Pickleball Magazine 1-5 | Page 41

SOFT RETURN you might hit it in the middle of the court and too short. That doesn’t allow you to get up to the kitchen line. BENEFIT: MORE TIME BENEFIT: KEEPS YOUR OPPONENT BACK Gail: As you work on your soft return, focus on getting it toward the back three feet of the baseline. This will give time for you to get up to the non-volley zone, and it will keep your opponent stuck in the back court. It’s always an advantage for you to be at the non-volley zone while your opponents are back. You have the whole court in which you can place the ball. That’s your Pickleball 411 for today. We really hope this has been helpful. Now there’s only one thing left to do, and that’s go play!  • To watch the complete video version of this article and to see the soft return demonstrated live, visit Pickleball Channel online. Bob: One benefit of the soft return is that you’ll have more time to get from the baseline up to the non-volley zone and not be rushed. You have plenty of time to get up there and be ready for your next shot. BENEFIT: SLOWS THE BALL Bob: Another benefit is that when you hit a soft shot back to the server again, they’re going to have to use the third-shot drop. And that becomes very difficult with a ball that has no pace. Now they have to create their own pace, meaning that they have to hit the ball very hard versus blocking a shot that’s just been hit to them. And consider becoming a subscriber of Pickleball Channel for free to receive weekly pickleball videos just like this one by going to pickleballchannel.com/subscribe. Special thanks to Bob Youngren and Gail Dacey. Rusty Howes is the Executive Producer and creator of Pickleball Channel. Rusty worked for the likes of Warner Bros. and Disney before creating Pickleball Channel to develop and provide fantastic professional video content for the pickleball community. He is deeply involved in promoting the sport of pickleball at home and across the country. SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2016 | MAGAZINE 39