One thing that separates levels of player is their ability to finish the point when they have the chance. While it is great to work hard during a rally, the most satisfying moment is the payoff -- when you finish the point with a put-away. Here are some tips to help you be better at that.
Aim for the sitting duck. When you are looking to close out the point, it is important to know which of your opponents is more vulnerable. Let’s imagine that you are driving your third shot from just inside the baseline. Both of your opponents are at the net waiting to respond. The person who is crosscourt from you is farther away than your down-the-line opponent. And all things being equal, the person closer to you will have less time to get ready for your ball than the one who is on the diagonal. So unless you have a great reason to hit crosscourt, you should drive this ball down-the-line.
It is important to know where your opponents are on the court and who will have a better chance to make a shot. When hitting with speed, aim at the closer opponent — the sitting duck — since they’ll have less time to react.
The sitting duck principle applies with volleys as well. Let’s say all four players are at the net in a dinking rally. Your opponent straight ahead of you throws up a lob high over your head. You quickly move to take it out of the air as a smash. If both opponents hold their position at the NVL, the down-the-line person is the sitting duck since they are closer to you than the person on the diagonal. But let’s imagine the lobber (the person directly in front of you) retreated to 3/4 court after they hit the lob, fearing a fast shot from you. They are now farther away from you than their partner so the crosscourt person is the sitting duck and the person most vulnerable to your smash.
All things being equal, when you are trying to finish a point with speed aim toward the person that is closer to you — they’ll have less time to prepare for the ball.
Expect the comeback. How many times have you hit what you thought was a great shot — a sure-fire winner — only to have the ball miraculously come back over the net? As you advance as a player, your opponents will become better and better at defending and finding a way to get the balls back in play.
To be a great finisher, it is important that you are never surprised when the ball comes back — that you expect your opponents to defend well and make you hit one more ball. Work on staying focused all the way until you see that second bounce or their ball hit the net. Now’s your chance to celebrate!
If you want to finish points well, you should always expect your opponent to get one more ball back in play.
Develop disguise. While it is great to have pinpoint accuracy or a cannon for a smash, many points are won (and lost) because of great disguise. This could be an offensive lob that looked like a dink, a surprise misdirect that handcuffs a volleyer, or a quick flick at an opponent’s body. There are a couple key elements to good disguise:
The same setup. When receiving the ball, it is important that your opponents can’t tell what’s coming. This means using a grip, backswing, paddle position and impact point that doesn’t give away your intention.
No look. Strong players will try to identify where you are hitting by where you are looking. Try to use your peripheral vision to line up your target instead of staring it down. You can even intentionally confuse your opponent by actively looking somewhere and hitting to its opposite.
Think in combinations. Have you ever noticed that the pros often seem to know where the ball is going to go even before their opponent hits it? That’s because they understand that there are certain patterns of play where hitting one shot tends to lead to specific responses from the other team.
A flick at the backhand may lead to a counter-attack if the person is sitting on it with two hands. Be ready for this and you can counter-the-counter. A good drive may lead to a pop-up, so hitting that first shot and then crashing the net (better yet, get your partner to do so and pull of the shake-n-bake) can put you in position to pounce on the second ball.
Steve Deakin using a one-two combination to finish the point.
Like boxers, strong pickleball players must think about combinations of shots that will challenge their opponents. They must understand where the ball is most likely to be returned if they opponent gets it back, and they must prepare for that next shot. Thinking this way can make your opponents feel like you’ve got a great one-two punch.
Get the Ball Dirty. While fans often glorify about how hard players can hit or how much spin they put on the ball, the truth is that the toughest balls to hit are balls that are landing at your feet. We like to call this putting the ball in the dirt. Even if you hit it hard, balls that end up around an opponent’s midsection have a decent chance of coming back. We even once saw a woman return a smash with her eyes closed because she had her paddle in front of her chest when an opponent hit a smash!
Irina Tereschenko getting the ball ‘dirty’. When you get a high ball, concentrate on getting it down into the feet of the opponent.
Good players get the ball down. They receive that ball above net height and get on top of it enough that they can put it at the feet — and away from the paddle — of their opponents. Next time you get a high ball, think less about hitting it hard, and more about putting it in the dirt.