Tip of the day

4 Habits That Are Absolutely KILLING Your Game

The Briones Pickleball Academy highlights four common mistakes that prevent amateur players from advancing and provides specific drills to correct them.

One major error is attacking low balls directly at an opponent's chest, which often leads to a fast counter-attack at your own feet.

Instead of speeding up low balls, you should dink them or target uncomfortable spots like the "chicken wing" area or the backhand side.

Many amateurs tend to "bail out" by stepping back and slapping the ball without intent when they feel under pressure.

To fix this, stay calm and focus on split-stepping to hit a controlled dink rather than panicking and giving away the point.

Popping up dinks is another frequent issue, usually caused by poor depth control and allowing the ball to get too deep in the kitchen.

You can use the "3S Method"—Space, Speed, and Size—to master your dink depth and prevent easy attacks from your opponents.

Creating space with a drop step or shuffle step prevents you from being forced to hit difficult half-volleys at your feet.

A slow swing speed and minimal follow-through are essential for keeping dinks short and low over the net.

Failing to apply pressure when opponents are in transition often allows them to reach the kitchen line far too easily.

Key Points:

• Avoid attacking balls below the net height unless you can target a specific weakness like the backhand.

• Stay established at the non-volley zone line and use a reset dink to neutralize an opponent's pressure.

• Use a drop step to create hitting space when a dink lands deep near your feet.

• Keep your swing compact and slow to ensure your dinks land consistently in the opponent's kitchen.

• Take transition balls out of the air or at the apex of the bounce to keep opponents pinned back at the baseline.

Watch the full tutorial here.

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Happy pickling,

Paul