5 Pickleball Plays To Add To Your Game
Once you reach a certain level in pickleball, you become less focused on the way you hit the ball or the individual shots themselves, and instead, you begin to focus on the strategy of the game. Instead of checkers, pickleball becomes a game of chess.
Today’s article and this video created by Enhance Pickleball discuss five pickleball plays that you may want to add to your game, especially if you’re a player in the 3.0 to 4.5 range.
Play #1 - The Redirector
During net play, when all four players are at the kitchen, it’s common to dink the ball crosscourt to the opposite side player. It’s a longer shot and allows you to cross your ball over the middle of the net, which is the safer place to aim since the net is lower. However, no rules determine how many times you are allowed to hit it crosscourt. So, for The Redirector, the goal is to lull your other opponent to sleep by hitting multiple cross-court shots before hitting a speed-up at the opponent directly in front of you.
The speed-up is a great shot and can catch your opponent off guard. They may not be ready for it if they haven’t hit the ball in a while. So, if you find yourself dinking crosscourt multiple times, take a chance and hit a speed-up shot.
#2 - The Lob
When hit at an unexpected time, the lob shot can be a strong strategic move. There are multiple times when a lob could be a great go-to shot. One is when you are near your baseline, and your opponents are at the kitchen. This is a great time because it is completely unexpected, and even if your opponents can get to it, you’ll have time to get to the kitchen yourself. Another time is when your opponents are near the kitchen, and one of them just took themselves off-balance to get to a shot that propelled them forward.
Being off-balance and trying to go back to retrieve a well-timed lob shot is nearly impossible to get right. Their teammate will likely try to save them and cause even more confusion and issues with their return shot.
#3 - The Drive Drop Combo
Instead of just hitting a third shot drop or third shot drive, using a combo of the two can help you keep your opponents on their toes and help you get into a great position at the kitchen line. Essentially, if you’re still at the baseline, drive the ball toward your opponent–careful not to hit it too high. Once they return it back to you, drop the ball softly into their kitchen and charge forward to your own kitchen line.
This series of hard shot to soft shot can really help you surprise your opponents and put in a great position for the rest of the match.
#4 - The Erne Lore
The Erne is a fun shot in pickleball and can be set up fairly simply when you want to use it. One great way to set it up is to work some dinks over to your sideline, then hit a dink toward your opponent’s outside foot. This should cause them to be a bit off-balance and prevent them from getting their own dink crosscourt. After they take their shot, if it’s close enough to your sideline, perform your Erne.
You can learn more about the Erne in this article.
#5 - The Shake N’ Bake
Perhaps the most exciting play on this list, the Shake N’ Bake, is a play designed to take advantage of your opponent’s tendencies. To set this up, you or your partner should hit a low-lining third shot drive at your charging opponents. The person who hits the drive should stay back while the other teammate charges forward in anticipation of the next shot. If your opponent pops up the drive or aims their shot at the back player, then it’s the closest player's opportunity to strike the ball quickly right at the opponent who returned the shot.
It’s a bit difficult to explain in text here but check out the video linked below around the 5:45 mark.
There you have it, five great plays to carry into your next doubles match that should help you dominate your opponents.
See these plays in action and more detail in this video from Enhance Pickleball. Keep checking Pickleball University for more tips and strategies to improve your game.
