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6 amateur mistakes (and how to fix them)
Paul from Pickleball Daily
November 27, 2025
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Tip of the day
This video outlines six critical mistakes that instantly identify you as an amateur pickleball player and provides professional-level solutions to elevate your game.
A key error starts before the point, where players lack a consistent ritual for their serve and return, which is necessary for mental preparation and consistency.
Players often fail to return to a proper ready position—high near the net, or low near the feet in the transition zone—after hitting each shot, leaving them slow to react.
When lobbed, amateurs make the mistake of backpedaling; pros use a crossover step, turning their shoulders to run back quickly and safely.
For the overhead smash, you must turn your body and point your elbow back to use the kinetic chain for power, rather than just chopping the paddle up and down.
Another common error is taking a big back swing on soft game shots like dinks and resets, which sacrifices control and often results in popping the ball up.
When speeding up in a dink rally, always use a disguised takeback that mimics a soft dink to prevent your opponents from anticipating the hard attack.
Finally, stop aggressively attacking from the transition zone; instead, use the high-percentage reset shot to disarm your opponents and move safely forward.
Key Points:
Establish a consistent ritual for serve and return to ensure mental and physical readiness.
Immediately return to a ready position appropriate for your court depth after every shot.
Use a crossover step or shuffle, not backpedaling, to quickly retrieve lobs.
Turn your body and point your elbow back to generate power in your overhead smash.
Avoid using a big back swing for soft game shots (drops, resets, dinks) to maintain control.
Disguise speed-ups by making the takeback look exactly like a dink.
Use the reset shot from the transition zone to disarm opponents rather than attempting a low-percentage attack.
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No pickleball players like winter 🤣
That’s it for today! As always, thank you for reading. 🙏
What did you think of today’s newsletter? Please reply with how you think I can improve. I read your feedback and appreciate all of it (for real)! 😄
Happy pickling,
Paul