Pickleball 101 and Beyond: The fourth

The fourth shot in a doubles pickleball rally is a fine place to find yourself. 

Guess how I made this meme.
I took a 4th of July meme and covered "July" with "Rally".

Before we dive in, it is important to note that there are too many possible scenarios by the time the fourth shot is being contemplated to cover every potential situation. However, we can talk about basic principles, some common scenarios, opportunities for you to gain an advantage, and some situations where you need to exercise caution because of looming danger.

So, to get to the fourth shot of the rally, what came before was 1. the serve, 2. the return, 3. the serving team's third shot. If you are paying any attention to my blog or if you have taken lessons with me, I stress hitting a deep return with loft (to give yourself time) and running to the net before your opponent hits their third shot. We will start by assuming everything has gone to plan so far. Later we will discuss some other scenarios.

Scenario 1: Receiving team at the net, opponents are back

This is the ideal situation. If both you and your partner are set at the net, you should be able to cover most of the court, you have better angles, and you have the best opportunities to hit volleys. Your job is easy (...or easier than it might be otherwise). The serving team has to do the hard work of getting to the net and denying you the opportunities to hit hard volleys. We covered the optimal shot selections in my previous article. If players are positioned this way, you and your partner are in the best strategic position. Now the question is, what kind of shot did the serving team send you with their third?

A Drop Shot

If your opponents send you a drop shot, there are 2 variables you need to assess; 1. attackable or unattackable and 2. opponents' position and movement.

The first and most important issues is the quality of the drop shot. Is the ball attackable or unattackable? A quality drop shot forces you to hit the ball from below the net. If you are forced to hit from below the net, your options are more limited. Don't attack. Players who try to attack a low ball at the net are more likely to hit the ball into the net or to have it sail out of bounds.

If the ball floats a little high and you can hit it with some pace, nine times out of ten, it's a good idea to send it back with some pace. The higher the ball is, the greater the opportunity to attack it. If it is barely above the net when you make contact, your options will depend somewhat on the other variable. Where are your opponents on the court?

Opponents who are back near the baseline and parked there are doing you a favor. Hitting deep to keep them back is usually the best option, although dropping a ball short into the kitchen can also be very effective assuming they won't be able to get to it and control the shot when they reach it. If you have quick opponents who can chase down a ball like that and they have the skill to hit an unattackable shot, don't bring them to the net. Hitting angles toward the outside lines can be a good option in that case. Keep them moving. It's more difficult to send a controlled approach shot when you are scrambling to get to the ball. Just be sure to color inside the lines.

A Drive

If your opponents hit a drive, most of the time, you will be making contact above the net. I will address what to do when you get a drive that dips below the net later, but most drives can be taken above the level of the net. Here are things to consider.

Do you need to hit it?

Pickleball courts are short. A lot of balls that are hit hard will go out if you let them. The beautiful thing about letting out balls go is you win the rally without doing much of anything. Another advantage is that your opponents will get a little more apprehensive about blasting the ball at you if they know you are going to call them on their error.

Here are some good heuristics to help you gauge whether the ball will land in or out. Let it go if the ball is still rising when it comes to you or if the drive was hit from midway in the transition zone or closer to the net. A drive that is hit from the baseline has more distance and time to find the back of the court than a drive hit from mid court. Learning to let your opponents' out balls go is an underrated skill, and it can dramatically improve your ability to control the pace of the game.

Block rather than swinging

Let the pace your opponent put on the ball do the work for you. The previous article I posted was all about blocking, so if you want to read about blocking, follow the link. Just be a wall. When they get the ball back, as long as you deflected out over the net and down, your opponents will have to hit up again for the fifth shot and they won't likely have gained much real estate because their shot was so fast it won't have given them much time to follow it toward the net (...but beware of sneaky lurking partners looking to eat a free lunch at the net. Shake and bake.).

Position

One of the main reasons I opt to hit a drive instead of a drop for my third shot is because the receiver has not made it to the net before I hit my third. If you are still moving, or if you have not gotten to the net, experienced players will often fire off a drive at you. Getting set at the net before your opponents hit their third will reduce the number of drives and it will help make them easier for you to manage because you will be able to hit the ball closer to your mid section rather than around your knees or feet and you will be stopped.

Footwork

Move your feet to align yourself up behind the ball without having to reach or stretch to make contact, but be stopped when it gets to you. If you take variables out of the equation, your success rate will increase. The least number of factors will be the pace and trajectory of the ball, your paddle contact point, your grip pressure, and the direction of the paddle face when you make contact. If you add the motion of your arm, body, feet, etc, you have to do advanced calculus instead of simple addition and subtraction. Keep it simple and make your life easy. Move quickly, before the ball gets to you so you can be stopped when it arrives.

Now let's talk about those drives that dip below the net when you are established at the kitchen line. This is where grip pressure and angles can make or break you. You must hit up in order to clear the net, but if you don't take pace off the ball, you will send a floater.

This is one of the most difficult shots to defend against because a drive has a lot of pace and you have to angle your paddle so the ball rises when it rebounds. The trick is to

1. open the paddle angle enough to clear the net, but not to send the ball high
2. loosen your grip to take pace off the ball so it doesn't rise as high

Blocking is your friend here. Little or no swing is required. Preparation and position also help. If the player on the left in the previous clip had moved to his right to cover the middle, it would have been easier for him to block that drive. It would have been his forehand rather than his partner's reaching backhand. We are all on a journey. We all make mistakes. 

So far we have discussed the fourth shot when both players are back, but the situation changes if one player has moved up to the net while their partner hits the third.

Senario 2: Recievers at the net, stalking tiger opponent

Be aware of where your opponents are on the court. You need to keep your eye on the ball, but you can track your opponents in your periferal vision. An opponent who is closing in on the kitchen line may pose a threat. The danger posed by an opponent closing on the kitchen line depends on two things:

• Was the third shot attackable?
• Was your fourth shot attackable?

The answer to the first question is no binary. I have referenced the concept of red zone, yellow zone, and green zone in the past, but if you are not familiar with it, here is a link to a great video that explains the concept.

If you get a green zone ball and the opponent at the net is directly in front of you, hit down at that opponent's feet. They won't have time to react. If you are across the net from the player at the net and you have an angle to fire the ball through the gap between your opponents, that is a good option (see my triangle of death article). Don't be scared. That's a paper tiger.

Rar, I'm tiger.

What you do with yellow zone balls depends on a number of factors.

Is the approaching opponent still moving?

A moving opponent is often a vulnerable opponent. They can't change directions, so if you can deflect the ball behind them or low at their feet, you have caused them a lot of trouble. Hitting directly at them with pace can also be a good option. Your pace plus their momentum reduces the time they have to react.

How close to the kitchen did they get?

The nearer to the kitchen, the more they become a real threat. And if your opponent has made it all the way to the net and they have executed a split step, that's a dangerous tiger. Don't dangle food in front of them.

Tiger split step

Even if that approaching player has not made it all the way to the kitchen line, they can pose a real threat if you give them a high ball. Keep things low. If your fourth was attackable, be ready for the attack. Don't back off the line (unless you get lobbed). Send low, unattackable balls to the extent that you are able to do so.

Angles and dinking are your friend. The same holds true for balls that force you to hit up from the red zone. If you are making contact below the net and one or both of your opponents have transitioned to the kitchen, they have done their job very well. Send them an unattackable dink and engage in the point. This is where the real fun in pickleball begins.

With better planning, I probably could have timed this article to publish on July 4th. Hindsight is 50/50. 😉 I guess think warm summery thoughts. 😎

For those who do not know, I do give lessons. In 2021, I have focused more on this blog than on lessons. I enjoy writing and what I have outlined in these articles over the last year are fundamentals of the game. I have published articles on a weekly basis. In 2022, I plan to keep publishing new content here, but it will probably be closer to one article each month. I hope to also focus more on other priorities, including offering some clinics, managing some tournaments, and other work to help grow the sport in our state.

Happy New Year!

See you on the courts,

No Fun David