Top 10 Beginner Pickleball Mistakes
This article will help you understand some of the most common mistakes that beginner pickleball players make and how to fix them! Let’s get right into it.
1. Scooting up after the serve
The most common mistake I see is that after serving, they scoot up a bit. The problem with this is that the return server is going to hit the ball as deep as possible, and if you’ve scooted up following your shot, you’ll have to run back or will have a very hard time returning the shot.
Instead, stay back at the baseline after serving so you can hit a good return.
2. “Too fancy” of a spin
The next mistake is getting too fancy on your spins as a beginner. The spin is really important once you’re a more advanced player but as a beginner, you want to focus on your technique more than anything. Getting too fancy too soon is where you can get into trouble with faults.
3. Smashing balls too early
Another mistake that is very common amongst beginners is trying to absolutely smash the ball way too early (or too low). If you get impatient with dinking you’ll have to work on that. The mantra here is, “live to dink another day” because if you hit the ball too hard, it can pop up.
4. Kitchen faults
Kitchen faults are also very common because the kitchen isn’t really the easiest to understand. Luckily, we have tons of information on the kitchen rule on our website. Basically, you can’t be in the kitchen when you are initiating a volley.
5. Poor serve techniques
As we said before, focus on your techniques before doing the fancy stuff. Beginners often have trouble serving because they have a tendency to flip their hands over. Keep the paddle perpendicular to the ground and you’ll have more success.
6. Not taking centerline shots as the forehand player
If you’re a complete beginner or new to racket sports, the forehand is what you’re dominant with. Many are dominant with their right hand so the forehand for these players is when their palm is facing the opponent.
What you want to do as the forehand player is take the shots that come down the middle when they are facing you, because your forehand is more powerful.
7. Not letting shots go out
Learning to know which shots not to go for definitely comes with experience. If a ball is coming towards your face or shoulder even if you’re in the kitchen. You need to learn not to do this and let the ball go out so you don’t get a kitchen fault. These are some of the easiest point’s you'll make in the game.
8. Not getting to the kitchen
After you get the third shot it can feel weird to run to the kitchen, but this is an important habit. You want to get here after returning a serve. One way to do this is to take a step forward after you hit the ball on the first return.
9. Backing off the kitchen line
Knowing when to back off the kitchen line is also crucial. If your opponent starts hitting harder shots back at you, it should be instinctual that you back off the kitchen line and get defensive. Sometimes you do need to back off but if you want to return dinks then just stay right behind the kitchen line and you’ll be good.
10. Hitting the ball too hard
Let’s face it, sometimes you can hit the ball too hard. You may feel like absolutely smashing every single shot but this is not squash. Hitting a ball too hard can cause it to pop up which is a super nice opportunity for your opponent to smash it back at you. Focus on just returning the shot or dinking it over strategically instead.
Check out this video for more details and to improve your game:
