him what area of the game he would like to improve the most.  He said, "Service returns."

Ah, an excellent choice...  I pay attention to how many times I err when returning and it may be a topic that I've not written about much, so allow me to explain my thoughts.  Maybe that will create a conversation or give you all something to think about.

First off, I like to get well behind the baseline.  This gives me some extra time to get into position and I will never have to back up to hit a return.  There is a disadvantage to this and that is that "clever" server will assume I can't get to a short serve.  The trick is to watch the serve closely and judge how hard it has been hit.  The sound of the strike is also a good indicator as to where the serve will land.

As soon as I've figured out the serve, direction and depth, then I'm moving.  I would like to stop before I hit the return, but that's not always possible.

If I can hit the return with my forehand, I will almost always hit it with top spin and into the middle of the court.  Deeper is better than shallower, but I'm not worried too much about a short return as I will always move to the kitchen line and stop and get my paddle up to return the third shot. 

The importance of getting to the kitchen line cannot be over exaggerated.  Being stopped with paddle up is very important too.  I'll digress away from our topic for a moment.  If I hit the service return to the middle of the court, then I will run towards the middle of the court.  Some of this depends on my partner, who should have already moved over to cover the center of the court.  If I return to my sideline, then I will advance directly towards the ball.  I want to be directly in front of my opponent.  That cuts down on the angle available to my opponent for the third shot.  My partner will cover more of the middle in this scenario.  

If I return cross court, my partner slides to their left and I will move to the middle of the court at the kitchen line.

Backhand returns...  I tend to hit backhands with some back spin, which causes the ball to float a bit and it's easier for me to hit a shot long with that kind of spin.  The avoid that, I will generally not hit as deep a shot with the backhand.  And like a lot of players my backhand is more awkward than my forehand.

And like the forehand, I'm happy to hit this shot to the middle of the court and then move up as described in the above paragraphs.

And that is about it.  I rarely hit cross court as I don't want to start an angle war with my opponents and I find that hitting almost all shots to the middle causes fewer misses on my part and a middle shot can be difficult even for good players.

Playing in an Unevenly Skilled Game

 I've talked about playing with players who have very different skill levels before.  I wanted to touch on this a bit more.

The May Nissen games are interesting.  I spent my formative years at the Downs before seeking more social contact and more fun.  MN is quite good in both those areas.  And in my opinion, the play is about what Downs was a few years back.  Maybe not quite at that level, but the differences between the beginners and advanced at MN is a lot closer than it was at the early days of Downs.  And everyone is getting better.

When I get the chance, I like to play with a regular partner.  And the last couple of times out to Muirwood and MN, I've done that.  Most of the time that means that my partner and I are more experienced than the people we play against.  My goal and usually that of my partner, is not to win every game, but to play at a good level and try not to make a lot of mistakes.  I will also frequently not put away pop ups and such as there is no real point to that, it ends the rally, which is bad, and is boring.  

If you remember the post about Mark, a 4.3 player, who was almost too tough to beat.  I realized that I could learn more by playing against him than playing with him.  To do that there are a couple of things you want to do.  Forget about winning, you probably can't in any case and there worrying about the score will get in the way of your ability to analyze what's going on during the points.

For example, Mark was very fast and would poach almost always.  Hitting a floating shot over the middle of the net towards his partner would not work.  OK, note to self, keep the ball low.  Maybe hit it down Mark's alley on occasion to keep him more honest.

If you play against me, I will try to control the kitchen line, always.  If you stay on the baseline after hitting a service return, I will always hit the ball to you and then I will move to the kitchen line.  That will require you to hit a vary good shot.  Anything marginal and I'll try to keep you pinned in the back.

After playing awhile we all find a style of play and a set of shots with which we are comfortable.  It's hard to stray from the style of play and shots.  Fine, we all do that.  But if we come up against a pair that are challenging and maybe play a different style, it's rarely good to try to outplay them by adopting their style.

A example of this from my play.  There are some pairs that hit the ball pretty hard and whether it goes in or not is kind of a secondary consideration.  It is not in my best interest to try to outhit them.  And it's been my experience that bangers are happy to hit hard balls, but struggle with soft shots.  Even soft serves can cause them problems.  Basically, you have to play your own game.  That can be scary, but it's been my experience that it's surprisingly effective.

A couple more thoughts on playing against bangers.  They hit a lot of out balls.  And since they hit the ball hard, if they don't skim the net, there is a good chance the ball is long.  It is very much a skill to duck a hard shot.  A proper ready position will allow you to drop your entire body.  And, most importantly, expect and look for these shots.  Most players will telegraph such a shot with a big windup; your first indication that a duck might be proper.

To improve your skill at spotting out balls, watch some of the games with the hitters.  You will see that a lot of balls that are going out are played.  Make your opponents earn their points, don't hit out balls.

Final word on ducking, a useful phrase my friend Betsy passed on to me...  "Shoulder high, let it fly!"  Or something like that.

Good ducking and happy play my friends.

Errors and Winners Part II

 Readers will remember the post from yesterday and described a ratio of about 4 errors to every put away.  Those data were found in a 4.0 men's doubles game.

I watched a women's pro doubles match.  The first game ended at 11-1, and what was surprising is that there were almost no outright winners hit.  There were 15 errors for every put away.

So although the pros get back almost everything they can get a paddle on, the big loss of points was net balls and balls gone long.

Keep the ball in play my friends!

Errors and Winners

 It is generally reported that PB is a game of errors.  And that the team with the lesser errors will win most games.

I wanted to try to confirm this so I watched and counted all the errors in a 4.0 men's double game to 15 that I found on YouTube.  There were 12 put aways and 45 errors.  In this match, points were about four times more likely to end in an error than in a put away.  My experience is that this is fairly representative of rec play at most levels.  Few of us are at the 4.0 level and that would mean more errors. 

These guys were not seniors, but they were not 20 either.  Many points were classical pickleball with some dinking.  Most of the shots were not very hard.  This was not a banger game.  There was some driving and blocking, but for the most part, it was drops and strategic play and dinking.

What can be learned from this?  It was a slower and more controlled game than one would see normally at the various parks around the local valleys, and still the big problem was the lack of control on shots.  Most of the errors were into the net with probably long shots the next most frequent error.  There were some wide shots, but not too many.

In this game, where there are four errors to any winning shot, the prudent player might strive to avoid errors.  There is little need to hit winners, if three quarters of the points are decided by errors.  

The lesson here is to get the ball back and in play.  Don't speed it up unless you are hitting a sitter.  If the shot is difficult at all, then hit a conservative shot or dink or something up the middle and give the opponents a chance to fail.

Where to Hit It

 I was teaching a Skills and Drills class last Friday.  This was my first time teaching in the evening and while it was quite hot to start with, the temperature dropped with the sun and grew comfortable.  The light wasn't the greatest towards the end, but I never needed to switch to non-sunglasses.  Always wear glasses!

One rule of thumb had occurred to me recently and I passed it on to the students I had.  

Here is the scenario, you've served the ball and it's been returned to you.  We are hitting the third shot.  My philosophy about the game lists the third shot as the most important in a point.  What direction the point takes is mainly controlled by where you will hit the third shot.

Case 1)  If the service returner does not come up to the kitchen line, then always return the ball to that person.  You want to keep them at the baseline.  You will hit the ball deep and automatically move to the kitchen line.  You must move up, this is such a strong strategic position for your side, that you cannot ignore it.  Hit and run up.

Case 2)  If the returner is still running up to the kitchen line, then hit the ball to him.  Aim for the feet.  The shot doesn't have to be hard.  The deeper the person is, the more you can advance towards the kitchen line.

Case 3) Both opponents are at the same depth on the court, be it up or deep, then hit the ball in the middle.  If they are at the kitchen line, then I like to drop the ball, but still target the middle of the court.  These shots are a problem for even experienced partnerships.

One more situation that comes up, it is fairly rare but it's important to get right.  You are going to hit a ball and you are deep in the court and your partner is at the kitchen line.  Both of your opponents are at the kitchen line.  You must hit the ball to the opponent in front of your partner.  You can cheat a bit towards the middle, but make sure the person in front of partner will field the shot.  Why is this?  You and your partner are split apart and there is a large vulnerable diagonal alley between both of you and you cannot cover it.  If your shot goes to the person in front of you, they will return the ball down this alley.  Hitting to the opponent in front of partner provides coverage for the alley.  If you hit a bad shot, partner might get whacked, but it gives your side a chance to get into the point.

So I tell my students this in the Skills class and student looks at me like I've got mismatched sneakers on and suggests that it's a really good bit of knowledge, but she had no confidence is controlling her shot to that degree.  Well, yes, maybe not now, but soon...

The astute reader will realize that I've never mentioned hitting the ball for a sideline.  There are some really good reasons for that.  It's a much more difficult shot.  Lot's of misses for each perfect down the line shot you hit.  Hitting for edges cross court is very difficult unless you are hitting at dinking speed.  I will hit for a sideline when I'm up at the net and I get a high ball and my opponent can't cover it.  I'll hit it very gently to keep it in.  PB is a game of mistakes and hitting the shots to the middle will eliminate an awful lot of errors.  Try it!

Getting Ready for the Next Shot

 Recently I played against a 4.3 player for about five games and here are some thoughts about that experience...

A couple of observations:

    He could be beaten - kind of depended on who his partner was

    He made mistakes; he hit it long, netted, rarely wide, didn't miss serves

    His super power was getting around the court - so basically movement and anticipation of play

    He didn't hit the ball extremely hard, but he was happy to drive third shots and go mano a mano with the player directly in front of him.  He might have been playing down a bit in play level as he was the best player on the court.  The others probably in the high 3 DUPR level.  

    He mentioned one aspect of play that resonated with me and that is to make sure you are stopped and split stepped before your opponent hits the ball.  I've been aware of this, but probably was willing to trade getting closer to the kitchen line rather than being in a good ready position.  Well, Mark, was really good at hitting to my feet and had I been more ready for that shot, I think it would have been better for me.  After he mentioned this, I made a point of stopping sooner and being ready.  I found this an improvement as I could return shots more accurately in re speed and location, and since I was deeper in the court I had more time to adjust position and paddle and hit the ball.  The important factor was the increased time I had to hit the ball and the ability to move laterally -- really hard when you are moving forward.

Let me talk a little bit more about the above paragraph.  If you are playing against opponents who don't play a saft game, then you don't have to stop as early.  A hard shot is usually easier to play as it is less likely to be at your feet.  Basically, the more control your opponent has, the earlier you want to stop and split step.

The strategy of PB is one of removing time your opponent has and gaining it for your team.  Poaches and Ernies and Berts are all designed to short cut the time your opponents have.  Maybe you can catch them moving or out of position with those plays.  I believe that poaches and crashing are required at any advanced level of play.