Top 4 Pickleball Drills for 4.0+ Players
You don’t get a 4.0+ skill rating in pickleball without a good number of matches and lots of purposeful practice. While the rating system starts at 0 and moves up to 5.5+, we can all agree that it’s quite an accomplishment to get to 4.0+.
If you want to get to this level or become even more skilled, here are the top four drills for 4.0+ pickleball players as presented by PrimeTime Pickleball–you can watch the video below.
Drill #1 - Fireball
As the saying goes, “pressure bursts pipes.” Sometimes in pickleball matches, you can simply out-pressure your opponent by hitting hard shots and keeping them back on their heels. This drill is about learning how to give and withstand that pressure.
How to Do It
Grab a training partner, and while one of you stands at the baseline (as you would for a serve), the other stands on the opposite side kitchen or NVZ (non-volley zone) line. You should be on opposite halves of the court. The person on the baseline should serve the ball, hitting it as hard and fast as they can toward the other player. The person on the kitchen line should return the serve without letting it bounce.
Objective/Goals
The objectives of this drill are two-fold. The server's goal is to use hits and volleys to get to the kitchen line. While the goal for the kitchen player is to keep the server back as long as possible. The kitchen player can do this by returning the ball deep and at the server’s feet. After the serve and the return, you should play out the remainder of the point, hitting it cross-court.
Use this drill to help you apply and deal with pressure. Once the point is scored, you can switch serves or just have the same person serving for the entire drill. Be sure to flip sides of the baseline so that you can practice serving and returning the serve from both sides. The first to 11 points wins the training drill.
Drill #2 - Terminator
This drill is similar to the previous one, except instead of drilling the ball on the serve, we want to drill it on the third shot.
How to Do It
Take the same positions as the Fireball drill, with one player on the baseline and the other on the NVZ line. The NVZ or kitchen line player should feed a high attackable ball to the person on the baseline, simulating a weak return. The baseline player should step in and drive the ball at the player at the NVZ line. This represents an offensive third-shot drive you might normally take during a game. From there, you play out the point.
Objective/Goals
The player driving the ball should aim the drive low to the net and stay aggressive trying to win the point. The player at the net should try to neutralize the initial third-shot drive, volleying the ball down toward their opponent's feet. The goal for the baseline player is to play aggressively and keep moving forward. The goal for the net player is to neutralize the aggressiveness while keeping their opponent back.
Drill #3 - Survivor
This drill is designed to help you and your partner deal with overhead slams and put-aways.
How to Do It
Instead of positioning yourselves diagonally across from each other, this time, you want the player on the baseline and the player on the NVZ line to be on the same left or right side of the court. You’re still on opposite sides of the net, however. The player at the baseline begins by lobbing a ball to the player at the NVZ line. You want it to simulate a setup for a putaway shot or overhead slam.
The player at the NVZ line should try their best to put away their opponent.
Objective/Goals
The goal of the baseline player is to absorb the put-away attempt and return the ball back to their opponent. After that attempt, you should play the point out, with each player trying to score. The goal of the net player is to apply as much pressure as possible to the player on the baseline. Play to 11 points and then switch roles.
Drill #4 - Mid-Court Crisis
So far, we’ve given you drills for standing around the NVZ line and the baseline. But don’t think we forgot about mid-court! This is the position between those two lines mentioned, and while we hopefully don’t find ourselves in this position too often, it’s crucial to balance out your game by getting better when you are in it.
How to Do It
Start with one player at the NVZ and the other on the opposite side around mid-court (MC). The MC player starts by providing their opponent with a soft, attackable ball that lands softly and bounces high in the kitchen–simulating a third-shot drop shot you would likely see during a game. The player at the NVZ line should attack the ball and be aggressive, trying to score a point by hitting the ball with topspin and at the feet of the other player. At the same time, the MC player does their best to defend and return the ball. Then, play out the point like normal.
Objective/Goals
The objective of this drill is to purposely put yourself (as the MC player) in a very tough position that has to defend low shots around your feet. It’s an uncomfortable feeling to be in this position, but it’s essential to put yourself in these situations to be more prepared when they happen during the game.
Likewise, the goal of the NVZ line player is to hit the ball in the right spot, making the defense of the shot impossible. When you find your opponent in the mid-court, you often want to take this kind of shot to keep them off balance and hopefully score a point or set you up for the remainder of the volley.
Conclusion
These drills are part of a series that’s done masterfully by Prime Time Pickleball. We encourage you to practice these drills to improve your game and to check out the video for even more detail and visual representation of this article.
