How to Keep the Ball Low in Pickleball
A question often asked is how to keep the ball low in Pickleball. While this sounds like an easy thing to do in practice, it is very challenging especially when you are at the kitchen line and a ball is hit at your feet or you have to take the ball on a short hop…
How to Get to the Kitchen Line Without Rushing
Even as a beginner, you should try to get to the kitchen line after hitting a serve return or third shot if you are the serving team. This is because most points in Pickleball are won by the team that controls the net. Many times beginning Pickleball players stay at the baseline. However, making the…
How to Dink Like the Pickleball Pros
Transcript Pickleball is a unique sport in that dinking is part of the game. So, what is a dink? It’s a soft shot you hit low over the net after the ball bounces in the kitchen or near the non-volley-zone line. The goal of the shot is to slow down the game and see if…
4 Reasons to Avoid the Third Shot Drop
Video Transcript The third shot drop is a staple in Pickleball. If you watch a pro match, it’s rare for them hit anything other than a drop shot on the third hit. With that being said there are times when you should not hit a third shot drop. In this case, you should drive the…
11 Teaching Professionals Speak Out: How to Move Up to the 4.0 Level
With Pickleball on hiatus in most places due to the Coronavirus, I thought I would reach out to Pickleball instructors and ask them to give their #1 tip on what it takes to move up to the 4.0 level. I asked this question to IPTPA Level 2 Certified Pickleball Teaching Professionals. These are players who…
How to Attack in Pickleball and Win More
Video Transcript Pickleball is a sport where you need to be offensive to win points. If you rely on just getting the ball back and letting your opponent make mistakes, you won’t be as successful. This is especially true at higher levels where you to need to attack to win. Let’s take a look at…
Non Volley Zone in Pickleball: Are You Close Enough to the Kitchen?
One of the first things you learn in Pickleball is to stay out of the kitchen. What’s the kitchen? It is a term for the non-volley zone in Pickleball or an area seven feet from the net running the width of the court. This means you cannot hit the ball in the air if you…
How Do You Get Good at Pickleball?
When I first started playing Pickleball, I watched videos of advanced players to understand what I needed to do to improve my game. I spent quite a bit of time comparing videos of 3.5, 4.0, 4.5 and pro players to understand how the game differed at each skill level. Like most sports, there are many…
Pickleball Grip Technique and Grip Size
If you are coming from a racquet sport background to Pickleball, you know there are a variety of grips which can be used to hold the Pickleball paddle. In tennis, continental, eastern and western grips are popular. In racquetball and Pickleball, a continental grip is used by most players. This is because the game is…
Eye Hand Coordination and Reaction Time: How to Improve Yours for Pickleball
Have you ever wondered why some people who are brand new to Pickleball are better than others who have played for years? Most likely they have played some other racket sport or at least some other sport using a ball such as soccer, basketball, hockey or football. So, what is the advantage of having played…
Anatomy of the Third Shot Drop
If you’ve played Pickleball for any length of time, then you’ve heard of the third shot drop. This is the key shot for the serving team to be able to move up near the non-volley zone. The normal progression is to hit a serve, then your opponent returns the ball, and then the serving team…
