Hitting the Shot You Wanted, but Doing it Well

 In almost all rallies that last more than a few shots, someone will get to hit the shot they want.  Or get a chance to hit the shot they want.

Almost all of the "sitter" shots are at the kitchen line and are fairly high above the net.  

So what happens?  About 40% of those "easy" shots end up going into the net.  I have a theory but before I get to that let's set the scene a bit. The sitter is the culmination of all the play of the point.  You've made shots that were not easily attackable and now you have one you should be able to put away.  This is the shot you've been waiting for.

Technically what I think happens is that most people increase their swing speed by about 50%, which changes the timing of the strike.  You end up hitting the ball with the paddle pointing into the net.  If you had hit it with your normal swing speed, the paddle face aligns with the open court.  

As I mentioned in a prior post about the push shot, the paddle face alignment to the proper target during a shot, if the shot is a swing, is a small window of opportunity.  Swing early and a right hand forehand shot goes left, a late swing goes right.  Most of the slams are forehand shots but on a vertical plane, so early goes into the net and late goes into the back fence.

My solution to this error, and it's my solution to many, many errors, is don't swing harder than your usual shot.  We think that a hard, speedy shot will be successful and it frequently is, but it's prone to producing errors.  People who make few errors are very difficult to beat.  Fortunately they are very rare at the rec level.  If you want to be unbeatable, just get your shots in, don't try to put them away.  I'm frequently called "nonchalant" on the court, and it's usually when I hit a shot by not hitting it very hard.  There is a lot of time to hit a ball.  More than you think and it takes experience to use this time to hit the ball properly without over hitting it.  

Having said all of this.  I struggle with hitting these shots too hard as well.  We get keyed up in the moment and the speed and can't manage to hit a hard drive softly, or a sitter gently.   But I work at this.  

I was talking to one of the regulars at the park today and he had coached tennis a lot.  He is signed up for the Harvest Crush  tournament and we had discussed how frequent errors are a problem.  He and his partner spent a couple of games just counting the number of out shots they hit.  He found that keeping track of how many they made them less likely to create them.  I think that works.  I keep track of service errors per week and also I'm very aware of service return errors.  If I'm playing well, those two statistics are small numbers.  I want to get better at the push shot from a prior post, and then those pesky sitters that frequently go awry.  

There are a number of books written about sports called "The Inner Game of X."  for skiing, golf, and tennis written by Tim Gallwey.  These books are worth reading.  What he suggests is that your mind can figure out very complex things if you just let it.  Give your mind a task, provide some feed back and then iterate.  I'm familiar with the golf book, and as an example, you might want to change your wrist at impact.  He would tell you to just hit balls and for every shot give a number to how successful you were in getting your wrist to do what you wanted.  He found that it didn't take long for your mind to solve the problem with little analytical effort on your part.  

That's enough for this post, I feel I'm on the way to another book, so I'll close.   If anyone tries these feedback ideas I would be interested in knowing how well it works.

Moving While Your Partner is Hitting the Ball

 I've written about time occasionally in the blog posts.  You increase time by dinking and you shorten it by hitting hard.  So if you need time to get into position or for your partner to get into position, look for a soft/slow shot to help.  The extreme example is the lob, of course social pressure and possible ostracism comes with that, but if you are strong mentally and willing to travel to a new park, hey, go for it.  :-)

What I haven't talked about and it's a frequent thing, is moving while your partner is busy hitting a ball.  If it's a good time to go forward, then do that.  If your partner likes to pop it up, then maybe retreating is a good idea (just kidding, find a new partner!  (Just kidding, practice more!))

Any time you are not making the shot for your turn, you want to be thinking about your side's next shot.  And movement is a big part of that.  If partner is dropping or even dinking, then get ready for it.   If you guys are driving, then maybe you can move into the court, but maybe not.  Depends on your opponents, the wind, and the quality of your partner's shot.  But in all cases, you want to move if it's appropriate.

The usual mistake is just standing and watching.  The game is quite dynamic and you should be moving all the time as the ball goes back and forth.  Watch the pros play and watch all four players and ignore the ball.  They only stop moving when they are actually hitting a ball.  Of course, sometimes they are hitting on the run, but it's not something you want to do.  Get to the proper location, get ready, hit a shot, and then start moving for the next one.

If you get good at using your time to move, it gives you more time to actually hit the ball.  Which makes ball striking easier, and that makes your more consistent and more dangerous as an opponent.  

More on the Push Shot

 I touched briefly on the push shot as a way to punish bangers at couple of posts ago.

But this shot is applicable to much more than an anti-bang block.  

One of the difficulties with hitting a pickleball is that the ball is so light that it slows down quickly.  Both of those variables affect the timing of any hit.  I'll also add wind and spin to that list of variables.

So if we want to become more consistent, then we want to minimize the timing of a shot.  The usual way to hit the ball is to swing at it.  This implies that the paddle face is going to square up to the target location for just a moment.  Think about a gate swinging shut, it faces everywhere as it closes and if we were to toss a ball at a closing gate and expect it to be hit back to us, there is a small moment in the swing where this works.  And a swinging paddle is not much different.

We do have a few things going for us.  The paddles don't weight much and we can move them fairly quickly.  So last minute path and face angles are quite possible, usually.  Also, we are paying attention to the wind of course, and also noticing the spin as the ball came off the opponent's paddle and we can adjust a swing before the hit.

But at the last fraction of a second things frequently will not go well.  Now, let's return to the push shot.  Using this pushing technique, the paddle face is always pointing toward our target and we don't swing it, but push the paddle maintaining the face of the paddle and its angle.  Doing this will help remove a lot of last minute issues with a difficult strike.

There are some shots where a push is not useful as sometimes we need to add a lot of energy to a shot.  Think service return or even serve, we need a swing for these as that will deliver more power.

But if you think about defensive shots, say returning drives from the baseline, or when at the net, here the energy comes from the ball and a push or just a block is enough to return the ball properly.

Inherently a push shot has less energy, but you will get more accuracy and control.  It is a difficult opponent to beat who doesn't hit a ball out.  I think the Master talks of that to Po on a regular basis.

So, other than drives, serves, and service returns, you might find that a pushing shot works well.

Crime and Punishment

 It's time once again to return to the most hated shot in pickleball.  No, we will do lobs another time.  Let's do some more banging on bangers.

One of the problems with PB is that a lot of stuff works at lower skill levels and it's easy to just do the one good thing and expect it to work forever.  I've been playing a lot at May Nissen and I'm impressed how the general skill level has increased in just a few months.  So even if you're playing well, constant improvement is needed to remain "skilled."  

So banging...  I get that it's fun and if you come from tennis, you probably find it easy to do.  So it's your super power and you win a lot of games because of it.  And why you win a lot of points is that the other players don't have the defensive skills to neutralize the hot shot.  But in a year or so they will have it.  And if you just hit everything hard, one day it just won't work.  This is also true of hard serves and strange spins; people figure it out and then it's less effective.

The other problem with hard shots is that it cuts into the time you have to approach the net.  Of course, if the drive is good enough, then getting to the net is not a priority and maybe never needed for most games.  And again, that lack of getting to the net is going to be crippling one day.  

So bang away and enjoy it while you can!

Punishment.

One more problem with the bang...  The current defensive play against a hard shot is to block it.  But I've recently seen a couple of pros in YouTube videos who advocate not blocking, but hammering the drives back to the driver.  They teach a pushing shot that keeps the paddle moving in a straight line towards the drive.  There is no paddle swing or chop.  You want to hit this ball with the paddle in front of you, arms fairly close to your torso, on either forehand or backhand side.  It's a simple push of the paddle, done with the intent to speed up the ball.  It's not a swing.

And per Jill Braverman, you want to try and whack it.  I've tried this and I really like it, I took it to the Downs park and it was effective.  

This pushing shot is not unknown.  There is one guy at May Nissen who transferred this shot from ping pong.  It's effective for him and he uses it on almost all backhand shots, which is his more consistent shot.  "A shot of high confidence," as my father might have said.  This player has a highly modified grip to make this shot easy.  That grip is not good for forehand shots, which then require some effort to get the paddle in a good forehand position.  I'd suggest learning the shot with a neutral grip so it can be used on both a forehand and backhand shot.  It's worth learning.

Here is a link to Jill's video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQ1XvktXetc&t=346s

It's All in the Dough

 The acolytes were having an afternoon game.  Yes, trying to be diligent and play their best as a Master might wander past at any time.  Fall had arrived to the monastery.  The air was cool, just right for extended pickleball play.

And indeed, the Master did drop in to see an eight shot rally.  

"Po, may I have word," asked the Master.

Po hurried over to the side of the court and bowed to the Master.  "How can serve, Master?"

"I wish that you remember the last point you played.  Is it memorable enough, Po?"

Po thought about the point and was able to remember it all as he had been on the server side and had hit most of the shots.  "Yes, Master, I remember it well."

"Good, Po, see me in my study at four o'clock and we will discuss it."

"As you wish Master."

The Master swirled his robes and seemed to vanish as he entered the building.  The acolytes shrugged as the point had seemed routine and then returned to their game.

At four O'clock Po arrived at the Master's study door and knocked.

"Come in Po, thank you for being prompt."

Po enter the study and sat on a cushion across the low table in front of the Master.  He was sitting upright and graceful as a man does who controlled his body at the highest levels.

"I have tea, Po, would you like a cup?"

"Thank you Master, that would be welcome as the day is a bit cool."

The Master gestured to a plate with a stack of delicate cookies on it.  "Help yourself to an almond cookie, Po."

The Master readied the cup of tea and slid it in front of Po.  Po helped himself to a cookie and placed it on the saucer with the cup of tea.  He tasted the tea and smiled with its quality and taste.  It was just the proper temperature, too hot to drink quickly, warm enough to sip.

"Thank you Master, the tea is splendid."

"Try the cookie, Po."

Po picked up the cookie and took a bite.  Po had a sweet tooth and found cookies to be a high art form.

"Is it good Po?"

"Very nice, Master."

"How is it nice, Po.  We are here for some analysis, so please be specific.  What are the characteristics of the cookie that caused you to call it "nice?"

Po reflected a bit.  He had done six months in the bakery as all young monks did.  He had baked a lot and found it fulfilling and challenging.

"Master, with a cookie, I start with the aroma.  Clearly this cookie was baked today and it smells of cinnamon, almonds and vanilla.  Then there is the taste and now I sense the sugar, cinnamon again, and the almonds, which are stronger as I am chewing through some of the nut meat.  Then there is texture.  The outer crust has a nice toughness to it, followed by a softer and moist inner texture.  The cookie has been warmed slightly and its temperature probably helps with the aroma and deepens the flavors on the tongue.  It is a very nice cookie Master, may I have another?"

The Master chuckled and waved his hand towards the cookie plate.

"What ingredients are in this nice cookie?"

"There is a flour and sugar base, a pinch of salt, cinnamon, almond extract, vanilla extract, and almond nuts and butter."

"Po, if we wanted to, what ingredients could we leave out?"

"Master, I don't understand.  All the parts are what makes this a wonderful cookie.  If we remove any we make it worse.  And if we change the amounts or ratios of the parts, we will cause damage and it will not be as successful."

"So the cookie was at some point constructed and balanced and eventually created to provide harmony and inner happiness to the eater, yes?"

"Exactly Master."

"So, Po, now we must talk of pickleball and the point I saw you play this afternoon.  Do you still remember it?"

"I do, Master."

"Tell me the shots, most of which you hit."

"I served, a routine top spin serve.  I sought to hit to the backhand of my opponent and it was fairly deep.  I was satisfied with the shot on placement and speed and spin."

"I agree, Po, a very satisfactory beginning to the point.  What was the second shot?"

"The service return as in the middle of the court and fairly deep.  I moved to return it and noticed that there was not exceptional spin on the ball and it was short enough to be aggressive with it."

"So, the third shot was a drive?"

"Yes, Master.  As was the fifth.  I was hoping to get a shot past Jo, but he is pretty good at the net."

"You eventually drove a shot out of bounds?"

"Yes, Jo, ducked after several more drives and the final drive had insufficient spin and too much power to stay in play."

"If, Po, we call the serve flour, and the drives, sugar, what kind of cookie were you making?"

"Er, it would not make a good cookie."

"Yes, Po, it lacks the little things that make a cookie successful.  Such is a pickleball game.  A good serve and a drive are enough for the players in the village, but here we require more texture.  You need to add the cinnamon and pinch of salt!  What will you do the next time playing against Jo?"

"Well, the serve was good and I think a third shot drive is practical and on occasion effective."

"Yes, all true, tell me more."

"So I think that the fifth shot and beyond were lacking texture."

"Yes, so how do you introduce the trace ingredients?"

"All shots have the fundamental parts.  They have speed and trajectory, spin and location."

"Yes, so how do you use these parts to create something that Jo will struggle with?"

"If I don't slow down the shot, I'll hit it out,  So I must hit a slower shot.  And then maybe more spin or a higher trajectory.  A drop shot is the opposite of a drive."

"Yes, it is.  What is the understanding of the effectiveness and power of a drop shot?"

"A good drop shot is more powerful than a drive."

"And why is this?"

"An opponent can't attack a good drop shot, so it allows my side to approach the kitchen.  We would be able to hit the fifth shot from a closer position.  If the opponents hit a poor response to the drop, then we might be able to drive the ball down into the court."

"While it might be very important where you hit a drive, where do you seek to hit a good drop shot?"

"Master, it is my experience that its location is not very important.  I'm happy to drop into the middle of the court or to a sideline.  It truly is not important.  What is important is that we move to the net when the drop is hit."

"Excellent, Po, so we will have no more rallies where it is drive followed by drive?"

"I agree, Master, build a good cookie, not just some flavorless dough."

"That is all Po, feel free to take a couple of cookies with you."

"Thank you, Master!"

A Couple of Items for a Better Hit

A Couple of Tips:  When you swing at a serve you can do it a number of ways.  If you move your paddle horizontally into the ball you are not using the best method if you want to create some speed.

If you swing your arm in a circular path to strike the ball, you have more time to accelerate the paddle and will end up with more ball speed for probably less effort.  The arm path is a long arc and the further you have the paddle behind you when you start the swing, the more you will be moving the paddle away from the ball initially and then along the arc to the ball.  Eventually you get back to the ball on a nice upward path with good speed.  It's worth trying if you'd like to hit the ball harder.

I played a couple of game with Ron today.  He is a 6.0 rated singles player and has the creamy nice strokes that a life time in tennis provides.  What I stole from his game today is that in a lot of shots his paddle will not swipe or swing, but remains pointing to the target during and after a stroke.  It's my observation that a lot of shots fail as the paddle gets to the ball too early or too late.  If the paddle face is accurately aimed and remains in a proper orientation, then it's much harder to pull or push a shot due to timing.  

This is easy to do for shots where you don't have to supply a lot of power to make the shot.  For example, when blocking or hitting shots from the mid court, just a gentle hit is all that is needed and a steady paddle face will be useful.  I've found myself swinging through those shots and it's not good.  I used this technique of a steady paddle today and found it easy and accurate.  Give it a try!

In the works: I've been working on a couple of longer posts.  One about serving and the other a different kind of post that I'll keep under wraps for the moment.  The serving post got really long and it covered topics that I've discussed before and it was becoming a book if I did the job thoroughly.  I recognized my problem and I've shelved it for the moment.  But that's what's happening in my pickleball world.  

Return to Downs:  I've decided to return to Downs on Tuesday and Thursday.  The  bangers seem to have moved on and the group that is left is a lot of the original crew when I was starting out.  It was "old home week" to see them and it's fun to play with them again.  Sadly, the Downs is short on courts as I'm getting spoiled with the May Nissen and Muirwood layouts.  I've made friends and enjoyed the play at May Nissen and I'm going to still hang out there for the social aspects and more relaxed play.

Court Coverage

 I was playing today and watched a number of opponents move apart as they prepared for a return shot.  The usual movement was each moved up the center of their respective service box and often deliberately moved apart to do it.

This is the exact wrong thing to do.  And as I saw this I thought about court coverage in general.  We don't mention it in pickleball 101 lessons nor in the Skills and Drills classes.  Beginners and intermediate players seem lacking in what they should be doing.  Let's take a look in some detail.

Firstly, you don't want to cover the entire court.  The court is big enough that you really can't do it.  Even the pros don't cover it all and they have the quickness of the proverbial cat.

Secondly, you can and should cover about two thirds of the court.  And you and your partner must form a solid wall of coverage.  Which means that the middle is well covered.  The middle is defined as that space between you and partner.  It will move.  You must have coverage overlap in the middle.

The full width of the court is 20 feet and I've declared that you can cover about 12 feet of that, which leaves about 8 feet open for a target for your opponents.  And I'm absolutely sure that you want none of that 8 foot area between you.  So we provide a single alley for the opponents.

So where is this alley?  You want to provide it as a single cross court shot, or as two narrow cross court shots.  

Let me explain.  There are two cases you must understand.  Either the opponents are hitting from the middle of their court or from a sideline.  The sideline case is easier.  One defender must cover enough of the sideline to make it a difficult shot.  So you or your partner slides almost to the sideline and is directly in front of the guy about to hit the ball.  The other player will be in the middle of the court.  Which leaves a cross court shot which has no immediate defender.  Or does it?  Think about that cross court shot.  The outer sideline is only a few feet away and it's only a very good shot that crosses the width of the court and stays in bounds.  Let the opponents try for that.  Ha!

The only other case is when the ball will be hit from the middle of the court.  You and your partner will be defending the middle of the court and allow an opening to both sides of just a few feet.  You will have both paddles able to return an middle shot.  And this is the same case, if your opponents can hit a perfect shot that stays in, you are probably playing in the wrong game.  If they hit it up the middle you will have a good chance to return it and should certainly get a paddle on it.  

And this is 90% of playing pickleball.  You and your partner cover the percentage shots of the opponents and allow them open alleys to very difficult shots.  Note that a lot of those will go out and if they hit marginal shots you may be able to move into the alley to hit them.  As the ball moves around the opponents' court, you and your partner will adjust your defensive wall to block their easy shots.  Simple game really...

Pro Tip: if you play as advised above, you will observe that every opponent has shots that they like to hit.  Sometimes those are drives or cross court shots, or even, and you might not believe this, lobs!  As you play the opponents you want to sucker them into hitting their favorite shot and as soon as their head goes down to hit it, you can adjust your position to counter it.  It becomes a bit of cat and mouse and you'll soon be playing the player and not the ball.