Ever envied the smooth, seemingly effortless play on advanced pickleball courts? I sure have. Watching top players glide across the court, executing perfect shots gracefully, often leaves me wondering, “What’s their secret?” Well, it turns out, the jump to advanced play hinges on mastering a few simple yet game-changing skills.
After delving into the wisdom of top players and coaches, I’ve uncovered three essential skills that stand as the pillars of advanced pickleball play. These aren’t complex techniques that require you to be a superhero, nor are they magic bullets that you can expect to transform your game overnight.
No, they’re straightforward, practical skills that, with a bit of practice, can significantly elevate your game. Let’s dive into these essentials and how to integrate them into your strategy to compete and dominate on the court.
1. The Magic of Deep Returns
Let’s kick things off with something that might seem straightforward but is often overlooked: the depth of your returns. Why is this so crucial? Let’s let the stats do the talking. We measured 250 returns of serve in 3.5-4.0 doubles matches in Denver.
Y-Axis (Frequency): This axis represents the number of occurrences for each depth range. Positive values indicate wins (in green), while negative values indicate losses (in red).
Key Observations:
Shallow Returns (0-20%): This range has significant losses (red bars), suggesting that shallow returns often disadvantage the returning player.
Mid-court Returns (40-60%): This range has a more balanced distribution of wins and losses. While it’s an improvement over shallow returns, it’s still not the most advantageous position.
Deep Returns (80-100%): The green bars dominate in this range, indicating a higher frequency of wins. This suggests that returns close to the baseline often give the returning player a strategic advantage.
A deep return does wonders:
- It limits your opponent’s ability to execute an easy third-shot drop.
- It diminishes the effectiveness of a third-shot drive (because the ball has to travel farther).
- It buys you precious time to advance to the net.
The goal is to force your opponents back, making it harder for them to take control of the point and ensuring you’re in a prime position to dictate the rally’s pace.
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2. Miss With Margins
Even the best players in the world miss shots. However, what sets them apart is where and how they miss. Adopting a ‘safe shot miss’ approach means your errors aren’t as punishing.
My dad always used to tell me a story about a great women’s pro tennis player (I think it was Margaret Court, but I’m not 100%). Her dad would take her out to practice on Sundays. She would wait all week to play and couldn’t wait to get out and play. However, her dad had one simple but brutal rule: if you hit a ball into the net, we go home. This doesn’t seem kind, but it forcefully drives home the lesson: hitting the ball into the net immediately gifts your opponent the point. First things first, don’t give your opponent the point, make them earn it.
If you’re aiming for a precise drop and it falls short, aim to have the ball land deep in the court, keeping the play alive rather than conceding a point with a shot that lands in the net or flies out. This tactic minimizes risk and maintains pressure, ensuring that even misses contribute to your overall game strategy.
3. Embracing the Split Step for Agility, Timing and Balance
The split step is an indispensable footwork technique for anyone aiming to advance in pickleball, acting as a cornerstone for both defensive and offensive play. Its importance cannot be overstated, with several key benefits making it a must-learn for ambitious players:
- Enhances Readiness: The split step prepares players to move in any direction quickly, ensuring they are always ready to respond to their opponent’s shots.
- Improves Reaction Time: By executing a split step just as the opponent hits the ball, players can significantly reduce their reaction time, allowing for quicker and more effective returns.
- Facilitates Balanced Movement: This technique helps maintain balance, ensuring that movements are both efficient and controlled, which is crucial for executing precise shots.
Furthermore, mastering the split step is a hallmark of advanced pickleball play, providing strategic advantages that can make a significant difference in high-level matches:
- Enables Quick Adjustments: The agility gained from the split step allows players to make fast adjustments, adapting to unexpected shots or strategic plays by the opponent.
- Promotes Strategic Positioning: Advanced players use the split step to position themselves optimally on the court, enabling them to dictate the pace of the game and set up offensive strategies.
- Reduces Unforced Errors: Proper execution of the split step minimizes the likelihood of being caught off guard, thus reducing unforced errors and enhancing overall play consistency.
In essence, the split step is a fundamental skill that elevates a player’s game from intermediate to advanced, underscoring the synthesis of physical agility, strategic positioning, and shot precision in pickleball.
4. Never Speed Up From an Unbalanced Position
Hitting the ball hard when you’re wobbling around like a penguin on ice is a pickleball no-no. We’ve all been there—lunging for a shot, off-kilter, and thinking, “I can totally smash this.” Spoiler: It usually doesn’t end well. Here’s the scoop on why keeping your cool and balance is better than going for broke:
- Power Without Precision is Pointless: Ever notice how a shot feels when you’re balanced? Solid, right? Now, think about that one time (okay, maybe more than one) when you tried to whack the ball from a funky angle or on one foot. Not so solid. That’s because balance is key to not just hitting the ball hard, but also knowing it’ll go where you want it to.
- Hello, Errors, My Old Friend: There’s something almost magical about sending a shot straight to the net or out of bounds when you’re off-balance. It’s like the ball knows. And let’s not forget the gift we’re giving our opponents when we do. Free points, anyone?
- Ouch: That feeling when you stretch for a wild shot and something in your body goes “Hey, I didn’t sign up for this”? Yeah, injuries from overreaching are real, and they’re not fun.
On the flip side, playing it cool and collected has its perks:
- Defensive Ninja Moves: By not rushing shots from a “help, I’m falling!” stance, you give yourself time to get back in position. Think of it as moving from being a scrambling mess to poised and ready for whatever comes your way.
- Making Them Work for It: Instead of gifting points with wild, unbalanced shots, a calm and controlled return can put the pressure back on them. It’s about making them earn every point, not just scooping it up from our mistakes.
- Playing Smart, Not Hard: It’s about the long game. Rushing for a power shot might feel good in the moment (if it works), but playing smart—choosing the right shot for the right moment—means you’re thinking one, two, or three shots ahead.
In essence, keeping your balance is less about never taking risks and more about knowing when it’s smart to go big and when it’s better to hold back, set up, and then unleash when the time is right. It’s like being the chess master of the pickleball court.
By day, I work as an event coordinator, planning everything from corporate retreats to local festivals. It's a job that keeps me on my toes and allows me to flex my creative muscles. But once the workday is over, you'll most likely find me on the pickleball court.
I've been playing in local and regional tournaments for a few years now, and while I'm not going pro anytime soon, I've held my own in some pretty competitive matches. I also love traveling to watch professional pickleball games; there's something electrifying about seeing the best in the world go head-to-head.
What I cherish most about pickleball, though, is the social aspect. I've met some of my closest friends through this sport, and our post-game hangouts are just as important to me as the games themselves.
I like to think I bring a down-to-earth vibe to everything I do. I love a good laugh, intelligent conversation, and, of course, a spirited game of pickleball. So if you're up for a match or just want to chat about the latest pro tournament, hit me up. I'm always game!
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