1 . Kitchen Work ( Dinking & Control )
• Start at the non-volley zone and hit cooperative dinks with your partner . Focus on positioning by moving your feet to keep the ball in front of you , stillness upon contacting the ball , and maintaining a relaxed but stable paddle position with little to no wrist movement while contacting the ball .
• Progress to crosscourt dinking on both sides to reinforce footwork and angle control .
2 . Midcourt Touch ( Drops and Resets )
• One player moves halfway back while the other remains at the kitchen . The player in transition / middle of the court works on controlled drops , being sure to make clean contact and maintain a soft touch .
• Repeat this crosscourt .
3 . Third-Shot Drops & Drives
• Move all the way back to the baseline and practice third-shot drops both straight ahead and crosscourt . Pay attention to consistency — your goal is to land the majority of your drops in the kitchen with a controlled feel and touch , so your partner has to take them below the net . If you miss too many in the net , then err on the side of hitting them too high and dial them back down , or move closer to the net , or ask your partner to feed you easier balls so you can regain your touch and feel .
• Alternate between drops and drives . Drives should be hit with purpose , whether it ’ s to set up a followup shot or force a mishit or weak response from your opponents .
4 . Overheads
• Work on overheads by starting at the kitchen line , then moving back toward the baseline before striking and running back to the line again and repeating .
• Make sure to return to the kitchen after each overhead — this helps reinforce good movement habits and will get your legs warm and your heart pumping .
5 . Serve & Return Practice
• Too many players overlook these two shots , yet they ’ re the most important shots in every point .
• Work on hitting deep , controlled serves with variety in speed , placement , and spin if you like . You can be like a baseball pitcher , giving your opponents different looks — keeping them on their toes and surprising them sometimes .
• Make sure your returns are also deep and wellplaced to prevent the serving team from gaining control and attacking early .
6 . Countering & Hands Battle
• One player stays at the net while the other hits drives from the baseline . The net player works on countering deep and low to keep the other player from being able to attack or gain control .
• This helps build fast-twitch reactions and confidence in defending .
• Then both players work on hands battles ; cooperative 50-70 percent speed , attacking shots out of the air at the kitchen with the goal of keeping the same ball going while both players work on their hands and reactions .
7 . Final Game-Like Exchanges
• Spend the last five minutes of warm-up playing cooperative points , starting with a serve and return but focusing on keeping the rally going , aka playing consistently . If you set up a put-away , go for it , you earned it — but don ’ t overhit too early and miss ; your goal is to play consistently and the attackable shots will appear . ( This is higher-level play , and the “ attackable ” balls will have a higher likelihood of winning the point or leading to better outcomes .)
• The goal is to simulate realistic play and ensure that both players feel fully warmed up .
The Big Takeaway : Drill More , Drill Smarter
If you truly want to improve , you must shift your mindset around drilling . Instead of rushing through a five-minute warm-up or hitting mindless shots , commit to intentional , structured practice sessions . The best players don ’ t just train until they get it right ; they train until they can ’ t get it wrong .
Whether you ’ re working on attacking , resetting , or simply getting your body ready for a match , spending more time drilling and doing it the right way will set you apart from the competition .
Next time you step on the court , don ’ t just play — train with purpose , and watch your game transform . •
Kyle McMakin is a touring pickleball professional , former Division I tennis player ( UC Davis ) and head pro for LevelUp Pickleball Camps . Kyle is a two-time Triple Crown winner . His DUPR is above 6.0 in both singles and doubles .
MARCH / APRIL 2025 | MAGAZINE 47