The Two-Handed Backhand Dink 🎬

Grip the OUTSIDE of the ball

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Hot Take 🔥

Dink MORE out of the air

When you watch pro’s play, you’ll notice that the players are taking as many balls out of the air as they can, especially in men’s doubles. When we are up at the kitchen we will often take these balls and simply dink them back. A lot of people don’t understand the advantages of taking the ball out of the air, even if to just dink it. There are a two main reasons for why pro players take dinks out of the air rather than let them bounce, if we are able.

1. Dinking out of the air takes time away from your opponent.

When you let a high dink from your opponent bounce, you are allowing them to get back into a ready position. They will have more time to get set and prepare for your next shot. If this continues to happen, you will often find yourself getting behind in the dink rally. On the other hand, if you take dinks out of the air, you are able to take time AWAY from your opponent. Now, instead of always moving backwards and taking dinks off the bounce, you are in charge of the point. This will allow you to get into a more offensive position within the kitchen game. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed leaning in like this against an aggressive dinker, but I promise they would prefer you to back up then to confidently volley it back.

2. Possible speedup opportunity

MLP ran statistics on different types of attacks. The data shows that attacks from out of the air are the most effective in pickleball - NOT attacks off of the bounce. If we are always taking dinks off of the bounce, then we are not giving our opponents much to fear. The best players feel comfortable countering from this position. BUT, if we are taking dinks out of the air, they have to fear the possibility of a speedup out of the air. This might cause them to step off the line, or lean back when you are hitting. That will put you in an offensive position, and create other opportunities for you to attack.

As you get better and better, you should be looking to take more and more dinks out of the air. When you are drilling, practice taking as many dinks as possible out of the air. When I practice, I am hugging the kitchen line and reaching as far out as I can in order to not let these dinks bounce. Practicing this shot will help your overall feel of the ball as well. It is definitely a different feeling taking a dink out of the air, because the ball has not lost energy from the bounce yet.

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Learn the TWEENER in 1 min 🎥

Forward facing Tweener from the kitchen 💪

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Featured Pro Tip: Allyce Jones

How to Practice by Allyce ⬇️

Many of us get on the court and always just want to play. However, when you want to get better at basketball you don’t just go play a game each time. You have to do dribbling drills, shoot 50 three pointers and 50 free throws ect. The same is true for pickleball - you have to drill skills.

In my drill sessions I pick two skills I’m working on and then create my practice plan around those skills. I usually drill for 2 hours and then play for 2 hours applying what I’m working on into a game. If my practice and play is intentional then I start to see more development in my game. Pretend like you are playing a match when you are doing these drills. Don’t just casually hit thirds and fourths, play transition games to make your drilling sessions more realistic. Engage your legs and actively think about working on each individual shot.

If you don’t have 4+ hours a day to drill/play and only have 2 or less you can switch off every other day. Go ahead and drill one day and then play the next. You will see a big increase in your game and love pickleball even more because you will be getting better.

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