PICKLEBALL INSTRUCTION
INTERMEDIATE
QUICK TIP
Hitting to Your Opponent’s
Feet—Be Careful!
By Steve Paranto
Y
ou commonly
hear instructors
telling students to
use the strategy
of hitting to their opponents’
feet. In most cases, this is
sound advice, but there’s a
time when this strategy can
backfire.
The situation I’m referring
to is when all four players are
at the kitchen line dinking. If
you’re playing against a good
team who understands the
advantage of being as close
to the kitchen line as possible,
be very careful about landing a
dink shot near their feet. A ball
that’s dinked near the kitchen
line is where a highly skilled
player can reach out and
pop a volley at you—a return
that will be difficult for you to
handle.
I’d rather have my students
dink the ball well short of the
kitchen line so the opponent
will either be challenged by
hitting a very low volley or
forced to hit the ball after it has
bounced, with the net in the
way of an attackable ball. •
My opponent hit the ball well short of
the kitchen line, so I’m forced to either
hit a very low volley or a ball that has
first bounced, with the net in the way
of hitting an attackable ball.
My opponent attempted to hit the ball
near the kitchen line, but now I have
an attackable ball to volley.
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018 |
MAGAZINE
61