Top Tips for Pickleball Success

Key features of pickleball strategy and technique with some targeted drills to help you improve different aspects of your game. All of these and much more will be covered at one of our local venues by our Pickleball England-accredited Club Instructors during our Pickleball Sessions

Master the Serve

Deep and Consistent: Serve deep to limit your opponent's ability to move forward. Practice hitting the service box consistently.
Varied Spin and Placement: Mix in spin serves or serve to different areas of the box to keep opponents guessing.
Focus on High Percentage Serves: Avoid trying for overly risky serves. Focus on accuracy rather than power.

Serve Drills :

Target Practice: Place cones or markers in the service box and aim to hit them. Focus on depth, spin, and consistency.
Power and Spin: Practice adding topspin or sidespin to your serve. Use slow-motion swings initially to master the technique.
Pressure Serving: Challenge yourself by setting a goal (e.g., 8 out of 10 serves in the deep backcourt). This simulates game conditions.

Perfect Your Dinks

Technique: Use a soft grip and push the paddle gently forward with minimal wrist movement.
Placement: Aim to place dinks close to your opponent’s feet or just beyond their reach to force errors.
Patience: Engage in long dink rallies to wear opponents down and wait for them to pop the ball up.

Dink Drills :

Cross-Court Dinks: With a partner, practice hitting dinks diagonally across the net. Focus on keeping the ball low and controlled.
Triangle Drill: Place markers in three points of the kitchen (left, middle, right) and alternate hitting to these spots.
Dink Rally: Engage in long dink rallies with a partner. Count how many times you can return the ball without error.

Dominate the Kitchen Line

Movement: After the serve return, rush to the kitchen line and establish position.
Volley Skills: Practice blocking and redirecting shots while standing at the kitchen.
Avoid Faults: Never step into the kitchen unless the ball bounces first, even during high-pressure rallies.

Kitchen Line Control:

Wall Volley Drill: Stand close to a wall and volley the ball continuously to improve reaction speed and control.
Kitchen Line Rally: Play mini-games where both players stay at the kitchen line. Practice quick exchanges and resets.
Block and Drop: Have a partner hit fast shots at you while standing at the kitchen. Practice blocking the ball softly into the kitchen.

Third Shot Drop

Purpose: The third shot drop neutralizes an opponent's advantage and allows you to transition to the net.
Execution: Aim to land the ball softly in your opponent’s kitchen. Practice with cones or markers for precision.
When to Attack Instead: If your opponent is out of position, consider a drive instead of a drop.

Third Shot Drop Drills:

Cone Placement: Place cones or a towel in the kitchen and aim to land your third shot drop within this area.
Partner Feedback: Have a partner stand at the kitchen and call out “high” or “good” for each drop shot attempt.
Self-Feed Practice: Drop and hit your own third shot while focusing on soft, controlled contact.