Pickleball Technique, Pickleball Coaching, Pickleball Strategy
One of the first things new players learn in pickleball is that they should try to return serve deep. Never mind that most people misunderstand why a deep return can be effective, it has become virtually axiomatic in most pickleball circles that you try to push your opponents as far behind the baseline as possible.
While deep return can be in effective tool, I think there is good evidence to suggest a short return of serve can be as good or even better. Let’s look at three reasons why:
Pickleball Coaching, Pickleball Technique
If you are like most people, you don’t love it when the ball comes to your backhand side. This may be when you are up near the net hitting a volley, a dink or a smash, or could be when you’re at the back of the court playing a return of serve, third shot drop or a drive. For many people, when the ball comes to their non-dominant side panic sets in and that is never a good thing in pickleball. So here are three tips to improve your backhand.
Pickleball Coaching, Miscellaneous Pickleball
These are questions that I am asked on a pretty regular basis from pickleball instructors who want to know what drills and games they can use with players of different skill levels.
I’m always happy to share my ideas. In fact, I wrote a whole drill guide about it. But whenever responding to these questions I always add something like this:
Myth Busting, Pickleball Coaching, Pickleball Strategy, Pickleball Technique
If you ask 20 people why they should run to the net after returning a serve, you’re likely to get a variety of different answers. The most common ones will be some version of: it’s where the game is won or lost; because it’s not tennis; if you control the net, you control the point; the first team to the net usually wins. None of these answers actually get to the tactical value of returning and running. So let’s make it more clear.
Pickleball Technique, Pickleball Coaching
One of the great things about pickleball is how easy it is to start playing. Even without a strong racquet sport background, new players can have fun almost immediately after hitting the court.
This low barrier to entry also means that we see pretty wide variations of technique (i.e. how people use their body and paddle). Drop in on your local courts and you'll see a plethora of different grips people use to hold their paddle. You'll see some people prepare for the ball in a sideways position and others who are almost always facing forward. You'll notice some players using two hands on their backhands and others who only use one.
