6 Secret Tips for Higher Level Pickleball

If you're thinking, I've played quite a bit of Pickleball but I can't seem to level up. Here are 6 helpful tips one of our top Pickleball experts suggest to help you improve your Pickleball game:

"Shhhhh ...Top Secret Pickleball Tips!"

1. Know When to Drive the Ball

Early on, Pickleball newbies love to drive the ball hard as if playing Tennis. In fact, true Pickleball players have a term for this, they call them "Bangers". Eventually, players learn the art and importance of dinking. This next tip re-introduces when its actually appropriate to drive the ball hard. When you're at the kitchen - and the ball bounces waist height on your side - it's best to DRIVE the ball as opposed to executing a DROP SHOT.

Since the ball is higher up in the air - it will be easier for you to drive the shot with greater accuracy to your target area. A standard Pickleball drop shot in this scenario doesn't take advantage of a weak return made by the opposing team. So drive that Pickleball just like Roger Federer!

2. Keep Your Paddle Up

Most people will tell you to get to the kitchen line ASAP. Not so fast! Before you take off like Forest Gump, make sure to keep your paddle up in front of your chest -- so you can handle any quick return shots with plenty of time to react. DO NOT run to the kitchen line with your paddle down at your side. Higher level players have a keen sense of where your paddle is and can aim for where you are not ready to defend.

3. Get Your Teammate Involved At the Net

If you're in a dink battle, try and hit the ball across the court diagonally to the other side. This will help get your teammate involved in the play. You want to avoid dinking back and forth with the player directly in front of you. This leaves you open to an ERNE shot and it will also leave your partner out of the play. So try and dink the ball across to the other court forcing the other team to deal with your entire team when they return the ball. Teamwork makes the dreamwork!

4. Use a combination strategy for your drop shots, dinks, and drive shots

Once you've hit a few DROP SHOTS during a game -- the opposing team will not be expecting a DRIVE SHOT coming! So, when the opportunity presents itself, look for an opportunity to DRIVE the ball when they're preparing for you to DROP it again. This will keep them off-balance, not knowing when you're going to DROP vs DRIVE the ball during the rest of the game making you less predictable. If you tend to DRIVE the ball a lot, try to mix in a few DROP SHOTS for the same reason! Then your opponents may respond like James Van Der Beek!

5. Making Your Way to the Kitchen Line, Smartly

You'll see professional Pickleball players do this all of the time. They don't ever CHASE bad balls (aka Garbage), just to get to the Kitchen line. They hit the ball back and efficiently make their way to the Kitchen line sometimes after 2, 3, or 4 shots. So don't take off to the Kitchen line irrespective of the situation. Assess each play and be smart about your approach. Albeit, if you know or feel like you hit a good DROP SHOT into the kitchen, you can be more aggressive and run to the net looking for a SMASH shot -- but do so at your own risk (or reward)!

6. The Best Time to Poach the Ball

A lot of people don't like it when you poach their ball(s). But if you do it at the right time, it can go over extremely well. One of the best and safest times to poach a ball in Pickleball is when you're teammate must return the serve first and you're already at the net. If you're a good player, it's unlikely the other team is going to hit the ball directly at you while you're at the net. So look for opportunities to cover your side and the middle net area and poach a ball taking them by surprise with a quick return shot to side them out. To combat this, as the team dealing with the Poacher - keep them honest by hitting a few shots down the line to their backhand side - so they don't creep to the middle so much.

TLDR;

After a while, Pickleball games can produce similar results without strategy. Here we introduce a few things to try to improve your overall pickleball game. What are some strategies you use? Comment with your best tips below.