particular shot to a particular place that you forget to see where your opponents are and what they are doing.
This is particularly common when people are learning to hit a drop shot. They attempt to hit the third-shot drop shot no matter where their opponents are. But a drop shot is only the best shot when your opponents are at the net. If your opponents do not come up to the net, then do not hit a drop shot. Keep them deep!
If you are blindly aiming for a particular spot on the court without considering where your opponents are, chances are you might be hitting it directly to them, and, at the very least, you will miss out on an opening because you literally aren’ t looking for it. So what should you do instead? Hit to the MIDDLE of the AREA between your opponents.
If your opponents are each positioned exactly in the middle of their side of the court, then it would happen that you would be aiming near the centerline of the court. But most of the time, the spot you should be aiming for will be left or right of the center of the court.
Now, for newbie to beginner players, go out and practice that before applying the next tip. Because the reality is, even though it’ s best to hit to the middle of the two players …
# 4) Don’ t Always Hit EXACTLY to the Middle of the Two Players
Like I said, if you’ re just starting out, don’ t even bother worrying about this. But for novice to advanced players, it will probably help to hit slightly off-center from the middle of the two players, slightly toward the person with the backhand in the middle( assuming you have two righties with better forehands than backhands).
No matter what level player you are, sometimes you’ ll be playing against opponents who both have strong shots toward the middle( for example, a rightleft combination with good forehands
HIT TO THE MIDDLE
in the middle, or two righties, one who prefers the forehand and one who prefers the backhand).
These are still good times to hit to the middle because chances are, they will BOTH go for it and confuse themselves. Which brings us to point # 5 …
# 5) Hit to the Middle to Construct Your Point
Now this is key. This is where pickleball can start to be like chess.
Yes, your opponents may get confused when you hit to the middle, but don’ t be disappointed if one of them manages to get the ball back over the net to you because, grasshopper, you are smarter than that.
You were not hitting to the middle to win on that shot. You hit to the middle to set yourself up for an even better shot down the road.
And it is that second( or even third or fourth shot) after you hit to the middle( when your opponents are still off‐balance) when you can take advantage of their teetering stance or their open sidelines to take your winning shot.
Now, we’ re closing in on our last two hit-to-the-middle secrets.
# 6) Hit to the Middle Because it Keeps Your Partner in the Game
If you’ ve watched the national matches, you’ ve likely seen those long cross-court dinking rallies where two players are hitting on the diagonal, back and forth, while their partners are doing their very best to stay awake.
Well, when you have four top players on the court, that is sometimes the way to go. But whenever you hit a sharp cross-court shot, your opponent will probably return that shot to you, which makes it very difficult for your partner to even reach the ball, and it also puts a lot of pressure on you to make sure you are consistent and keep the ball in play.
When you hit to the middle instead, you open the possibilities back up. When your opponents are returning from the middle, you or your partner can be ready to hit the next shot, which will often be a put-away.
Continued »
JUNE 2016 | MAGAZINE 9