Have You Hit the Wall in Your Pickleball Skills? Part Two: Becoming a Skilled Attacker

My last column focused on drilling to improve your soft game around the kitchen, and resetting the ball when trapped in midcourt, allowing you and your partner to proceed to the kitchen line. Players are most effective attacking their opponents when they are as close to the kitchen line as possible.

This article will focus on drills and strategies to help you become a consistent attacker.

I begin my instruction to new players using the traffic light visual. View yourself like an upside-down traffic light: Any time the ball bounces below your knee or at your feet, it’s a red light. When the ball is low, you need to hit it soft and low. Reset that shot — you’re on defense.

When the ball bounces between your knee and hip, it’s probably net high (yellow light) — you can reset with an aggressive dink or speed it up with topspin. Be ready for a fast return if you speed it up.

If it’s higher than your waist or shoulder (green light), you should be taking it out of the air and attacking it.

My first drill is a fast-hands muscle memory drill. I call it the punch volley drill. It’s a cooperative drill played like the beach game Kadima.

Eighty percent of the balls volleyed directly at you on a speed-up should be taken with your backhand — it allows you to keep your paddle up, away from your body and parallel to the net. If the ball is to your forehand — your opponent is probably trying to avoid that — then use your forehand.

Two players standing directly across from each other, feet on the kitchen line, try to volley in the air for as many as you can. Great drill and really helps when you get into that inevitable hand battle during your game.

Many players think smashing the high shot should be a tennis swing. Unfortunately, players miss that shot a lot, because the ball hits the net and you lose a valuable opportunity to put your opponent on defense. It also puts stress on your shoulder joint, which can develop into tendinitis.

The most consistent and effective technique is to raise your elbow up to the level of the ball, paddle up and bend your wrist backward. It’ll feel a little uncomfortable the first time you try it but it really works: “When it’s high, swat a fly.”

Be sure to contact the ball in front of you, and snap your wrist quickly. It’s a short, compact swing and allows you keep your paddle in front of you in the event of a return shot by your opponent. I usually drill 10 forehands and 10 backhands.

Driving the ball from the backcourt is a tennis player’s dream. Most beginners fall into the trap of staying in the back and hitting ground stokes, like a tennis match. Remember, your goal is to hit a shot that allows you and your partner to move to the kitchen line together, forming a wall that makes your opponents next shot more difficult.

When drilling the forehand drive, it’s important to emphasize the three S’s: stop your feet, stabilize your base, short swing.

If you’re right-handed, your left foot should be in front of your right, and contact should be made in front of your body. If you’re a tennis player then you might want to add topspin to the shot. Once again, “down the middle solves the riddle”: Since the middle of the net is 2 inches lower than the sidelines, it’s safer and forces your opponents to decide who should play the shot.

Down-the-line shots are effective when your opponent hits the ball wide and you can set your feet and send it straight between your opponent and the sideline. Most players wait too long on their backhand drive shots. The ball needs to be contacted in front of your body, not even or behind, like a tennis backhand. Remember, the down-the-line shot is a riskier shot, and if your opponent shades properly, that ball will be coming back fast and down the line.

Cross-court drives are very popular among former tennis players — high risk, high reward. Usually, these shots catch your opponent by surprise and result in winners if hit properly. Since the court is only 21 feet wide, there’s not a lot of room for error, so be careful.

When drilling, have someone feed you the ball from just in front and to the side of you, letting it bounce at least into the yellow zone. Ten forehands, 10 backhands, and, if you want to, 10 cross-courts. Be careful with the topspin. I’ve seen so many picklers develop tennis elbow from using topspin too frequently.

Strategically, as your game improves, you’ll drive less and drop more. The pros used to third-shot drop all the time, and they still do, but, recently, a great drill is the drive-and-drop drill.

I like to have four players for this drill. The service team serves to the receiving team, whose job it is to hit the return as deep as possible. It’s important that the return is relatively fast and low. The service team drives the ball, hopefully, to one of the opponents’ backhand. The return team returns the drive, usually with a punch volley, and the service team attempts to drop the fifth shot, allowing them to safely approach the net. The volley ends when one team wins the point.

Most professional instructors will tell you to minimize the number of consecutive drives, ideally to one if you can.

Hopefully, these drills and strategy tips will help you and your friends improve your game and increase your enjoyment of the game.