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.  

Wrist Usage

 I was teaching the Skills and Drills class recently and one of my students had trouble hitting her serves hard enough.  

She kept her wrist immobile and was not allowing a wrist's normal action to help produce paddle and ball speed.  Let's discuss the anatomy of the wrist.

We will start with some vocabulary...

Flexion is bending the wrist so that the palm moves toward the inner forearm.

Extension is bending the wrist backward, moving the back of the hand toward the outer forearm.

Radial deviation is moving the wrist toward the thumb side (radius).

Ulnar deviation is moving the wrist toward the pinky side (ulna).

So we have extension and flexion.  We are very interested in extension for this post.  Flexion will show up as needed and in a lot of swing type things will happen automatically -- we usually don't want to try and help it move (heed this, all you golfers!).

The total movement of the wrist in the extension and flexion movement is close to 145 degrees, with a touch more movement on the flexion side than the extension direction.

The total movement available to deviation is about 55 degrees with five degrees more available in the ulnar deviation, i.e., moving towards that pinky finger.  We will revisit this later.

The important concept here is that the wrist can do a lot more movement via extension - flexion than the deviation movement.  And with more movement we can create more speed.

My favorite physical therapist (FPT) also remarked that the wrist/hand has the most strength when the hand is extended about 20 degrees, so just a little wrist break.

So how are these wrist positions used in pickleball?  In dinking, we don't want any wrist movement as any wrist flipping or flopping is going to create a timing issue and lead to less consistency and thus accuracy.  

Hitting volleys is a lot like dinking, less wrist movement is a good thing.  

That leaves us with ground strokes, overheads, and serves where we want to get more power out of our anatomy.  Serves and ground strokes are pretty much the same and let's look more closely there.

Drop serves need to be hit with an upward stroke with the entire paddle below your wrist.  A common beginner error is to swing more sideways than down to up and when doing so allow the edge of the paddle to get above the wrist.  The solution to this is to add some ulnar deviation, i.e., down cock your wrist.  The deviation will put your thumb in line with your forearm and ensure that your paddle is below the wrist.

The most common problem of beginners in the 101 class is that they will not hit the serves hard enough.  This is a learned skill and it's hard for a lot of beginners.  And we want to hit the serve as hard as possible as long as it will stay in.  

Hitting the ball can be done many ways, not all of them efficient.  In a good efficient serve the whole body is going to be involved and we are talking from an initial weight shift and forward body movement to the feet to the torso to the shoulders to arms and finally to the paddle.  It's rare to see the full body serve in the rec area.  And it's not needed much at DUPR levels below 4 something.  (Having a serve that no one can return leads to really boring points and should be avoided as a common courtesy to all the other players.)

Let's look at a reasonable serve.  Maybe there is a forward step with the foot closest to the net, then some body rotation and then the arm will swing in a circular motion impacting the ball as the swing path is on its upward path.

And what is the wrist doing?  Well to make the most of this energy you want to place your wrist in extension before you start the circular swing path.  There is no need to try and help the wrist get from extension to flexion as that may happen due to the physics of the swing.  I will return to this in a moment as the wrist position at impact is important for spin generation.

You'd like to swing the arm fairly quickly.  A fast serve is a happy serve.  But we are most concerned with hitting the ball in the court.  I had this nightmare recently where I served out in a game with the score 10 to 11.  I woke up in a cold sweat on that one.

Let's talk service misses.  How about long?  One variable is how hard you hit the ball, the next is what trajectory the ball has, and finally what spin is on the ball.

For every speed of the service ball there is an ideal trajectory.  The serve is one of two shots where the height above the net is not important.  The proper height when crossing the net should be a couple of feet above net height - leave some room for error.  So basically about head high at the net for a short player.  On the circular swing path there is an area where you will hit the ball on this trajectory without having to make hand or arm compensations.  You want to find this area.  Most of the time you'll find it by trial and error.  It's fairly close to your forward knee -- so a bit in front of you, but not much and fairly low.

Lastly let's talk spin.  The path of the paddle and the face angle of the paddle determine spin.  If the paddle face is 90 degrees to the path there will be no additional spin created on the ball.  Note that if you're returning a shot, there may be some residual spin from the shot you are returning.

The most useful spin when hitting a serve or a deep ground stroke is top spin.  The spin is clockwise if you were observing the ball from a net post as it crossed the net.  This spin is best as it will cause the ball to curve downwards as it slows, thus keeping it in the court.  The more spin you can create, the harder you can hit the ball and keep it in.  Also with the ball curving downwards, you can use a trajectory that is well above the net for fewer service and service return errors.  

Wonderfully, there is an easy way to create top spin.  You put your wrist into extension and then keep it there as you hit the serve.  The paddle is no longer 90 degrees to the path, but maybe 45 or so.  That change in angle creates a brushing of the ball and so some of the energy of the swing goes into producing spin rather than propelling the ball forward.  Just set your wrist and hit your normal serve.  You may have to adjust the impact area of the ball and you might have to hit the ball harder.  This is an important tool in playing PB, you must get serves in and this is an easy way to increase consistency and safety with the benefit of more speed.

My FPT also mentioned that tennis elbow is due to too much flexion when hitting a backhand.  In the flexed position the impact forces will strain the flexed muscular system and eventually create some aches and pains near the elbow.  I suffer from this on occasion and it comes and goes with little explanation as to why.  Well, the flexion information is new to me and when I hit my famous backhand roll, I put my wrist into full flexion always.  See the video below for how the pros hit backhands.  They use more body and arm motion than I do and while there is usually some flexion, it's not a lot. 

Here is a link to a YouTube video of pros hitting shots in slow motion.  Note that their wrists are in extension for almost all shots.  Also they use ulnar deviation for most shots  -- their thumbs are straight down the arm path.  Finally, you might notice how frequently the pros are not hitting the center of the paddle -- there are a lot of balls coming off the edges -- I found this quite unexpected.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7LFGzcM5F0

Blogging Fears and Drop Shots

 The main fear I have is that I'll spew some "technical" advice in a post and find out later that it's wrong and my true believers out there will be doing worse than had I not "helped."

I did ask a pro about the technical quality of the blog, and he was a reader and had no problems with the content from a technical perspective.

What a relief.

However there is an issue that I wanted to bring up for those who are trying to apply some of my thoughts to their own game.

I like to hit soft third shots and then aggressively move to the net when I'm on the serving side.  I have always stressed that the player who returns the serve has to move to the kitchen line without exception -- this is accepted in the PB world and you will not find pros who don't do this.  Is the game "King of Kitchen?"  I think it is.

I believe in those "rules" and think they are fully valid.  Now, it came to me the other day that my stressing being at the net requires a couple of skills and not many beginners have them immediately.  Those skills being the ability to hit a soft shot and be able to blocking shots at the net.

I see a lot of beginning and intermediate players who hang at the baseline after returning a serve.  I've asked about that and the reasons boil down to a lack of confidence in hitting shots at the net, or a fear of getting hit, and if we were to look deep into the intermediate skill space we will find a lot of players who have no soft game.  They hit all the shots hard and hope for good results.  Note that the style of hitting the ball hard at all times will work wonderfully for a while, then it won't work at all.  As the skill level approaches 4, most players have no problem with a hard shot and are quite comfortable with it.

I noticed in my early days at Downs that the people coming from racquet ball are more than comfortable with a hard shot.  To beat them you can't feed them hard shots.

The point is that if you are going to adopt the style I advocate, then you need to drop some shots, not be afraid to dink, and be able to hit a block shot or two.  Yah, you need to stop worrying about getting hit, another real good reason to keep your paddle in front of you.  <Insert standard safety glasses reminder here!>

Drop shots can be more effective than a hard shot in scoring points, they will give you more time to get into a good position for the next shot, and a lot of people are not used to hitting soft shots or returning them.  Many a drop shot will win the point outright.  

What a drop shot does is block your opponents from hitting an attacking shot.  By hitting a short ball you are using the net as your third partner.  The opponent's next shot has to be lifted above the net.  If they hit it hard, it may well go long -- prepare to duck.  If they hit a good dink, then you dink back.  If they dink poorly, then you whack it and try to end the point, or at least put them under pressure with an aggressive shot.  

One of the interesting aspects of PB is that trying to win points usually is not as effective as just hitting good shots.  I see many balls going long or wide or both by a player who thought he could hit a great shot and end the point.  A better philosophy is to try to make your opponents hit more and more difficult shots as a rally plays out.  You want to make them move their feet, hit low shots, keep the ball in play, and make your opponents contend with the net.  Longer rallies are also more funner for sure.

Pickleball 202

 The question came up as I was teaching at the TVPBC PB-101 class last Saturday, what the Skills and Drills class was all about.  That question morphed into what might be the syllabus for a class that players would take after they've taken the 101 and then have played for a while.

Let's talk a bit about what the 101 class is in reality.  It's an introduction to the game.  There is little technical instruction, at least from me, as I think in the short time of the class that students should be deciding if the game is worth pursuing, rather than how to volley a top spin backhand.  There is a real limit to what can be absorbed in the hour and a half that the class lasts.  Indeed, the original class used to be dinks, volleys, ground strokes, serves, and then some play.  It was recognized that that was too much to retain.  The current instruction is try some dinks, learn to serve and I will work with each student individually for that skill, then we play games.  

With the serves comes scoring and setup for a point.  Setting up for a point implies movement by the receiving team -- see the previous blog post.  And I'll repeat here that no student will advance to the net after they return a serve.  It's just impossible at their level of understanding of the game.

Back to the topic.  So what is the syllabus for the next class?  Note that we've not really taught any hard skills.  We've placed them in the court and we've given them some goals, e.g., hit the serve towards the blue dot, try and understand the scoring.

So the goal for the second class would be to take the players and move them to say, 2.5.  We would like to see them serve well, i.e., get the ball in, automatically setup for both serving and returning of serves, know the scoring well.

And the last little bit is to get the ball back more consistently. 

Thus we spend some time on hitting serves and aligning feet for the serve and then should turns and some weight shift and then ball whacking.  

Setting up for points should be well known to them if they've been playing at all.  The same would be for the scoring.  So I would expect that no real time need be spent on that.

Which leaves us with more consistent ball striking.  In my humble opinion, hitting the ball well is merely a function of getting to the ball.  Since the ball is less than an ounce in weight, and the paddles about 8 ounces, there is little strength required to hit the ball.  But there is a real problem if the ball is too far away from you when you go to hit it.  

So, the big topic is movement.  I've written close to 250 posts in this blog and I suspect that a full 100 of them mention moving to the proper place.  And if I have a super power in this game, it is probably in being well placed most of the time.  I don't see this skill as being difficult, but it is for almost all players at the intermediate and beginner levels.

If I were to design the next class I would invent or look up drills to make people get to the correct position.  For example, if someone serves and steps into the court, they lose the point.  If someone returns a serve and does not advance, they lose the point.  If there is no middle coverage, they lose the point.  If the players get too far apart, they lose the point.  

I think these are the fundamental skills to play pretty good PB without needing to hit 40 MPH serves and volleys.  I see these skills as the fastest route to a high 3+ DUPR skill level.  And I would design a course around these points.

It was Five to Two and No One was Feeling It

   I was playing the other day and the teams were uneven, though not deliberately.  I hadn't played with any of the players.  In a couple of minutes the score was five to two and the outcome of the game really wasn't in doubt.  

And everyone knew it.  So there was this let down and it would be easy to grind out the rest of the game while thinking about the next game.  I was pondering this and it looked like the other team decided that the rest of the game wasn't going to be a lot of fun either.

As I thought about this, I thought that there was not guarantee that the next game was going to be better and then I thought, well how can I make the most of this game?  The players were nice and the game was friendly and there was no reason that we couldn't try to make the most of the game we had.  

There is an adage in golf that is, "every shot is a separate contest."  Well, that is pretty much what PB is too.  A nicely struck forehand is a joy forever and sometimes every backhand is a challenge.  And I would suggest that to make any game more interesting that we seek to hit every shot well.  It is incredibly common to not hit balls in the sweet spot of the paddle and just playing attention to that and seek to improve it will provide challenge in any game situation where you are winning or getting killed.

With some of that in mind, I played out the rest of the game and enjoyed the opportunity to just play well and control the ball.  

I've often written about at what level to play when skill levels are uneven and in my opinion you want to play close to the skill levels of the other players.  All of the above is what to do with your excessive skills as you play in any situation.  You can choose to hit the perfect shot to a place where your opponents can easily return the shot and thus extending the rally or just bang it away, which will bring satisfaction to no one.   Longer rallies are fun, I think and make the game more interesting for everyone.

Comfort Zones, Oh My

 One of things that I see in the PB-101 class is where the students feel comfortable standing.  And that position is about 4 feet into the court from the baseline, not quite to the middle of the transition area, but a couple of steps into the court.  

After you've played a bit, you will realize that that location is the absolute worst position from which to play.  I'll return to this in a moment.

A good player will seek to spend 10% of her time behind the baseline, 80% at the kitchenline and the remaining time trying to get to the kitchenline by moving through the transition area.  You might also have to retreat into the transition area as a point develops, but you don't want to be there.  The difficulty is that your feet are most exposed when in the transition area.  (Pro tip: in the transition area, keep your paddle positioned near your feet!)  An opponent can try to hit them with no fear of hitting long and you are too far away from the net, so you'll get no help from the net.  Net help?  Yes, that's why dinks and drops are so powerful, a low ball close to the net requires a very good shot to get the ball up and over the net, but not too high to create a sitter.

Beginners don't like the kitchen as it's probably scary and they are not used to the speed of the ball and there also seems to be an occasional fear of being lobbed.   And that's fine.  When teaching a class I push for them to get to the line and stay there, but it doesn't affect what they usually do.  I hope that as they become players that those words will come back to them and produce a better player.

And they don't like to be behind the baseline.  I think the fear here is that they are too far from the action and they won't get to the ball when it's hit towards them.

So they find their comfort area and while it's comfortable, and maybe a good place for a true beginner in a beginner game, as soon as you start playing regularly, you have to learn to face your fears and become comfortable with being behind the baseline and being at the net.  And you must learn to want to be at these two positions.  They are powerful and give you maximum control of the next shot.  If you are not where you should be, you empower your opponents.

I frequently see a service returner refuse to move up when they hit the service return.  This is very common even with pretty good players who have played for a couple of years, and it's the worst play in pickleball.  By staying back, you will allow the serving side to return deep to you and then move up to the line.  Your side will be split and you will have turned an advantage to a deficit.  The big difference between PB and tennis is the two bounce rule.  The service return has to bounce and this rule is there for the sole purpose of allowing the service returner to advance.  It's a huge deal.  If you don't come up, you are not playing pickleball.  You can still have fun and be comfortable by staying back, but in a intermediate game, you will be expected to be moving up every time you return a serve.  Watch a pro match on YouTube and see what they do.  They will sprint to the kitchenline every time.  Now in rec play, the sprint is not needed, but at least try to trot a bit!

Let's talk about staying behind the baseline after your side has hit a serve.  The error here is to move into the court and then find the service return is so deep that they have to run backwards to field it.  Had you stayed behind the baseline, you won't have to move much for a deep return, and you'll only have to move forward for a shorter return.  You will, of course, be keeping a sharp eye on how your opponent hits the serve and if they hit a short one or a soft one, then you can move forward to deal with it efficiently.  Don't worry about a service return that is so short you can't get to it.  It does happen and usually from a mishit but it won't happen often.  Worry about and be prepared for deep shots!

These are the two things that really separate beginners from a true intermediate player.  Being in the proper position is the most important part of the game.  Good positioning allows more time to hit better shots, less stretching to the side, and less hitting a ball while moving.  Make sure these two items are part of your play -- they are the most important things to learn about this game.

Paddle Position and Movement to the KL

Dear Readers,

I'm a big proponent of the proper paddle position (PP) and have written about it frequently.  Let me extend some thoughts for PP when not at the kitchen line.

Let's think about the fifth shot.  The first shot is the serve, the service return is the second, third is by the serving side, the fourth is hit by the service returners, who should be at the net at that point.

In a game with good shots, the serving side should be moving into the transition area or at least want to.  The fifth shot is the first shot that the servers can volley and in most cases you would prefer to volley than let the ball bounce.   

Finally a good team will usually try to keep you deep in the court and not allow you to advance to the kitchen.

We've recognized that a good shot will be low, maybe going out, and usually will be deep.  Where is our paddle at this time?  

A good player will be split stepped, stopped and have the paddle about knee level.  Low balls and foot shots can be fielded with the paddle in this position.  And, as an added bonus, any shot that is above the paddle and has not bounced, is going long.  A knee high paddle is a great rule of thumb for allowing out balls to, well, go out.

The closer to the net that you get, the higher your paddle should be, so gradually raise it up based on position.  When you get to the kitchen line, the paddle should be above the net and protecting your chest.

Pro tip: when you get to the kitchen line you are interested in two things, one is hit a good dink if that is best shot you have based on ball height, or two, you want to hit the ball down into the court, not trying for the base line, but more the foot line of the opponents.  You have to be ready to hit down on a high ball from both forehand and backhand positions.  The usual error I see is a scooping motion with the paddle handle pointing to the body and an upward stroke on the ball.  That results in a pop up and usually the end of the point.  The paddle handle should usually be parallel to your body and to the net.  Usually setting up for a backhand shot is a good ready position for net play.

Below is a link to a good video talking about the paddle positions and few other things.  It's highly recommended.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oobjlzCSY0c

Hitting the Ball Badly

 I was playing today and an opponent remarked about how they mishit a particular shot.  I think I said that all I hit are mishits and then I lapsed into deep thought.

In a previous post I said that about 40% of sitter shots over the net get missed.  I still think that's true, and I suspect that there are more 40% that don't get hit with the sweet spot of the paddle.  Might be 60% or so.  I would not be surprised.

The one complaint I have about paddles is that the sweet spot is fairly small and any shot that is off towards an edge looses a lot of power.  I think that most dinks and touch type shots are short due to mishits.

So what's the best way to avoid this problem?  Well, adding some lead to the edges of your paddle will help a bit, but fundamentally we are just missing the ball.  There are few common reasons for that...

• Hitting a ball while running
• Stretching for a shot
• Bad bounces or shots with a lot of spin

And that is probably about it.  Let's chat about how to limit errors.

Hitting a ball on the run is often due to not stopping early enough.  If you have split stepped and are ready to go sideways or forward, you are well placed to get to the next shot and hit it.  Often not stopping early will cause to try to reverse direction and deal with your momentum.  It's much easier to move sideways from a stopped ready position than when running in the wrong direction.  I think the fear to doing this is that you won't get to a ball if you stop.  I don't think that is a valid fear.  I think you'll be much less rushed after stopping.  So we want to stop, move to the shot, stop again and then hit while stationary.

Stretching for a shot is due to being at the wrong place when it's ball hitting time.  And this certainly a problem that the above point should address at least partially.  I contend that moving early and stopping early and then reacting to the shot is a very efficient way to play.  Now, on occasion you have to stretch.  Stretching to your sideline is unavoidable on occasion.  Pro tip: don't stretch on a middle shot, let your partner take it.  A good partner will also be ready to hit the middle shot, so take the ones you easily can, but let the others go to partner.  

In a perfect world you will hit all balls with your elbows fairly close to your side, also known as "your bubble."  This will give you the best chance to hit the ball in the middle of the paddle face.  Also, it's easy to think you have to hit the ball hard and/or use a long swing.  This is false and with a little swing you should be able to hit the ball beyond the baseline.  

Timing: The ball weighs less than an ounce, so it slows quickly, and what can seem like a fast shot, will be at a more modest speed when it gets to you.  Don't panic.  I see more swings that are too early in hitting the ball than too late.  When you are warming up pay attention to ball speed, hit them with short swings and practice a "late" hit.  You've got more time than you think.

The third issue is bad bounces.  Some of those are due to the court surface and that's not an easily solved problem.  Some are due to the spin that the opponent puts on the ball.  

There are three types of spin, top, cut, and side spin.  I've not written much about spin, but you have to be aware of what your opponent is doing.  A top spin shot will jump up a bit, the sidespin shot will kick sideways, and the cut spin shot will not bounce as high.  You need to compensate for all of that.  You want to anticipate the bounce off of all shots.  And even if you hit the ball properly, the required trajectory is affected by top and cut spin.  

You need to hit a cut shot higher and a top spin shot lower as the spin is going to react to the paddle face.  I'll write another post about spin returns, but you need to get under a cut shot and on top of a top spin shot.  Watching the spin is a very important part of becoming an advanced player.  Watch your opponent's paddle movement to see the spin.  If they swing low to high, then it's top spin.  High to low, aka a chop swing, then you will get cut spin.

So I think that should take care of all the mishits!  All these changes require a lot of work to incorporate them into how you play.  Knowing what you want to do is the easy part.  Drilling, practicing, or playing games while concentrating on doing a single new thing are approaches that will help.  

Pickleball Theory at the Monastery

It is Spring at the monastery and Po has been been playing a bit in the village down the hill.  There are reasonable players there, but they, like a beginning monk, strive to win points by brut force and not the power of the mind...

Po seeks out the Master as he is confused with play in the village.  The Master was in his room, working on a new manuscript, "Wrist Angles When Applied to Top Spin Dinks."  The Master expects to finish in a couple of years.

 "Master, I have noticed that hitting a shot from the kitchen, that the players in the village call a "sitter," is a shot fraught with peril.  Am I wrong about that?"

The Master looked up from his manuscript where his pen had been scratching along at a furious pace.  

"Eh, what is that, Po?"

"Master, the over head from the kitchen line seems to be more difficult than expected?"

"Ah, Po, it's nice that you have realized that.  All players go through the phase of hitting the ball too hard.  When they finally realize that and turn their attention to a more controlled game, they, like the Spring flower, will grow and blossom.  But they play and still hit over heads too hard.  Thus the final answer is that there is no great success to be had by over hitting any ball, including the so called "sitter," heh, heh."

"But Master, it is fun to hit the ball hard," said Po.

"Yes, Po, but the true satisfaction comes from hitting the correct shot every time.  You are starting to realize that hitting hard overheads is not always profitable."

"Why is it so hard, Master."

"There are several factors Po, as found in the nine volume set, "Play at the Kitchen Line," by Master Jo, blessed be his scholarship.  He has been dead these hundred years, still his knowledge proves to be true.  One difficulty is that a ball, even if it falls close to the net, will have a very vertical path.  Thus the timing is critical to hit the ball.  Too early and you will bruise the net, too late and you are over the baseline.  Secondly, the net itself and the angle to cross the net and stay in bounds is small and gets smaller the harder the ball is hit.  So we find the eager player, awash in emotions and seeing a point ending shot, blasts at the ball and fails.  The current numerology is that close to 40% of such shots will fail.  While that is still profitable in that we will score more points then will be lost, it's much better to choose a different shot."

"Do we then dink the ball back, Master?"

"While that would be more effective and win more points, there are better choices.  Why do we dink at all, Po?"

"Well, Master, dinks provide time to get into position and a good dink can be offensive..."

"Yes, good points, Po, but the end result of a dinking point is that at some point a ball will be popped up and thus we can hit it hard.  We don't dink when we can hit a ball hard.  Speed ups lead to points, Po.  However, like the errant overhead, all shots have their time and place.  A bad speed up or overhead is a major error.  Unless the shot is sure, a dink or push shot is a better choice.  And as I said before, the numbers suggest that a lesser skilled player should be very wary of attempting an overhead."

"So, Master, if the ball is in the position of an overhead, but we decide not to attempt it, what better shots are there?"

"The advanced shots are usually not taught until your tenth year, but since it has come up and scholarship is prized, I will suggest some alternatives.  If the ball is coming straight down and will bounce near the kitchen, then let it bounce.  At its apex, swing more sideways than vertically, hit the ball with an emphasis on taking advantage of your opponents' positions.  If they are covering the middle, then angle the shot to a sideline.  If they have spread out, then aim for the middle.  Note that in an angled path the ball must not be hit too hard.  The sideline looms, and above all we want to hit the ball in.  Our advantage is that we are at the net, and the opponents are not.  A shot that is gentle will prove quite effective."

The Master, continued.  "Of course, the spin on a ball, if for example the ball came off the edge of a paddle, can be quite surprising.  You must watch the spin on all shots, but these shots are frequently extreme examples.  The good player will get very close to the ball and expect a sideways kick.  Paddle ready, heh, heh.

"Also if the opponents are quite deep, then a simple dink will usually win the point.  If the dink is returned, your side is at the net and ready to take advantage of a weak return.  Note that hitting a very short shot on the run is very difficult and you should expect a weak return.  If they manage to actually hit a great shot, that's acceptable.  Remember that we are not hitting 40% of these shots out, so a player who walks the path of softness is well rewarded."

"As we stress in our teachings at monastery, a player who makes few mistakes is rarely beaten."

"You are wise Master and I will seek to walk the soft path," said Po.

"There is much to learn, Po.  Er, perhaps you could find some hot tea for this Master, the room grows cold."

"Of course, Master."

Your Partner Returns the Serve, You have Responsibilities Too!

 I've thought that going over the requirements of a player in a specific situation, might be worth talking about.  If you're new to the game, these are things you are expected to know in a more advanced game.  Some of this is obvious and some is not.  I wish I would have known about such items when I started out.  There is a summary at the end.

The most important position is probably the guy at the net when a point is started.  One should note that there is only one person at the net and there are things that can be done from that position and no other.

First, watch the serve as it comes to partner.  You are allowed and encouraged to call the serve out if it's out.  That allows partner to concentrate on just hitting a return.  Just turn your head for this task as you want to be facing the other side of the net real soon.

Second, your partner returns the serve and you might have to duck to let it go past.  You are now going to change your location on court based on where your partner's service return will land.  There are three cases here.  First is that partner returned down the middle.  This is an excellent choice by partner and is considered to be the classic return location.  In this case you will move very closely to the center T of the court.   The reasons for this will be discussed later.

If the service return goes straight across the net, let's assume to your right, for this explanation.  When the ball is in this corner, you should move even more to the center of court, perhaps getting a foot well to the right of the T.  Partner should cover the side line, so the middle needs additional coverage and you are expected to provide it.

Third case, the service return goes cross court.  In this case you must move to cover the sideline, with the service returner moving to cover the middle.

Those are the basic movements and note that in all cases that some movement is required.  It's rare that your ready position at the net will be perfect for the return.

Let me talk about the ready position.  As mentioned above you want to be able to watch the serve hit into the service area.  Also you usually will be moving towards the center of the court, so you might was well start several steps towards the center of the court.  Hanging out at the side line puts you out of position for most shots and will require more movement as the point develops.  Frequently the third shot will be well over the net.  Be prepared to hit this shot down into the court.  Also, if it's hit hard, high, or has a lot of under spin you want to duck and let it go out.  This happens a lot, please watch for it!

OK, now the point will develop quickly.  You are in position and your team has good coverage of the middle of the court.  Your partner will have joined you at the net after returning the serve -- do I need to mention that?  

Note that the sideline(s) might not be fully covered, but the middle might have coverage from both you and partner.  This is valid and what you want.  You and partner will be shifting side to side as the play goes on, with less coverage to the far cross court sideline.  This is very strong play as the out boundary provides its own protection to the cross court shot.  I'm not saying you won't be beat here, but the cross court shot is technically difficult and can't be hit very hard.  Note that some players can hit this shot and usually you will notice this behavior and you can adjust your play with that knowledge.  That is a discussion for a future post.  As for now, ignore it, and work on middle coverage.

There is one more thing to discuss and it's the most important one.  All middle shots (with the exception of the cross court scenario mentioned above) should be handled by the net guy.  The reasons for this are several.  Firstly he is already there and dancing on the kitchen line and has his paddle up and can easily cover the entire middle of the court even extending well into partner's side.  Secondly partner might not be all the way up to the net so aggressive coverage is a help to partner.  

The net guy must be ready to move into partner's side and thus good foot work is vital.  The big error to move a little bit, then stretch to hit a ball.  Frequently that will result in a miss hit.  Move the feet and get as close to the ball as you can.  I see this a lot and tell partner that I want him to hit this ball, but make sure he's in position to hit a good shot.  

A team really wants that net guy to hit the fourth shot.  This is another reason to avoid a cross court service return.  A center return or somewhat down the line makes it difficult for the third shot to be hit cross court.  That gets more shots to the middle, where the coverage is, by design, very aggressive and you will defend this shot from the net, while the opponents are still at the baseline -- it won't get any better than this and this is the essence of the game of pickleball, if you control the kitchen, you control the point.

Summary, as the initial "at the net guy":

• Watch for service errors
• Move towards the ball, usually move more middle
• Expect to take the fourth shot if it's near the middle
• Be ready to hit this shot down at someone's feet, i.e., paddle up
• Have your feet ready to move in front of partner if required

Why I Lose at Pickleball

This post was originally called, "Why you lose at PB," but I lost a couple of games on Monday in a row to the same team and I'll try not to be a hypocrite and talk about the problems with my game too.  But at the end as I still want to talk about problems with intermediate level games...

Why You Lose at PB

I played the other day at May Nissen with one of my regular partners.  She is very good and we play well together -- warning foreshadowing....

We played a three games against the same pair and they scored, 4, 5, and one points in the games.  

So what was their problem?  They hit the ball harder than we did and they hit some winners up the sideline, which we did not attempt.

They lacked a couple of skills.  Firstly, they were not as consistent and we scored almost all of our points on their errors.  They hit a lot of shots long, i.e., too hard, and they missed on the sidelines while trying to "win" the point.  And in trying to be aggressive, they hit many shots into the net even service returns and serves, which are the two shots where being well over the net is a really good idea.  Note that if you hit the ball too hard, sending it high above the net is not a successful strategy!

They were also not very good at covering the middle of the court.  Most of advanced play and pro level rallies, the middle area is the busy area.  Covering the middle requires that the defenders are not symmetrically placed on the court.  There must always be a bias towards the middle.  This is true of all shots from dinks, to the baseline.  If you and partner "split" the court, there will always be a seam between you.  This particularly true of the middle.  Having both paddles capable of servicing the middle seam is a great idea.  

Next, they were not very good at advancing to the kitchen line.  The KL is the most important characteristic of pickleball -- the two bounce rule was designed to make this happen.  You absolutely have to embrace a keen desire to be there.   The big error is not automatically following a service return with a run up to the kitchen line.  I see that hesitancy from a lot of players at May Nissen, even those who play at a reasonable level.  This is not optional.  I suspect that it feels scary and they feel much more confident that they can return a shot from deeper in the court.  The fallacy in this approach is that the shot they are comfortable hitting will be more difficult than the volley they would have had from the KL.

And that was about it.  Partner and I got all our serves in.  We didn't hit many shots out, we played a lot of balls to the middle.  Our shot selection was conservative, we kept the ball in play and were willing to rally and be patient. 

Teams that don't make many mistakes are incredibly hard to beat.  The opportunities for put away and winning shots are pretty rare, so relying on them as a means to score points, just doesn't work.  Consistency might be boring, but it's effective.

In the prior post about playing against better teams, I mentioned that thinking about why you lost is where the lesson and areas of improvement are found.  I still maintain that this is not a very difficult game and the number of areas that you have to have is small.  We have serves, volleys, dinks, and movement.  I'd add on to that short list, figuring out what your opponents like to do and then play for that -- for example some folks will only hit a cross court dink.

Why I lost at PB

So with a reasonable partner, I took on a good player whom I know from my days at Downs Park and a fairly new player.  It looked like he was mentoring her.  Initially I was in my play gently mode as I didn't want to beat up on the beginner.  As it turned out, the beginner could hit the ball very well.  She also hit everything flat and hard.  These are tough to defend as there is not a lot of extra room above the net for return shots.  

She hit it hard and flat and with that style, she hit a lot of out balls.  We needed to duck and we should have let more go than we did.  The game was very bangy and almost no dinking.  And they beat us I think, 11-5 or so for each of the two games.  

What partner and I didn't get right was that we needed to duck more, and dink more.  Both players had good hitting skills, and if you can't out hit them, then draw them in to a soft game.  We were not successful in doing that.  

Also my side made too many errors.  In a lot of points we had the net advantage and got shots that were high enough to put away.  But when the incoming shots are hard, you want to hit them softer yourself, as the paddle will generate power from the incoming shot.  So we needed to think more control and not power with those shots.  We didn't do a good job with that either.  

So summation of problems was, as usual, too many mistakes, not much power, not enough keeping the ball in play.  Trying to hit winners is a very hazardous business and requires great precision as the difference between and winner and an out or net ball are small.  The higher speed the incoming shot has, the smaller the angles for good return shots.  And finally, recognize and execute the general problem, which was to force the bangers into a dinking game.  

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!