5 Powerful Pickleball Tips To Win More Games
Pickleball is a fun sport that’s great for meeting people, getting healthier, and just having a good time. But that doesn’t mean you don’t also want to win games. Recently, we came across a great video by In2Pickle that offered five powerful pickleball tips to win more games.
And we thought we’d share those tips with you.
Powerful Tip #1 - Follow the Ball
We are sure that you’ve heard the phrase, “Keep your eye on the ball,” a time or two throughout your athletic lives. This is a maxim held by all sports since the beginning of time. And it’s no different in pickleball. But, besides keeping your eyes on the ball, you also want to follow the ball. This means not only are you watching where the ball is going, but you are actually placing your body closer to the ball by moving toward it as it flies toward its target. For example, if you hit a cross-court shot from the left side of the court, the ball is now on the right side. So, you want to take your body towards that side of the court.
This is especially important when you’re up at the NVZ line. Most players have a tendency to keep their shoulders squared with the net. Instead, following the ball means squaring your shoulders with the position of the ball. If the ball is on the right side, it’s not going to do you much good to have your shoulders parallel with the net. Instead, they should be facing the ball so that you are in a better position for the return.
To turn your shoulders, you have two choices. First, you can keep your feet squared with the net and only turn your shoulders. Or secondly, you can take a step back with the foot that’s closer to the ball so that your entire body is a little more open to receiving the shot. The last thing you want to do on a pickleball court is cross your legs because that is an easy way to lose your balance and potentially fall and hurt yourself. A slightly open stance will give you the strong foundation you need to stay on your feet.
Powerful Tip #2 - Use a Compact Swing
Pickleball is a fast-paced game that doesn’t allow big, looping swings like you might see in other racket sports. So, it’s essential to develop a short, compact swing that will enable you to hit through the ball quickly and reset in anticipation of the next shot. To get a good image of a compact swing, think of standing in a ready position with your paddle and simply punching at the ball. You wouldn’t swing your arm back to punch the ball. Instead, you would quickly move your hand and elbow towards the ball to hit it on the other side.
Big swings can cause you to make a lot of errors. You can have mistakes in your backswing and at the end of the swing that causes you to mishit the ball. When you have a short, compact swing, you are more likely to hit the ball in the center of the paddle and with the correct amount of force you need for your shot.
Powerful Tip #3 - Anticipate the Ball
Similar to following the ball, it’s also important to anticipate the ball and what your opponent is going to try and do with it. Anticipation will allow you more time to get into a strong return position, and instead of reacting after the ball is hit, you can already be there to absorb and then hit a stronger shot back at your opponent.
To do this, you should pay attention to the type of shot your opponent is taking or going to take. For example, if your opponent has drawn the paddle way back behind their body, then they are likely going to take a big swing. If they are in a softer shot position, you should anticipate a dink or soft shot. Having that extra split second to determine where you should be and what type of ball is going to come at you can play a major role in winning or losing pickleball games.
Powerful Tip #4 - Point of Contact
During every shot, there is an optimal point of contact. This means that for every shot, whether it’s a high bouncer or a scorching drive, there is a contact point that is ideal for what you’re trying to do with the shot. Of course, as humans, it’s not always possible to hit the optimal point of contact. We make mistakes, and we don’t have quick-calculating supercomputers that can tell us where exactly we should hit it while the ball is in the air.
But, even though we can’t figure that out between each shot, we do know that most of the time, the optimal point of contact is going to be out in front of your body. Keeping the ball in front of you means not backpedaling or striking the ball with the paddle against or behind your body. By hitting it when it’s in front of you, you’re allowing yourself the best possible shot at the ball. It’s easier to hit it with the sweet spot and put the correct amount of power you want on it.
To find the optimal point of contact, you need to practice. Have someone hit different shots at you and see what works best for you when returning the shot back.
Powerful Tip #5 - Grip Pressure Serve & Return
How hard or lightly you hold the pickleball paddle can have a huge impact on your pickleball play. If you think of grip pressure on a scale of 1-10, where 10 is a “death grip” that actually hurts your hand, and 1 is a soft grip where it’s falling out of your hand, then we want our grip pressure to be around a 3-4 on most of your shots. On a serve, you may have a grip pressure of a six or a seven.
But, what you can do to mix up your game without changing your mechanics is to decrease your grip pressure. For example, if you’re serving at a seven grip pressure, try relaxing your grip down to a three or four. The ball won’t fly as far, but you can maintain the same stroke–which is really important for advanced pickleball play where players can pick up on the subtlest of clues. You might be surprised how well you can still hit the ball with that lower grip pressure. Practice making the same shots with different grip pressures to see the difference.
Conclusion
So, what did you think of these tips? Hopefully, you’re now ready to win more pickleball games and step up your skills. To see these tips in action or in more detail, check out In2Pickle on their YouTube channel.
