5.0 Players Bait Their Opponents

WEEK 17

Welcome back to the Road to Pro!

This week I’ll be sharing valuable tips to help you become a more offensive player on the court. You’ll learn how to make more attacking shots to turn the tables on your opponents.

Jay asked this week’s question, so I’ll be sending him a brand new paddle! If you want the chance to win one yourself, click on the button below to submit your pickleball questions. Anyone whose question is featured in my newsletter will automatically win a new paddle!

Now let’s get to it!

Q&A Spotlight

Answer: 

If you want to be a more offensive player, it’s important to become comfortable with making aggressive shots more often. Playing too safe will only get you so far, even if you play strong defense. Here are four things you can work on to play more offensively:

1. Hit more speedups

2. Approach the net more often

3. Roll your dinks

4. Bait your opponents

Let’s break it down…

1. Hit more speedups

A great way to be more aggressive is to look for opportunities to speed up the ball. In a dink rally, try finding your opponent’s weak spots by speeding up the ball at them and observing how they handle it. There are three common areas where people struggle to return speed-ups, including:

• Shoulder height on their paddle-holding side

• Hip height on the same side

• The center of their chest (depending on their grip)

Try speeding up the ball to these areas and watch for where your opponents struggle the most. However, be ready for their return shot. You'll encounter many opponents who are skilled at counterattacking, so be prepared for a hands battle if you choose to speed up the ball.

Even against high-quality dinks, you can still attack with the right shot. Focus on speeding up the ball at the opponent directly in front of you rather than cross-court, as cross-court opponents have more time to react. As you hit more speed-ups, you'll begin to feel more comfortable and confident in an offensive position.

2. Approach the net more often

If you're great at defense, you're probably hitting solid drops and resets. However, if you play against higher rated players, you’re likely aware that they can keep you back even off good drops. Don’t let your opponents keep you on defense.

It’s really easy to get into a cycle of hitting a decent drop, letting your opponents keep you back, hitting another decent drop, and still not attempting to approach the kitchen…but this is a losing strategy.

To become more offensive, approach the kitchen more often. By gaining ground after hitting a decent drop, you’ll shrink the available open court that your opponents see, and because of this they’ll hit a worse shot. You’ll then be able to hit the perfect drop and make it to the kitchen line. By simply moving forward in the court off a decent drop, you can often pressure your opponents into trying to make perfect shots, leading to errors.

3. Roll your dinks

I've discussed different types of dinks in week 10’s issue of this newsletter which you can read here. Avoid hitting dead dinks, which are higher and land deeper in the kitchen with no spin. These types of dinks are really easy for your opponent to speed up at you.

Be aggressive with your dinks by adding spin and speed. Cross-court dinks can push your opponent wide and off-balance. Low and fast dinks to their feet can force them back from the kitchen, putting them in a defensive position.

4. Bait your opponents

If you want to create more opportunities for offensive shots, you can often bait your opponents into hitting an attacking shot so that you can counter-attack. Here are two ways you can do this:

• Hit a dead dink across the net and take a step back. Taking a small step back in anticipation of the speed-up gives you an extra second to hit the perfect counter. If you're confident in your counter-attacking abilities, you can counter their inevitable speed-up off your dead dink, catching them off-guard and winning the point.

• Hit a good drop and then stay back while your partner approaches the net. Your opponents will see the open court in front of you and try to keep you back with a deep shot. If this shot isn’t perfect, your partner can look to poach it, catching your opponents off-guard. If they hit a shot your partner isn’t able to poach, then you can simply hit another drop and approach the net.

Being great at defense is very important, but if you want to become a better player and play against higher level opponents, you’ll need to become more offensive. If you put into practice all these things I explained above, you’ll be able to take more aggressive shots on the court and take your opponents by surprise.

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Drill Highlight

Learn how to counter

Here's a drill to help you become more offensive on the court. Grab a drilling partner and position yourselves directly across the net from each other at the kitchen line. Begin by dinking back and forth, and designate one player to look for opportunities to speed up the ball. The player speeding up the ball should aim for parts of the body that make it difficult for the other player to return (explained above). The player not speeding up the ball should look out for these shots and be ready to counterattack.

Make this drill a game by playing to a certain number of points. Once someone wins, switch roles and play again. To make it even more challenging, play a third game where both players speed up the ball while also looking out for counterattacks. Speed-ups can often lead to balls landing out of bounds if hit with too much pace. To add an extra layer of strategy, award two points to the player who lets any out balls go.

This drill will help you develop faster reflexes, and you'll learn how to speed up the ball even off great dinks. You’ll start recognizing when your opponents are going to attack the ball, so you can be more prepared for counterattacks.

Videos You’ll Enjoy

• I just released a new video with my friend Caleb on our channel, Cracked Pickleball. Check it out below!

• If you want another chance to win a new paddle, go check out my current giveaway on Instagram!

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