Top 5 Pickleball Dinking Mistakes
Pickleball is a deceptive sport. On the one hand, it’s easy to understand, and almost anyone can hop on a court and start hitting the ball around. But, on the other hand, there are nuances and strategies that the best players in the game have mastered, making the sport look deceptively simple.
But, for those who aren’t masters or anyone playing pickleball for the first time, there are parts of the game they need to practice if they want to get better.
Today, we’re discussing one very important part of pickleball; dinking.
Along with RooSportz, we’ll break down the top 5 pickleball dinking mistakes and how you can fix them in your game.
Let’s go!
Mistake #1 - Doing Too Much
The ultimate goal of dinking is to drop the ball inside your opponent’s kitchen. But, the problem is the kitchen is only seven feet long from the net. That’s not a massive space to hit a ball in. This causes people to do too much–or think they need to do more. People might think they need to move the ball constantly and move their bodies a lot. But, truthfully, less equals more when dinking.
Use less wrist and let your lower body do the heavy lifting of getting the ball over the net. Taking angles with your shots gives you more space to work with, but at the end of the day, it’s all about softly hitting the ball over the net so that your opponent can’t slam it back at you.
Mistake #2 - Wrong Shot Choice
Sometimes we dink for offense, and sometimes it’s for defense. Other times, it’s simply to help us bide our time to reset our or our partner’s bodies. This gives us a lot to think about when choosing the right shot to dink with. Don’t make the mistake of thinking you need to understand the perfect shot every time.
Instead, think of it like this:
When using defensively: aim halfway into the kitchen and get height on the ball
When on offense: aim one foot from the kitchen line and think more linear or put less height on the ball
From there, you’ll learn what shots to use at the right moments with more experience.
Mistake #3 - Use More Legs & Shoulders
Think about tossing a ball at a small child. You wouldn’t overhand it and risk hitting them in the face. You’d bend your legs and gently underhand toss the ball so that they can catch it.
This motion activates your legs and shoulders–while keeping your wrists steady. That’s how you want to dink.
Mistake #4 - Keep Paddle Out Front and Ready
Just because a volley of dinking begins doesn’t mean your opponent will follow suit. Keep your paddle out in front of you and ready for any shot. If you keep it down, they may see an opportunity to go after your body with a drive instead. Instead, keep it up so you are ready to dink or defend yourself against another kind of shot.
Mistake #5 - Not Properly Warmed Up
The final mistake we’ll discuss is not properly warming up before your matches. Dinking is a finesse shot. This means it’s all about touch and training your body to do what it needs to do. If you just hop out on the court and start playing, you’ll probably struggle early on. You’ll over-hit shots, and this could cause you to get frustrated.
Instead, grab a partner or find a nearby wall and practice a few rounds of dinking all the way up and down the kitchen. This will help your body feel what it needs to do, and it might save you a couple of points early in the match.
We hope you enjoyed these tips. To catch more and see these mistakes and fixes in action with this video from RooSportz.
