INSTRUCTION
By Wayne Dollard
Beating the Bangers
One of the questions I get from campers all the time is , “ How do you beat the bangers ?” This refers to opponents who slam third shots and are extremely aggressive at the non-volley line .
First , I give credit to those players . Aggressive play takes skill , and assertive play is often rewarded on the scoreboard . Although aggressive play works well at the beginner and intermediate levels , it struggles at the advanced levels . The reason is that advanced players know how to beat the bangers .
There are four ways you can make it difficult for bangers :
1 . Serve deep .
Good serves keep your opponents back a little longer and make it more difficult for them to hit hard returns . And if they do hit hard , they won ’ t have enough time to close in on the non-volley line before you hit your third shot .
2 . Have deep serve returns .
I love it when my opponents return my serve short . It makes it easy for me to drive the ball back at them . If you can return deep to the back six feet of the court , you ’ ll make it very difficult for the bangers to blast away .
3 . Have a consistent backhand punch volley .
If you can remain composed and compact when a hard drive comes your way , it will increase your odds of winning the point . When I see a close-up or hard drive coming at me , I turn my paddle parallel to the net and simply block-punch the ball . My goal is to send the ball straight back deep to my opponents .
4 . Have low , wide dinks .
When all four players are at the non-volley line , the bangers are generally trying to speed up play to capitalize on their aggressive play . Hitting wide dinks against the bangers will make it much more difficult for them to attack . Get them to reach for the ball and your odds of winning the point will go up .
To sum it up , when battling the bangers , focus on deep serves , deep returns , and wide dinks . At the same time , be ready with backhand volleys and keep them compact with a short punch motion . Work on these things and you ’ ll be beating the bangers . •
Wayne Dollard is a 50 + and 5.0 US Open Champion , and 5x National and US Open gold medalist . He is also the founder of LevelUp Pickleball Camps and publisher of Pickleball Magazine .
PHOTO BY BRUCE YEUNG ; IG : @ YEUNGPHOTOGRAPHY