I wanted to pass along an observation I had at the Harvest Crush 2025 tournament.
I was a volunteer runner on Saturday morning and that put me on the courts, looking for things to run. It gave me a close up look at the action on the 4+ DUPR level courts.
There were some really interesting points. And while there was not much dinking, there was a lot of fire fights and some points where one team had the kitchen line and the other was defending overheads from the baseline and transition areas.
I was impressed how well the defenders were able to get shots back without over hitting the ball. I'm thinking about a recent post where I talked about a push shot and how that was inherently consistent and accurate because the paddle stayed on a path for the ball strike for a long period of time. And that made the timing of the shot much easier.
The situation as the tournament was different in that the defenders were not trying to hit winners or be aggressive, but just wanted to keep the ball in play until they could get back to the kitchen line.
And they used a variation of a push shot. The paddle was placed to hit the ball and not swung or pushed much. Since the overheads carried a lot of speed, there was no need to add much speed to the ball with any kind of swing or push. You could see this as a bunt in baseball, where there is no attempt to add energy to the incoming shot.
This shot was universal at the upper skill levels. In the women's game at least! I didn't see any of the men play and I would have been curious if highly skilled guys would be willing to block a ball back without trying to smack a winner. Maybe I'll be able to report back next year.
Let me talk about the full scenario for a moment, as this is not just an overhead defense kind of point. It also applies to a lot of other scenarios as points develop. There are three states that each team is in any moment in a point. You are either in trouble, in control, or you're tied with the other team.
If you are in control, then hit an aggressive shot that... goes in. Don't throw a point away when you were ahead. Use your advantage to make the next shot harder for the opponents. Winning points is often a cumulation of errors until a winner can be hit (this is very rare in a pro game), or the opponents miss a shot because they were attempting difficult shots.
Second case, you are in trouble. Now you want to hit shots that give you a chance to get back to even. It's my opinion that trying to win a point from a disadvantaged position is largely unsuccessful. I'd rather see a dink or lob to get more time for your team to get into position.
Third case, which is usually when everyone is at the kitchen and the ball is low. This is no time for heroics. You want to wait for a good opportunity to strike, usually some kind of pop up, and then use a combination of shots to win the point. Moving the opponents side to side, or back off the kitchen line are good tactics. Be careful of speed ups in a good game, as they are frequently returned faster than the speedup.
If you side is serving, you are going to be in a defensive mode as soon as the serve is returned because the other side will be at the kitchen. "They won't be there in my games," I hear you say... Well, one day they will and I'd suggest that you should play as if you are in a good game. In this case, you have to be careful and your goal is to get to the kitchen line where you can achieve parity in the point. Yes, you can win a point from the baseline, but one day that won't work.
If your side is returning the serve, you have the opportunity to gain a significant advantage by hitting the return and then, always, always, join your partner at the net. The servers have to let the ball bounce and you have to use that rule to get to the net. If you don't do it, your side is split, your side will soon be on the defensive as the servers will be at the net before you are there. And worst of all, you are not playing pickleball. There is no game beyond the beginners where getting up the net is not expected. You have to do it. Yah, I know at first it's scary and you might get hit or look clumsy, but gird your loins and whatever else and get up there. Get your paddle up and watch the ball closely. Shots from the kitchen are usually easier than the baseline, you have to get used to it and learn to love it!
When does parity occur? Well, it kind of depends on the third shot. If it's a drop and the servers advance successfully, then that is the first time in a point that it happens. When there is a dinking battle, then advantages, and trouble, and neutrality will occur frequently. A good play needs to be aware what state their side is in and choose their shot appropriately. "Why didn't you smack that last shot?" "I hit a dink because you, my dear partner, were not in position yet and if a speed up were returned, we would lose the point." "Oh."
That's it, that's classical pickleball. Get out there and enjoy it!
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