Do you want to improve your pickleball skills? Pickleball is a combination of tennis, ping-pong, and badminton. It is played all around the world. The game is easy to play but if your opponent has some tricks, you may lose the game. In such situations, you must play with a strategy and you should know some dos and don’ts of pickleball. Because pickleball is not only a physical game but also a mental game.
If you repeat a mistake you will never be able to enhance your skills to an advanced level. So, you need to focus on the position and the way you start the game. When you stand in the wrong position and your serve is not sufficient, it conveys a message to your opponent that you are not good enough to play the game. To provide you with a guide on how you can play well and defeat your opponents easily here are 5 tips for you.
5 Pickleball Tips
These pickleball tips are followed by advanced players to enhance their gaming skills. Pickleball is not hard to play but confronting a mind tricker opponent is troublesome. These tips are for beginners as well as for people who are playing for years but are unable to improve the game. These pickleball tips are for both single-player and double-players. All you need is to follow these tips and improve your game.
1. Pro Ready Position
Position accelerates the pace of the players and helps them to move independently in any direction. A player in an appropriate position can hit the ball with more energy than the inappropriate position player. Because when a player stands inappropriately he needs more time to move ahead or move the paddle fast to hit the ball position.
The appropriate position is also called a pro ready position and is followed by the advanced players. Mostly, a beginner player’s biggest mistake is to dangle down the paddle left or right. In case, your opponent hit the ball against your paddle position and you would miss the ball.
To stand appropriately you have to keep the handle in front of you instead of left or right. As well as keep the paddle in the neutral position. If you do not know about the neutral position, keep the paddle in front of you in a 12:00 position. This position helps you to hit the ball coming from any direction. In this position, your hands move independently and at a fast pace.
2. Appropriate Attack
The attack comes after the third shot. Attacking your opponent in an inappropriate way is the second biggest mistake beginner players make while playing. Most of the player’s attack below their knees. There is a serious problem with attacking below your knees. If you do not know what is attacking below the knees when you bend down the knees for hitting the paddle with the ball.
As you attack below your knees the ball can touch the net. When you hit the ball below the knees you are basically attacking the ball from low to high in the air. This is a chance for your opponent to hit the ball high to the low direction, as a result, you will miss it. Sometimes the high to low ball contact ends in a low hit or dead hit which is a fault.
In case of a high to low ball attack from the opponent, hit the ball softly. You can also hit a dink shot. If you hit softly, the ball would go in the neutral position of your opponent. Otherwise, if you play below your knees you cannot win the game. High to low and low to high are difficult shots to control. To win the game you must avoid playing below the knees.
3. Target Opponent’s Feets
Targeting the opponent’s feet is one of the best strategic approaches. When you hit down at the feet of your opponent, he will be confused and play the ball in a low to high trajectory. The problem with low to high hits is that it needs an extra amount of energy and a fast pace to reach the center of the court.
If your opponent successfully hits the ball and it reaches in your area, now you need to hit it at the feet of your opponent. When you hit it in the feet, your opponent will be unable to hit back the ball to throw it out of his area in your court. There are very few chances of low to high hit when you hit in the feet of your opponent.
There is a precaution for you, players who target the opponent’s feet do not consider the possibility of a low to the high shot by the opponent. If your opponent hits a low to high short in return of the feet target you may be unable to control the movement of the ball. So, keep your eyes on the direction of the opponent’s paddle and predict the next shot.
4. Return in your NVZ Line
The fourth mistake people commit is to stay at the end of the court. Mostly, in double players, one stands near the NVZ and the other player stays at the edge of it. It could be damaging to your scores. In this strategy, you can stop the ball at the end of the court but cannot play the ball near the net.
The advanced players know how beneficial it is to stay near the non-volley zone. Because you can easily handle both directions left and right, If your opponent hits the ball high in the air and it goes near the court end you can return after hitting back. When you are near the NVZ you can play better than the edge standing strategy.
There is a precaution for you that you do not return as you hit the ball. It would allow your opponent to take the ball above you when you are in a non-volley zone. But you can wait for the baseline. When your opponent hits the ball with maximum energy, hit it back and return to the non-volley zone. As you are in the non-volley zone, target the feet of your opponent.
5. Find Gaps and Spaces
You need to find gaps and spaces in the opponent’s area. The single player game easily provides you gaps and spaces but double players can give you a tough time finding gaps. If you do not find gaps then create them. To create gaps you need to move with the movement of your opponent. If you hit straight to your opponent, he will play it without any difficulty.
To create a gap you should hit against the opponent. It will take time for the opponent to reach the ball. When your opponent hits back you can again hit it against your opponent’s latest position. The goal is to keep the ball away from your opponent. You can hit high to low against your opponent. Opposite high to low is hard to play, because running while bending down is a difficult task.
The last thing you can do for creating the gaps is to dink early and dink the ball frequently. Whenever you dink the ball, the opponent comes near the net and hits the ball. It is hard to come forward and go back again and again. When your opponent comes forward to catch the dink, take the ball end of the court of the opponent area. Dink frequently means after two or three neutral shots you should dink. It would keep the opponent confused.
FAQs
For the first serve in pickleball, there are some effective ways to perform it. You should toss and release the ball in the air and then you have to hit the ball with your paddle. Do not allow the ball to bounce on the ground.
The most efficient way to improve the game is to play fast. Playing fast keeps your opponent busy assessing the direction of the ball. Fast play also improves the assessment of direction as well as you can find gaps easily.
As a beginner, there are certain mistakes you repeat while playing as a beginner. For example kitchen faults, inappropriate serves, playing below the knees, kitchen faults, and hitting hard.
People have different positions but the best and winning position for pickleball is standing near the non-volley zone. You can keep an eye on the movement of the opponents, and the direction of the ball and control the game with dink shots.
Conclusion
Playing games like pickleball keeps you healthy. Pickleball is a game of physical activities as well as mental strategies. To win the game you must play with a strategy, for physical activity enhancement you can play fast but for mind tricks you need to use dink shots, target the feet of your opponent, create gaps and spaces in the opponent’s area for the points. If you are a beginner and cannot follow all the five above techniques here are 2 golden pickleball tips
- Target the feet of your opponent is the best way to keep your opponent bending down and for creating gaps
- Pro ready position is the perfect standing way, you can easily approach the ball either coming from left or right.
I’m a passionate pickleball enthusiast with years of experience, dedicated to sharing the latest tips, strategies, and insights about the game. Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned player, my goal is to help you enhance your skills and enjoy pickleball to the fullest.
