Controlling Your Shots

Bad shots can quickly snowball into trouble during a rally. Executing the shot you are trying to hit with consistency and accuracy begins with a balanced and stable foundation. You will have better directional control, better control of your pace, trajectory, and recovery to prepare for the next shot will be faster and more agile. The controlled execution of your shots will also give your opponents less to work with and make the next shot they hit to you easier to deal with. 

How do you achieve that? One of the big ways you gain control is your movement on the court. You can think of it as a dance.

Move, stop, hit, move, split step, [repeat].

Move to the ball

To set up for a controlled stroke, you want to position yourself so you can make contact comfortably in front of your body. As the ball comes your way, you should begin to move yourself into the path of the ball. The ball is traveling along a path. The point at which you intercept the ball should ideally be where you would comfortably hit the ball without stretching or reaching on your forehand or backhand side.

Move quickly so you have time to make small adjustments to your position. It may seem so obvious that it doesn't need to be said, but you have more time to move with slower balls. Balls that travel longer distances also give you more time, but you need to begin moving as soon as the ball comes off your opponent's paddle. Don't wait until the ball is crossing the net to begin moving your body to put the ball in your swing path.

You also have more time to adjust your relative position to a ball that is hit as a ground stroke rather than a volley. However, as a general rule, if you have the choice between hitting a volley (hitting out of the air) or a groundstroke (hitting off the bounce) and you can control the ball either way, choose the volley. It is preferable to hit a volley for two reasons.

1. It takes time away from your opponents who are trying to adjust and reset their positions after the ball they just sent to you.
2. In order to hit the same ball as a groundstroke, you almost always have to back up, which pulls you away from the kitchen line.

Obviously, you cannot hit the return or the third shot as a volley because the serve and the return must bounce. But after those required bounces, if you can intercept the ball in the air and control it, hit it as a volley. Be careful hitting volleys near the baseline because they might be going out, but in the transition zone and near the NVZ, set yourself up to hit volleys whenever you can. Note: just because you hit a volley doesn't mean you are hitting hard. 

So, move quickly and position yourself to hit the ball comfortably in front of your body and hit a volley when you can. The quicker you move, the more time you will give yourself to stop and ready yourself for your stroke.

Stop your feet

Hitting a ball involve a lot of variables. The ball is moving, your paddle is also moving. Your opponents may be moving. There might be wind or spin you have to account for. Don't add the motion of your body to that equation if you can help it.

Part of your stop motion should include preparation for your stroke. You may need to take some micro-steps to orient your body the way you need it to allow you to make contact in front of your body. 

You don't need a huge backswing. The stroke in pickleball is relatively compact, especially if you are playing a soft shot. If your opponents are established at the kitchen line, the ball is low, you are close to the net, these are all reasons to opt for a soft, slow dink-type shot into their kitchen. For more on shot selection, check out 

Pickleball 101 and Beyond: The third shot

and

How to Get to the Net: Servers

Hit the ball

Keep your eye on the ball as it comes to you. Watch it as you make contact. Make contact in front of your body, and push through the ball in the direction you are sending it.

If your intention is to hit a hard fast driving shot, the motion and contact should be quick. This kind of stroke should feel like a true hit; smack. Keep your swing path level and rotate your body from the shoulders through your hips as you swing through. This is how you multiply the power from your arm.

For soft shots to get yourself to the kitchen line, your swing should be more compact. What does that mean? A compact stroke means that you don't have a big back swing. Think of the swing for a drop shot like a toss. Imagine you have the ball in your hand, and rather than hitting it with your paddle, you are tossing it over the net so it is descending into the kitchen on the other side. Would you start your swing from behind your body to toss the ball like that? The stroke of a drop shot (sometimes called a long dink) should be similar to the motion you would use to toss the ball. The ball should gently arc upward and then descend into the kitchen on the other side of the net.

In any case, choose your shot, choose your target, and execute it the best you can. Because you prepared by moving yourself behind the ball, your shot execution should be better.

Move

Now that you sent your shot, assuming that the point is continuing, in most cases, you will need to move somewhere else on the court, but where? It depends. Any time you are not at the kitchen line, you should be trying to make your way toward the kitchen. Move in that direction for as long as you can between the time you hit your shot and the time your opponent begins their backswing, assuming they are at the net. If they are not at the kitchen line, you have a bit more time. There are too many variables to account for them all, but practice will help you become a better judge of how much time you have to move before your split step.

That accounts for your movement up the court, but what about lateral movement? If the previous shot took you to the outer edge of your lane, you want to move back somewhere toward the middle of your lane. Depending on which side you hit the ball to, you will probably want to be slightly closer to the side where you hit the ball. 

Ball on the left edge of the court: players favor left side of their lanes.

Ball on the right edge of the court: players favor right side of their lanes.

Why should you favor the side of the court where the ball goes? The reason is because you are closing the gaps. The player near the outside lane has to cover a shot down the line. The player on the opposite side has to cover the middle of the court because those are the easiest shots to hit. They are also the easiest shots to hit with pace. Even if an opponent manages to hit the more difficult cross court angle, their shot is more likely going to either be soft or it will go out. They have a small target on that side. There are players who can hit that shot, but you want to guard the easier shots and the shots that can be attacked. Those are the angles where you want to prioritize your defensive positioning.

You may not have time to move far. Maybe it's just a step or two before you have to stop again, but move between your shots if you can. Again, hitting slower balls with an arc will give you more time to execute these transitions from one position on the court to the next one.

Once your opponent gets set to hit their next shot, you will need to execute your split step.

Split Step

Both feet on the ground, they should be spread a little more than shoulder width apart. You want to be on the balls of your feet with your knees bent and your paddle ready and roughly squared to wherever the ball is located.

This is the foundation of preparation for whatever your opponents send next. If the incoming shot catches you on the move, you will not be balanced. Your shot will not be controlled. It seems like such a subtle move that it may even seem silly, but it is hard to overstate how important it is. 

For more on split steps, including , check out this article.

"Goodness David, you sure talk a lot about split steps."

Yes. Split steps are that important.

Hope this is helpful and thanks for stopping by,

No Fun David