5 Most Important Pickleball Shots To Learn
If you’re like many pickleballers, you probably just started playing this fantastic sport over the last year or two. Or maybe you started this past weekend. Either way, it isn’t long until every newcomer is trying to figure out how to get better–and quickly!
While there are a lot of different shots in pickleball, today’s article discusses five of the most important shots you can learn that will elevate your game to the next level.
#1 - The dink
No, we didn’t misspell a word. The shot is actually called a “dink” shot. A dink is when you softly hit the ball over the net, and usually, you want it to land inside your opponent’s non-volley zone, also known as the kitchen area. This shot is played very often at all levels.
How to do the shot
The purpose of the dink is to force your opponent to hit a low shot from below the net. To hit a dink, you will let the ball bounce, and you make contact with the ball from around your shin area, lifting up to around your knee or waist area. You can dink with your forehand or backhand, and your goal is to put enough arc on the ball so that it narrowly goes over the net and lands softly on the other side. You want your opponent going low to hit the ball because it allows them to make a mistake by popping it up in the air and giving you a putaway shot.
Best Practices
To hit a soft dink, it’s best to have a short compact stroke. You do not want a big backswing.
Simply drop the club down and lift with your shoulder–don’t flick your wrist.
Though you don’t want to hit it too high, you want to give yourself plenty of room to clear the net consistently.
Keep your grip pressure light. On a scale of 1 to 10, where 10 is a death grip, keep your grip at a 3 or 4.
#2 - The volley
Another constant shot in every pickleball match is the volley shot. A volley shot is when you make contact with the ball before it touches the court. Instead of letting it bounce, you hit it while it’s still in the air.
How to do the shot
Perhaps the biggest key to performing a successful volley is to hit it with a short, compact stroke, pushing the ball forward through contact. You want to always keep the ball in front of you during a volley. If you wait until the ball is past you, then you’re setting yourself up for an awkward or missed shot. Typically, volleys aren’t hit hard unless you’re going for a point or putaway.
Best Practices
Aim for your opponent’s chest or waist area.
Practice by aiming at your practice partner’s waist area and focusing on volleying back and forth to get the hang of the amount of force to put on the ball and learn how to return it consistently.
Volleys don’t often win points in a match, but they are great for setting up winning points. Often, when dinking, you’ll also want to throw in a volley every once in a while.
#3 - The serve
The serve starts every point, and there are several ways to serve the ball. A good technique to begin with that will allow you to hit the ball well and improve your serve over time is to start with a closed or semi-closed stance while standing just behind the baseline.
How to do the shot
If you stand with your feet parallel to the baseline and your chest is facing the net, then that is considered an open stance. If you’re standing with your feet perpendicular to the baseline and your chest facing out of bounds, that is a closed stance. A semi-closed stance is somewhere in the middle. Instead of your feet being directly behind each other, your back foot is a half to a full step closer to out of bounds.
The best way to visualize it is to think of a batter in baseball or a golfer. Their chests aren’t facing the pitcher or the fairway when they're getting ready to hit the ball. Instead, their front shoulder is facing those areas. This is an ideal way to start your serve, because it allows your body room to rotate and helps you put a full swing into your serve.
Best Practices
The key to serving is being consistent. When you drop the ball, and before hitting it, you want to create a consistent drop that you can repeatedly do.
The drop serve is when you let the ball bounce before striking it. You want to catch the ball as it reaches its peak on the way back up. If you’re just starting out, the drop serve is a good technique to use.
Another way to serve is to hit the ball out of the air. This time, you drop it but instead of letting it bounce, you hit the ball when it gets to about knee and shin level. As you progress, this will likely become how you often serve it.
Keep your knees slightly bent and in a good athletic position.
Practice your technique and consistency first. You can add power as you improve.
Swing through the ball, don’t immediately stop your swing right after impact.
Practice makes perfect–don’t get frustrated if you’re having trouble with the serve. Instead, try moving around the baseline until you find a spot you’re comfortable with and can successfully hit again and again. Fortunately, serving is one thing you can practice without a partner. Get a bucket of balls and just practice dropping the ball and serving it. Then switch sides.
#4 - The return
When your opponent is serving, you will be responsible for the return shot. Having a great return is essential to playing good pickleball.
How to do the shot
When waiting on the serve, you want to stand behind the baseline–about a foot behind it even. This is because you want to give yourself plenty of room to step into your return shot. When your opponent is serving, the last thing you want to do is let them hit the ball deep and at your feet, giving you an awkward attempt to hit the ball back to them. As the ball is coming to you, you want to decide whether you will attempt a forehand or backhand return because that will help you set your feet early and hit the ball consistently with the middle of the paddle.
As you swing through the ball, you want to move forward with your momentum and take a space at the non-volley zone line to prepare for shorter shots or a round of dinking and volleys.
Best Practices
When practicing, be sure to practice both your forehands and backhands.
There are multiple strategies for return shots. Ultimately, it’s important to figure out what works best for you. When starting out, try returning the ball deep to your opponent to give yourself time to move up or whatever position you plan on playing from. Your goal on the return should be to give your opponent an uncomfortable shot and not let them get into the position they want to get into.
Don’t worry about hitting your return hard, just deep.
#5 - The ground stroke
The ground stroke is simply a shot that you hit from the baseline (or close to it) after it bounces on the ground. Typically, you want to hit these balls with some pace and make solid contact.
How to do the shot
These are your typical shots, similar to what you see primarily in tennis. In pickleball, however, they are less prevalent (though still important) throughout a match because most matches end at the non-volley zone line. You want to be in a closed position and use a medium backswing to perform a good ground stroke.
Best Practices
Just as you did on the serve, you want to shift your weight from the back leg to the front leg as you make contact through the ball.
Think of smooth rather than hard when hitting–this will help you develop power in your swing.
Keep your grip pressure around the 3 or 4 mark.
Follow all the way through the shot with your shoulder
Conclusion
There you go! There are the five most important pickleball shots to learn and eventually master. We hope this article helped you out and if you’d like to see a video with examples of how to perform each of these shots, check out the video here.
