If your opponent is a rhythm player, don’ t allow a rhythm. Mix short dinks, deeper resets, and occasional lobs. Vary your paddle preparation speed: showing attack but resetting, or soft hands turning into sudden counters.
This mental chess match extends to body language. Showing confidence— even when under pressure— can sow doubt in opponents. Likewise, paying close attention to how your opponents react after missed shots, long rallies, or tempo changes gives you valuable insight into their mental state. Use it.
5. ADVANCED DINKING: OFF THE BOUNCE VS. OUT OF THE AIR
At the pro level, dinking is no longer about survival; it’ s about offense. The decision to take a ball off the bounce or out of the air is central to controlling kitchen exchanges.
Taking a dink out of the air accomplishes several things:
• It speeds up the game and steals time.
• It prevents your opponent from recovering their positioning.
• It shortens the ball’ s trajectory, often creating a popup or soft reply.
Conversely, letting the ball bounce can allow you more time to create spin or disguise your next move. Elite players make this decision deliberately based on footwork, paddle angle, and the opponents’ spacing. Adding variety between these two approaches keeps your patterns from becoming predictable.
Practice drills where you alternate taking dinks out of the air and off the bounce with specific footwork recovery steps. Make each choice intentional.
6. TARGETING MOVEMENT: FEET, HIPS, AND RECOVERY WINDOWS
One of the most subtle yet effective strategies at 5.0 + is to hit balls where the opponent is moving from, rather than where they are going. Targeting the transition moment— when a player shifts from defense to offense, or from right to left— is when they’ re most vulnerable.
Top shot placements include:
• The inside foot of a player moving laterally.
• The paddle-side hip( hard to block or counter from here).
• Between partners in the gap, especially off speed-ups or drives.
• Behind a poacher after a switch.
Mastering these targets requires not only precision but also pattern recognition. You must know when your opponents are moving and where they are least stable.
7. COMMUNICATION & TACTICAL AWARENESS IN DOUBLES
Pro-level doubles is a game of spacing, anticipation, and silent communication. Elite partners develop unspoken rhythms: who covers what, when to poach, and how to reset together. If one player drops, the other adjusts court positioning accordingly.
Some patterns to rehearse as a team:
• Poach + crash: One player poaches while the other shifts into coverage.
• Staggered resets: If one player resets, the other stays ready for counters.
• Switch dinking: Alternating crosscourt and straight dinks to confuse and open lanes.
Using paddle signals behind the back before serves( as seen in pro tennis) is another tool that many high-level teams employ to signal poaches or stacking.
8. SPEED-UP PATTERNS: THE ART OF SURPRISE
At the top level, speed-ups aren’ t random; they’ re planned. The best players wait for a specific contact point, a body position, or paddle preparation from their opponent that exposes a gap. Then, boom— they attack.
Common cues for initiating speed-ups include:
• Opponent leaning forward too much.
• Paddle too low or too high to counter efficiently.
• Late footwork recovery after an extended dink rally.
Even better? Layering deception into your speed-ups. Show a reset, then flick. Show a flick, then reset. Vary your attack speed. Add disguise. Elite players win points before the ball even crosses the net— because they forced the wrong reaction.
FINAL THOUGHTS: BECOMING A PATTERN ARCHITECT
To truly compete at the highest levels of pickleball, you must become more than a player; you must become an architect of patterns. Understand what you’ re building in each rally, layer in deception, adjust dynamically, and think ahead. These concepts require hours of deliberate practice, match study, and self-reflection.
As the sport continues to evolve, players who embrace the cerebral side of pickleball— those who study footage, track tendencies, and refine their point construction— will find themselves on podiums more often. •
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.
MAY / JUNE 2025 | MAGAZINE 49