Pickleball 101 and Beyond: The third shot

This is the third article in the Pickleball 101 and Beyond series and this article is about the third shot in a pickleball rally. What a weird coincidence! I wonder what the first and second articles were about...?

When I first thought about the best way to approach this article, I thought I could make a decision tree that would show which shots would be preferred based on a number of variables. This proved to be far more complicated than I anticipated. There are so many potential variables by the time you are hitting the third shot in a rally!

• depth of the return
• pace of the ball
• spin
• height of the bounce
• angle of the return
• you and your partner's movement and positions
• your opponents' movement and positions
• your opponents' skills
• your skills

There were far too many variables to do a comprehensive chart or decision tree to show how to choose your shots. So instead, I will break down some general principles to guide your shot selection.

Before we go through all that, let's discuss the strategic significance of the third shot in a pickleball rally. Why does it matter?

Why does the third shot matter?

If the receiving team

1. understands the basic strategies of a deep return that allows them to run to the net
2. They been able to execute those strategies successfully

the serving team will find themselves at or near the baseline with both opponents on the receiving team at the net by the time they get the ball to hit the third shot.

This puts the serving team in a defensive position. If both players on the receiving team are set at the net when the serving team hits the third shot of the rally, any high ball they send will be hit hard and attacked. Players at the net are in the best position to hit volleys and to hit them down at the feet of opponents in the back court and to hit hard/fast smashes. The team at the net also has greater margins for error because they can hit oblique angles that that make it difficult for players at the baseline to retrieve.

This is the problem that the serving team needs to solve. Making the right shot selection is key.

What are the options?

As we have already discussed, if your opponents are both at the net, you need to control the height of the ball you send to them. Anything you send high will most likely be hit hard and fast or possibly at an angle that will be difficult to get to. What is left? Lobs, drives, and drop shots.

Lobs

If you hit a ball that is higher than your opponents can reach, they will have to back up away from the kitchen line to hit it. This strategy can work, but there are some good reasons that you don't see third shot lobs employed as a strategy in most pro-level matches.

There are significant risks with lobs. If your lob is too shallow, you have just hit a nice juicy overhead for your opponents to pound into the ground. If your lob is too deep, it will go out. Pickleball courts are short, so the margin between too shallow and too deep is narrow.

Also, if you rely on lobs the whole time, your opponents will quickly catch on and they will likely anticipate them. They can stay back off the kitchen line a bit so they don't have to backtrack. That can render your lobs ineffective.

Wind can also cause problems with lobs. Again, the court is short and pickleballs don't weigh much. Wind can carry a pickleball out of bounds easily.

I won't tell you never to lob on the third shot (I do it myself on occasion). It can definitely be effective in certain circumstances. And if you find that it is working for the opponents you are playing against, go for it. But you will need to develop other tools if you want to advance in the sport. Lobs alone will not put you on the medal stand.

Lobs work well when:

• They are unexpected
• You catch your opponents moving forward
• They are high enough that your opponents can't reach them, but low enough that they don't have much time to run back to chase them
• Against teams with lower mobility*

The teams that are most successful using lobs on the third shot are also very quick. They know how to close in as soon as the receiving team gets pulled off the kitchen line and when to be aggressive and drive the ball if/when their lobs cause trouble. Lobs have to be developed in combination with other skills to be truly effective.

*Please don't take advantage of players with limited mobility with lobs in rec games.

One last thing. Lobs can be dangerous. If you get lobbed, turn and run to get to the ball. Never back-peddle to get to a lob! Hitting the back of your head on asphalt can kill you.

Drives

Another option, you can drive the third shot. The advantage of driving is that it is a fast shot that takes time away from your opponents. Drives tend to be most effective against opponents who are in motion, who have not made it all the way to the kitchen line, or who are just not good at dealing with speed and power of a drive at the kitchen line. A drive may catch your opponent off guard causing a weak fourth shot or even a miss hit. Drives that are hit at the feet of an opponent who is in the transition zone can be very difficult to defend.

The disadvantages of drives is that your opponents may not be phased by a hard shot at all. If that is the case, you haven't gained an advantage. Your shot may come back just as hard as you sent it. Skilled opponents might be able to take pace off the ball and dump it into your kitchen or at an angle that sends you scrambling or possibly so good you don't even bother to chase it.

Against opponents with good hands who are set at the net, the best outcome you can hope for with a drive is a shot that brings you to mid court so your fifth shot will be easier to drop into the kitchen to get you and your partner up to the net, neutralizing the positional advantage of the receiving team.

Drives work best when

• the serve caused the receiver trouble
• the return was shallow allowing you to hit down from near the net
• pulled the receiver off the court creating gaps that allow for a passing shot
• the receiver does not get to the net
• hit at their feet
• hit in the gap between the net player and the receiver
• hit to the outside lane if the partner at the net slides over to cover the middle
• your opponents are not prepared to deal with the pace

Like lobs, if hitting drives on your third shot is your only tool, that is not the best strategy. When you are presented with an opportunity to hit a drive at your opponent's feet (because they aren't at the kitchen line or because the return was shallow, or both), I would argue, that is your optimal choice. A drive can also be a good way to mix things up and disrupt patterns. If you have been sending drop shots on your thirds. Sometimes, if your drop shots are just off and you are not able to get to the net, switching to drives might be a good alternative to find your groove.

Another benefit of hitting drives is that sometimes they result in a pop up ball that you can attack on the 5th shot. If you can get to that popped up ball quickly and you can hit down, that is your chance to attack!

Driving strokes can also be used to send balls into gaps if your opponents get pulled off the court or just out of position. Being able to send a fast ball between them or down an outside lane is a valuable tool to have in your arsenal.

Warning:

The closer you get to the net and the lower the ball, a drive becomes an increasingly worse choice. Driving a low ball near the net is far more likely to be hit into the net or to go out of bounds. If your third shot is a drive, your opponents block and your 5th shot is low and closer to the net, use that opportunity to hit an easier drop for your 5th shot and get yourself to the NVZ.

Drop shots

Drop shots are the workhorse for the third shot when your opponents are established at the net. A drop shot is a ball that is hit slower with a low arc that descends into your opponents' kitchen forcing them to hit up to clear the net. The point of a drop shot is that it neutralizes the positional advantage and prevents them from attacking balls. If I am in a position where I have to hit up in order to clear the net, I want my opponents to also be forced to hit up as well. If my opponents are able to hit down, that is bad for my partner and me. I want to force my opponents to make contact with the ball below the top of the net.

The fact that a drop shot is a slower ball with a low arc also means you have more time between the hit and the time it gets to your opponents. That is time for you and your partner to advance through the transition zone. You can move forward until your ball gets to your opponents. When that happens, you need to split step so you are ready for the next ball.

Added benefits

Becoming proficient and consistent with your drop shots will also help you to improve resets at other times in a rally. No matter how good you are, you will hit a ball to your opponents that they can hit hard and down at some point. Good players know how to take pace off those balls, slow things down, and send the ball back into their opponents' kitchen to reset the point. Learning the drop shot will help you develop this vital skill too.

Drop shot technique

Proper technique for hitting a drop shot is to execute a compact swing from your shoulder in a similar motion to a toss. Put your paddle down. Put a ball in your dominant hand and toss the ball into the kitchen on the other side. Practice that toss and remember the arc path the ball travels because that is the arc you want to come off your paddle. The less wrist you use the better. Use your large muscle groups; shoulders, core, and legs. The point at which you release the ball with your hand is approximately where you want to make contact with the ball when you pick up your paddle.

Not done yet. Most likely, you tossed the ball with your palm up. That is analogous to hitting with your forehand. Now put the ball in your dominant hand, but reach across your body like you would with a backhand stroke and toss the ball with your palm down to get a feel for the same tossing motion on your backhand side.

When you have successfully tossed the ball into the kitchen a few times, try to execute the same kind of shots with your paddle in hand. You can have a partner feed you the ball, or you can self-feed by dropping a ball in front of you and hitting it off the bounce.

Practice hitting to the corners and the center point of your opponents' kitchen. Having specific targets can help you execute more consistently.

You cannot practice this shot too much. Practice hitting drop shots. Practice hitting them and moving through the transition zone to the NVZ. Practice it a lot.

Is the drop shot the only shot you need to develop for your third shot? No. All of three of the options I have listed here are tools. There are circumstances and opponents where one will work better than the others, and changing things and being unpredictable can also be an important tool. However, because it is so important to be able to hit unattackable balls throughout a rally, I would argue the drop shot is a vitally important tool that you should work to master.

Thanks for dropping by, 😉

David