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.  

When it All Comes Together

 I have a couple of thoughts to pass on.  

I played a nice two out of three game match the other days with some young guys at MN.  Their strengths were hitting the ball pretty hard.  Weaknesses were common issues that beginners have.  Firstly, they typically didn't follow service returns with a gallop to the kitchen line.  They liked to hang back and anticipate a ball that they would be comfortable with.  Probably comfortable in that they could hit it hard.

I think following a service return to the kitchen line is a fundamental part of playing the game.  It's right up there with "Pass Go and Collect $200," kind of thing.  If you don't do it, you are giving away all advantage which comes from the two bounce rule.  When I teach the beginners, I stress this positional need.  It is not readily accepted and not often remembered for the beginners, but after you've played a bit, there is no real excuse.  You have to do it...

My partner and I were able to just play back deep to the service returner, capture the kitchen and easily win two of the three games.  Yes, they managed to win a game, it was close and their ground strokes might have been better than the ones from my side but their lack of understanding of the game made for fairly soft opponents.

The other issue that shows up in that skill area between beginner and advanced, is hitting the ball too hard.  It's so very common and it's usually quite successful until it isn't.  When they come up against players who can block and duck, they are usually easily beaten.  Why do players moan about a shot into the net, but don't react when they hit it eight feet long?  Clearly the longer shot is less accurate and skillful than the shot to the net which was two inches from perfection.

Now on to something different.  I've gotten in a couple of private games with pals in the last couple of weeks that were just great.  And they were great for a couple of reasons.  All the players were very close in skill level and that skill level was probably in the high threes in re DUPR levels.  Which meant that the points might be long, no one was being picked on as the weakest player, and finally, there was agreement as to pickleball style.  There was aggression, thord shot drops, dinking, and speed up, but also resets and even, sadly, a number of lobs.  :-)  All very cat and mouse type play then trying to overpower the opponents.

There has been a number of videos on YouTube about how the soft side of pickleball has died and that dinking is dead and everything ought to be sped up.  I would agree that you can play that way and maybe as a pro you'll have to.  

However, some styles are more interesting to play.  And I'll agree that what is interesting and boring are different for all of us.  If we accept that, then clearly some games will be more enjoyable and fun than others.  There is a reddit group about pickleball and bangers have sought advice about whether their style is good or bad.  A number of repliers have mentioned boring points and frequently that hitting every shot hard might lead to a lack of folks that will play with the bangers.  In the Livermore park play area I don't see much of "I'm not playing in that game" or "with him/her."  Though at my last day at Down's someone tried to hit me in the face three times, not only did I not play to that player for the rest of the game, I avoided him after that and realized that the style of Downs play was no longer of interest to me.  

The Downs style was not always like that.  But as players got better they hit the ball harder and then a bunch of younger players from other sports came in and the style changed to a very aggressive banging game.  

Interesting to me, I see the May Nissen group to be much like the Downs was when I was learning my basic craft.  In the time I've played there, the level has gotten a lot better and also there is a fairly narrow level of skill.  It was more divergent at the Downs for some reason.  But at MN, almost all the players are OK and fun to play with. 

So these last couple of games I mentioned were like going back in time when we were all a bit more innocent and the world was a kinder place, but with better skills and in the company of like minded players -- kind of what it's all about. 

Pickleball 101 Syllabus and Stuff

 PB 101

Here are the things we teach and some thoughts as to why it is so.  There are two parameters in play.  The first being that the class is only an hour and half.  And the second is that there is only so much information we can pass on that will be remembered.  It seems to be an hour and a half is about right to introduce the students to a new game with strange scoring and a lot of new physical skills and strange ball and paddles.  We used to try to teach a lot more, but it was too complex and difficult for the students.

The simplification came about that instead of making students into PB players, we now provide and introduction to the game.  If they like the game, they can develop skills as they play.

The philosophy is to provide enough skills and knowledge to get them to play a couple of games.  Usually I've found that the students will have enough skills to play in the Tuesday, Thursday games and I mention that to them as a path to improvement.

Here is an outline that I use, that has worked well:

1) Introduce yourself.  Go over the names of the areas of the court.  Which lines are important, etc.  You have to mention the non-volley rules, but don't go crazy.  You usually have to define what a volley is, etc., and there is so much new for them, it's only going to stick a little bit.  Not a problem.

2) Demonstrate dinking.  Get a couple of people on each side of the net.  As they try it, check their grips.  Correct bad grips to the Continental or shake hands grip.  If the grip used is from tennis and they know what they are doing, I'll mention problems with a strong grip, but I won't insist they change it.  If they can't get the dinking, then put down the paddles and just toss the ball back and forth over the net underhanded until the light bulb goes on.

3) As soon as they can control the ball a little in hitting and returning, then break for water and then it's service time.  I will demonstrate drop and bounce serves, then have each person hit a couple with one on one supervision.  If they get it, then send them to the far side of the court and instruct them to catch/stop/pick up any balls and then serve them back.  I'll get all four going and then roam around while they hit them.

Spend some time on this as it's usually the hardest stroke to hit.  They usually will not swing at all hard enough.  "Hit the back fence!" I tell them, it works occasionally.  The serving target is the center of the service area and I generally will say nothing else.  Things to watch for, are foot positions and sideway swings.  It's usually the ball position relative to the body that causes the most problems.

4) After serving, take another water break, and then go over rules as it's time to play.  The scoring will be the most difficult topic of the day.  I stole  a good explanation of the scoring system: in that on every side out, both players get to service and the score keeps track of the first and second server.  

This is true with the exception of the first point and that's where the struggle is.  

5) Let them play while you are on the court.  You'll need to move folks around as their roles change -- Up, Back, etc.  Somewhere along the way you need to spend some time on the two bounce rule.  Getting the servers to stay back on the baseline and the service returner to come up is good training, but it usually will not happen.  No problem!  So let them play, make sure they call out the score properly.

And that's it.  Other topics you can blend in as they come up: don't fall, don't run backwards, get some safety glasses, make sure a new paddle will match their eye color, etc.  All the little bits of knowledge you learned in a year or two.  Note that you can't pass all that on.  Less talk more play is my philosophy.

Forehand Drives and Using that Core

 John Cincola has a nice channel of PB content on YouTube.  He had a video the other day about forehand drives and I wanted to talk about that for a couple of reasons.

Let me summarize the stroke as John sees it.  He wants to face the shot head on and then take the ball just at or inside and in front of his right hand foot.  (Right hand foot???)  He doesn't move his feet sideways as you would hitting a tennis shot.  There is shoulder rotation, hit the ball in front of his feet and let the paddle wrap around his left shoulder.

I like this stroke.  With no real feet movement, it's really easy to reset for the return shot.  Also using your core in a rotational pattern and not, for example, moving your upper body towards the target, is efficient.  The stroke is also short.

I was using this a lot today while playing and I was getting very good power and speed from it.  Then I realized that with little modification, this becomes as excellent service stroke.  While I am happy to see some body and weight shift towards the target on a serve, it's not really required to get enough speed for a good serve.  I started using it as a serve.  I hit the ball lower than I usually do and with more speed.  My control was very good.  My consistency was excellent, I didn't serve out all morning -- but I usually will only serve out about once a week, so I can't claim more control with a small sample.

While I was thinking about this, I was watching my partners serve.  They had pretty good serves, they got them in for example and the depth and speed of the shots was fine.  I did see some body motion towards the target, again, something I like if you have trouble with serving.  But I could see from my partners that there was a lot of power loss in doing so.  The balls were hit from too far forward and as they had to reach for the ball to hit it, they hit softer shots than the effort they put in.  I think having a more square stance and dropping the ball off the front right knee and just using their core to rotate and hit the ball would be more efficient.

Pro tip on serving, you absolutely need to tightly control the location of your ball drop to control angle, direction, and spin.  If you miss serves then check this first.

Link to John's post: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/9J9lwF01gSE

This stroke felt different to me.  I don't use my core rotationally much and I probably want to.  It felt good and strong and I'm going to pursue it.  Now let's seek understanding and progress in other areas.  I also play golf.  If you hit golf balls correctly, you also want this core rotation.  One of my many golf flaws is to move my body towards the target.  What I want to do is to force my body to stay somewhat stable and in position and use that leg brace to power a rotation via the core.  I'm hoping to make this work too.

Take a look at the video, it's all of 30 seconds long, see if it helps you.

A Couple of Musings...

 It's been a long time since I wrote anything.  The reasons for that are that I've found another sport, disc golf, I'm also rekindling my interest in regular golf, and then I feel that my understanding of PB is such that I don't have much new to say. 

I see things that folks are doing and are less than ideal and I think about writing about them, but I've already written those posts, probably a couple of years ago and I don't want do it again.

But there are a couple of things that I wanted to talk about and I'm tired of reading today and felt like writing.  So shall we begin?

A question came up about serving styles the other day.  The question was whether a very long stroke with a lot of reach back was a good thing for serving.  One of my core interests is serving I think that if you are serving out more than once a day, then you are not being efficient.  The way to serve consistently is to have good timing and rhythm and a consistent impact location.

An elaborate stroke where there is a lot of arm and body motion can work very well.  I like the idea of a bit of forward step and a weight shift as I think that imparts a nice sequence and makes for easier timing.  You then add a ball drop at the appropriate time and then it's an easy stroke.  Note that if you volley the serve versus using a bounce serve, then the timing of the drop is different.  But most people will do that automatically after some play.  It's great being a human, we are so good at figuring things out.

So it's basically a backswing, step forward, drop the ball and then hit it.  Make sure you are releasing the ball consistently and fairly close to your forward leg.  You want to hit the ball on an up stroke (required if you use a volley serve) and you can vary how deep you hit the serve by contacting the ball higher than normal.  Advanced pro tip: have some break in your grip so that you brush the ball and impart some top spin.  That will make it easier to keep the ball in bounds.  

Now, when you are not serving, then elaborate strokes, like you see in tennis, are not a good idea.  Those strokes take a lot of time.  You need the time to make a long back stroke and then there is the time to swing at the ball.  Time is valuable in this game you want to hoard yours and try to steal from your opponents.  Yes, there are posts about this topic too.  So a short swing, taking it back no further than your body and a short forward stroke to hit the ball in front of your body is what you want.  At the net, it's a very short stroke, or pop, or push, or block -- nothing slow, and make sure you get your paddle ready for the next shot.

Next topic is about body bagging, aka, trying to deliberately hit your opponents.  If you are playing in a tournament, this is valid, useful, and at some levels required to play well.  However, in rec play, I think it should be avoided.  Especially don't do it when playing with beginners.  They will not appreciate it and if they are not used to it, can be dangerous.  

I'll also suggest that playing against people who are not wearing safety glasses, it's a shot that should be avoided.  I understand it's their decision not to wear glasses, but accidents happen a lot in this game and I would not be happy to cause a serious injury in any deliberate fashion.  

It's really easy to get a ball in the face from ricochets and net balls and partners who clip a ball with edge of their paddle, so I think it's smart to not add deliberate shots to the mix.

If you are going to try to hit someone, aim for a hip, but there is still a chance that a low shot can turn ugly.  It's rec play and we are there to have a good time and go home healthy.  Shots near people I like to avoid as much as possible, even if it's the best shot for the occasion.

I've been playing at May Nissan for the last couple of months.  I'm enjoying it a lot.  It reminds me of what Downs was like a couple of years ago.  It's probably more social and that might just be due to more people and more co-ed than the Downs ever was.  I also wanted to mention that the level of play is getting a lot better and the differences between the beginners and more skilled players is getting smaller.  So the quality of the games is improving and becoming more enjoyable.  Well done, all!

I think that's about all that's on my mind these days, I'll see on the courts.

How to be Nonchalant...

 A number of players have remarked on my game about how relaxed and effortless it looks.

I would not call it effortless, but in a lot of ways, I am not feeling  hurried.

There are a lot of benefits to not being hurried, or to rephrase, having a lot of time.  I try to be at rest for the next shot and I try to be at the best court location for the next shot.

I suspect that this looks effortless is that I am moving as soon after I hit a shot as possible, or if my partner is hitting the ball, I will be moving before he hits it.  So if you are watching the ball, you don't see me move early, though it's always happening.

If my partner is hitting the third shot and it's going to be a drop or something less than a drive, then I want to be very close to the kitchen line and stopped when partner's shot is returned.  I will, of course, alter my location based on where partner hits the ball.  The rule of thumb is to move toward the ball, not just moving forward.  I'm either expecting to guard a down the line shot, or a middle shot.  Note that cross court shots go through the middle of the court and someone should always be looking for it.

(Pro tip...  We all have patterns of play and in the early points watch what your opponents will do with a drive, for example.  A common play is to try to dink as the opponents are deep.  If you are expecting this shot, you will be able run up and return it.  Also the players who live to hit the ball as hard as possible, are usually obvious about it, punish them by being ready to duck their out balls.)

I gain time to move and stop by moving as early as possible.  I don't hit a shot and admire it, or expect it to end the point, I move to defend the next return.  I don't mind stopping in the transition area, for example, if I expect the shot to head there and this is fairly common.

And part of defending a shot is having my paddle in a location that covers the most likely return; if my shot is high, I will expect a low shot to my feet.  If I drop it well, then my paddle will be above the net and ready to block a speed up or to drive a pop up down to the opponent's feet.  

And that is all it is.  

Note that the faster the ball speed, the less time you have to move and thus even less time for admiration.  Also better opponents will hit the ball harder and rob you of time too.  You gain time by hitting slower shots that are low and can't be attacked.  Soft sliced returns are quite effective.  Dinks will also gain you time if you or your partner are out of position or are in a defensive position.  

The Men's Open Harvest Tournament 2024

 I watched a lot of the open men's play at the tournament this year.  The play wasn't too much of a surprise as to style or skills.

I thought the ability to hit the ball was very good.  There even was a  guy who excelled at blocking overheads from the kitchen line.  There were a lot of fire fights, rarely started from the kitchen line, but usually close to it, we might call that the late transition area.

Almost all balls were attacked and hit hard.  

Only one guy, our Jimmy, actually dropped the third shot, others were quite content to just drive it.  More on this later.

I also saw a lot of intentional body bagging, including head shots.

A close reader of the blog will have noted that the style of play exhibited is not to my taste.  I must confess that it wasn't too long ago I was heading into that stylistic direction and realized I was turning into the player I didn't want to play against.  I turned away from it and it's one of the reasons I don't play at Downs anymore.  

So most of the matches were hitting with the occasional reset followed by more hitting until the points were over.  Not classical pickleball, but that seems to be a dying art at most playing levels.  

I wanted to return to Jimmy's play.  He seemed to be the only player who would hit a soft third shot.  And it was quite effective.  Frequently the points would evolve into overheads and hitting, but he was managing to score well with some soft play and his side was able to get to the kitchen line.  It is still my theory that at some point you have to get back to playing soft shots.  When all the players can hit and return, then you've got to change the play.

Another impression was that uniformly, the shots that were missed, were not drives, but shots that required some touch.  I think they are harder, but they are efficient.  All the players could return drives at that level.  Time for the old curve ball...

The women's play was also interesting, but for another reason.  I saw a lot of lobs.  (I was going to put in a joke about Larry giving lessons, but I won't.)  There were some older teams playing against younger ones and one of the older gals said that the lobs were needed to slow down the kids.  Hah!  Maybe I will have to reassess my view in re lobs.

And one of the older gals had some beautiful ground strokes followed by flawless court movement.  I really enjoyed watching her play.  Very much a classical style and esthetically pleasing.

It was a nice job putting on the tournament from my perspective.  I would have liked to have had a few more paddle vendors there, but I really don't need anymore.  The tacos were good as were snacks for players and volunteers.  I wasn't involved in the setup or tear down, but a lot of work went into that and it was well done.  Thanks TVPBC for a great event.  

Andrea Koop and How She Plays

 Andrea Koop used to be in the top five or so of the women's game.  I haven't seen much of her lately.  She is a lawyer and maybe has a full life outside of whacking plastic.

When I watched her, she played a very classical game.  Her serves were very soft for a pro game.  I only saw her miss a serve once.  I was a bit stunned at that.  She hit the ball to the middle of the service court always.  Nothing fancy, just a way to start the rally.

But there is also something that she does that is worthy of our attention.  She is probably no different than any other good player, but she is very obvious about it.  And the thing I'm talking about is that she tenses up every time her opponent is going to hit the ball.  She is expecting that the ball is coming to her.  If the ball goes to her partner, she dramatically relaxes.  This goes on for the entire point.  Tense, relax, shift maybe, tense, hit, move, tense, relax...

The power in this is that you are never surprised that the ball came your way.  Always assume the next shot is yours.  

I was at the Harvest Tournament today.  I'll create a post on some of the interesting things I noticed, but let me tease with this.  The men's doubles was, with rare exception, all about hitting the ball really, really hard.  And probably 30% or so were going out.  Getting back to Andrea's methods, suppose you were expecting all the balls hit at you to be going out, would you be more inclined to duck?  

How to be a Sought After Partner

 One of the reasons the better players like to play with each other is that a good partner requires a lot less thinking and thus makes for an easier game.

What are the things that are good as a partner?  Well, there are not too many actually.

Number one, get your serves in.  No need for speed or accuracy, just in.  It's a small thing, but critical.  

Number two, never step into the court after you have hit the serve.  You can get away with this against soft players or a strong tail wind, but you are going to be running backwards a lot of time in a stronger game.  If you have to run backwards, it's hard to watch as a partner and it's very difficult to then hit the third short off the back foot.

Number three, always follow your service return with a run up to the kitchen line.  Number three point five, when you come to the kitchen line, run towards the ball you just hit.  Note that your running direction is rarely straight forward, but either towards your side line or to the middle of the court.

Number four, someone on your side has to cover middle shots always.  Depending from where the opponents hit the ball, you and/or your partner must be shifting to the middle.  For example, if I return a serve and hit is directly across the net to my opponent, I will run straight towards that opponent and I'll cover my sideline.  My partner will shift to cover a cross court / middle shot.

Second case, I return cross court to the server, then I run to the middle of the court and my partner shifts to cover his sideline.  

Case three, I return to the middle -- which I will do 80% of the time -- then both my partner and I will be at the kitchen line and close enough to each other to be able to get both paddles on a middle ball.  I've played a number of games with Angel, our local pro, and I found it interesting how closely he and I stayed to each other while playing.  We could probably touch paddles at all times.  Double middle coverage is a wonderful thing...

The astute reader will notice that in all of these cases, about 20% of the court is not covered.  (We will ignore lobs, as they are borderline illegal and not found in a serious game (kidding).)  That lack of coverage is acceptable as the uncovered area is at an angle to the hitter, and thus hard shots will go out and softer shots allow time for you to move to return it.  It is the middle coverage that is most frequently needed.

Those are the things that make you an easy player to partner.  And what makes this easy?  Well, if I'm your partner, I know where you are all the time and I know what shots you can return.  It makes it easy to know what balls I have to hit and which ones are yours.  I don't have to stretch in front of you to hit a shot.  

Number 5, this is optional in a friendly game, but required otherwise...  If I am returning the serve, you are at the net.  It is your responsibility to intercept all center shots, i.e., poach aggressively.  Poaching is fun and this is not onerous duty, but it's vital in a tough game.  

Number Six, you will notice that there has been no requirement to hit hard shots, or great slams, or inside out twisty slice shots or anything fancy.  Hitting the ball hard is not required nor needed.  Accuracy and control and just keeping the point going is what is highly prized.  Also, personally, I will view your game more respectfully the more you dink and are strategic, rather than trying to win the point with a huge shot.  Huge shots hit the net and the backstop and occasionally the opponents, none of which is a good thing.

Good luck in the tournament all!