Why to “miss deep” when hitting resets in 1 minute ⏰

Learn why you shouldn’t be “missing” high, wide or short

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Hot Take 🔥

Don’t Forget Your Feet!

One of the most common things I hear on the court is something like “this shot feels great when I drill, but it’s so much harder in a game for some reason.” Of course it’s harder! When you drill you know where the ball is being hit, and what you’re trying to do with it. In a game you must react, move and make a decision. What isn’t talked about enough is how your movement and shot selection is connected. If someone hits a dink a little too high but you’re on one leg and off balance, then maybe it’s NOT the right ball to speed up on.

The pros make the game look easy because they are always balanced and in the right position - like you are when you drill. The best players will still miss, or pop the ball up, when they are stretched or off balance. One thing that separates the pros from rec players is that they stay within their means when they are off balance, and attack when their balance is strong. You won’t find too many pros who speed the ball up off balance, on one leg. Remember, a necessary quality of any speed up is that you are ready for it to come back. Speed ups are set up shots, and as you get better, you can’t expect to win the point right away with your speed up.

So how can we work on our positioning to maximize our options for each shot? First, focus on your own recognition. For example if you hit a deep serve on the baseline, go ahead and take a step forward early, because the chances of a weak and short return is greater. Second, react with your feet first. I see way too many people stab at a reset with their paddle before they even try to get behind the ball with their feet. Lastly, (my personal favorite here) focus on the split step. You don’t have to be crazy with your feet like me, but split-stepping before every shot is critical. Having your core centered and your legs bent will prepare you to react and also stay in control. Way too many people fly through the transition zone, thinking it’s a rush to get into the kitchen. You want to get to the kitchen as quickly as possible, but not at the expense of balance. You do not want to be moving while your opponent is hitting a ball at your feet.

So next time you’re on the court be conscious of how balanced you are on each shot. Being balanced will give you a greater chance of making a defensive shot, and will give you a greater chance of finding an offensive opportunity.

When to speedup in 1 minute ⏰

Learn how to take balls our of the air

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Featured Pro Tip: Kyle McKenzie

Learn from the Lead Instructor of the Tyson Mcguffin Clinics!

I’m frequently asked by players, “Where is the best place to hit drops?” It’s really an impossible question to answer as we will usually be factoring in the strengths and weaknesses of our opponents when making this decision. At lower levels, we will often be dropping to the weaker player or to a particular players’ forehand or backhand if it’s quite error prone or defensive. But as our level advances, high drops are punished regardless of the player or the side we drop to. Sometimes we can get too focused on a perceived weakness of our opponents and forget about the risk we’re taking when we aim to a particular spot on the court. High level pickleball is all about long term math and finding situations to minimize our own risk. Too often players forget about all the advantages simply dropping to the middle of the court can offer them. 

There are good and bad misses in every situation. By dropping middle, we put ourselves in the best position to avoid bad misses. The two worst misses when dropping are missing wide and missing into the net as the point ends right there. Though not ideal, when we miss high, we can usually keep the rally going especially if we don’t move forward after our poor drop. The net is two inches lower in the middle, so when we hit our drops there, we give ourselves the best chance of the ball clearing the net. Also, since we’re aiming for the middle of the court, we will almost never miss wide. Our misses will mostly be high, and we’ll still give ourselves a chance to clean up our mess and stay in the point. 

When we hit drops, for the most part, our job is not finished after that one shot alone. Playing a drop is simply our first shot in our journey to make it forward to the kitchen line. Dropping middle will often make our next shot easier because it can put both ourselves and our partner in a better position on the court. Dropping middle limits the angles available to our opponents, hurts their ability to attack our line, and hit aggressive angles. Knowing this, my partner can play more in the middle of the court as they’re moving in off my drop and be more of a poaching threat. My court position after my drop will be improved as well since I’m able to, “follow the ball,” and run directly forward. When I drop cross court for example, my partner as to move over and cover their line. This forces me to take a more diagonal path towards the center of the court. When this happens, the dropper won’t get to the kitchen line as quickly and they will be forced to play defense longer. 

As mentioned earlier, many times we will play the player when deciding our drop location and there is nothing wrong with that. We should be using ALL the information we have on our opponents to come up with the best game plan possible, but never forget to look for situations to minimize our own risk. So, if we are in a match and we’re struggling with executing our drops or we can’t seem to get past the transition zone, we should remember the value of dropping middle. Sometimes the simplest solution is the best solution.

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