Drive vs. Drop

How to handle your third shot based on the return...

Author

Shea Underwood
October 27, 2025

Week 61

Welcome back to the Road to Pro Newsletter! Just by opening this issue, you are now automatically eligible for this week’s paddle giveaway. Last week’s winner was Eugene from Colorado!

Here’s what I’ve got for you this week:

  • What to look for before you hit your third shot

  • A simple, effective way to practice this☝️

If you’re reading this, you now have a chance to win this week’s paddle giveaway!

Now, let's get to it!

Estimated read time: 2 minutes and 30 seconds

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Where Does the Return Land?

If you’ve been playing pickleball for any amount of time, I’m sure you’ve heard of the third-shot drop. It’s a popular way to start a rally: serve, return, drop into the kitchen. Another popular option is to drive your third, then drop your fifth to start moving toward the kitchen. A third-shot drive can be a great idea, but it’s not always the right call. I’m going to tell you a really simple way to know when to drop and when to drive your third shot.

If the return lands in the front half of the court, you should hit a drop. When you’re closer to the net, it’s more difficult to hit a drive that’ll be high enough to clear the net but still low enough to stay in the court. You also don’t want to be hitting a drive while you’re rushing forward to get to a shorter return. You won’t have much time to get into a good position, and you might be making contact with the ball while moving, which is a great way to hit a bad shot. That’s why hitting a drop is a lot smarter when you get this kind of return. A drop into the kitchen will let you approach the net safely where you can then become more offensive.

If the return lands in the back half of the court, you can drive the ball. This is when you can comfortably hit a drive without worrying that it’ll go out of bounds. You also have more time to get into a good position so you can hit a great drive.

One caveat here: there’s a little risk when you drive from so far back. Your opponent could choose to dump their next ball really short, forcing you to sprint forward to get it. It could possibly put you in a difficult position if you’re not careful, so be prepared to run to the net if you’re driving the ball on your third shot.

Perfect Your Third

A really good way to practice what I told you this week is by grabbing a bucket of balls and heading to the courts with your drilling partner. Position yourself and the bucket of balls at the baseline in a serving position, and put your partner diagonally across from you at their baseline to hit returns.

You’ll serve a ball, your partner will hit a return, and then you should drive or drop your third shot based on whatever return you receive. That’s one rep of the drill. No need to keep the point going or stop to chase the ball. Just keep hitting serve-return-third, using the bucket of balls you brought.

Your goal is to read the return and make the right decision to either drive or drop. The repetition of this drill will help you create muscle memory. The more you do this, the easier it will be for you to know what type of third shot you should hit, and the less you’ll have to think about it in a real game. It’ll just come naturally.

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