Are You in the 90% of Pickleball Players Making this Mistake?

According to professional player and coach, Dave Weinbach, 90% of players have too much pressure on their grip while dinking.

Dinking is one of the most common shots in the game of pickleball and necessary to improve your game. It is defined as “an unattackable shot that lands in the no volley zone (kitchen).”

Do you feel like you have no control when dinking? Do your dinks come off of your paddle way too hard? Do your dinks often set your opponent up to smash it back at you?

Have you ever watched the pros and notice their dinks arch over the net then fall down into the no volley zone (kitchen) right out of reach of their opponent? Believe it or not, those same pros you see smashing the ball as hard as they can, have a very loose grip while dinking which causes the ball to stay on the paddle longer giving them more control.

A little change in your grip pressure could solve all of your dinking problems. Many people have a strong hold on their grip. Dave recommends a 3-4 for grip pressure on a scale of 0 to 10. 0 being the paddle falls out of your hand and 10 being as tight as you can possibly squeeze it.

When people make this subtle shift from 8-9 to 3-4 grip pressure, we often hear them being more comfortable and confident playing up at the no volley zone (kitchen).