How to Get to the Net: Receiver

The importance of consistently getting to the kitchen line cannot be overstated in pickleball. If you missed my explanation as to why being at the kitchen line matters in pickleball, check out this article. Getting to the kitchen line is a major part of the basic strategy of the game. Let's look at the question of getting to the kitchen line from 2 perspectives; receiving team and serving team. 

This turned out to be more content than I anticipated, so I am breaking it up into a two part series. We will discuss the receiving team in this article and the serving team in a forthcoming article.

Receiving team

From the official rulebook:

7.A. [A fault is declared...] If the serve or service return does not bounce before the ball is struck.

The serving team must wait for the return to bounce. This means the receiver has from the time s/he hits the ball on the return to the time the serving team hits the 3rd shot to get to the kitchen line. The distance from the baseline to the kitchen is 15 feet. Give yourself time to get to the net by sending a deep return with loft. Sending the ball high and deep will maximize the time you give yourself to get to the net. Imparting backspin on your return can also help it to stay aloft for longer. However, don't sacrifice control of your shot to hit with backspin. If your shot goes out or is shallow, your backspin is not helping you. As soon as you hit your return, run to the kitchen line. Try to get all the way there before your opponent hits the third shot.

I frequently see players hit nice deep returns, but instead of running, they stay back by the baseline looking to see if their ball lands in. Don't watch your ball to see what happens. If it is out, your opponents will let you know. If it is in, and you waited to see it, now you are still at the baseline and your opponents are hitting the ball back. Standing and watching the return before you move is a mistake. Hit your return and go.

If the serve causes you trouble and your return is shallow or you can't get all the way to the net before the ball is coming back in your direction, you need to split step, move to receive the ball (make your shot unattackable), and then get the rest of the way to the kitchen. 

The receiving team has a strategic advantage in every rally because the return has to bounce. Getting to the kitchen line consistently and quickly will make things much more difficult for the serving team. Get there, stop, keep your knees bent and your paddle up so you are ready if they drive the ball at you. Be on your toes and ready to move if they hit the 3rd shot to one side or the other.

**Is the serving team beating you to the net?**

If the serving team is getting there before you, this is a significant problem you should try to fix. You are making life easy for the serving team and they are most likely scoring points because of it. I cannot overstate the importance of this fundamental strategy. Get to the net before the serving team is hitting the third shot. I highly recommend you record some games and watch for this specific issue. Make note of how many times you successfully get to the net before the serving team hits their third shot (when you are hitting the return). If it is a consistent problem, consider the cause.

• Are your returns deep with loft?
• Distance + loft = time
• Are you running to get to the kitchen?
• Run! If you look like you are on a casual stroll through the park, that's a problem. Get there with urgency. This is a sport. There is running involved. It's 15 feet, or less if the serve was shallow. You'll be okay. Shake a leg.
• Are you watching to see if your return is in or out before you start to run?
• Don't wait! If it's in you've wasted valuable time. If it's out, your opponents will let you know. Go! Go! Go! (This is one of the most common causes BTW)
• Did you have to take backward steps to hit the deep serve?
• If you have to hit reverse, you were likely standing too close to the baseline
• Did the serve cause you trouble?
• Make sure your knees are bent and you are ready to move to get to the ball and control your stroke.

If you are on the receiving team, >95% of the time, you should be at that net ready for the third shot before your opponents hit it. The net belongs to the receivers. Don't give up your strategic advantage to the serving team. That is a great way to give them points.

Practice hitting your returns deep. How deep? Try for the back third if you can. If you can get that depth consistently, then try the same thing, but hitting the ball higher. Not only does the higher ball give you more time to get to the net, but it also eliminates hitting the ball into the net on the return. If your return of serve hits the net and falls on your side of the court, your opponents get a point. That is bad. This may seem like a silly point, but it boggles my mind the number of returns I see go into the net off serves that weren't even difficult serves. Why was your return so low? All that does is take time away from you to get into your best court position. Hitting a low return takes time away from you to get to the net, makes a shallow return more likely, which brings your opponents to the net more quickly, and it increases the risk of faulting on the serve into the net.

Hit high deep returns and run to the net. When you get there, keep your knees bent, paddle up, and stop the serving team from scoring points. Now you are battle ready!

Things are not so easy for the serving team. We will discuss the strategies and techniques you can employ to level the advantage the receivers have when you are on the serving side in the next article!

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you found something helpful in this article. Like, share, and subscribe. New articles are published every week! Stay tuned for How to Get to the Net: Serving Team!

David