This newsletter is sponsored by Selkirk
Week 70
Welcome back to the Road to Pro!
Let’s dive in…
Quick question: Do you know the different types of dinks and when to use them?
If you're not sure, I’ll give you a quick breakdown. There are two main types of dinks you should be hitting, and they have different jobs. It’s important to know which one to hit and when, so that you’ll always have a clear plan at the kitchen instead of just trying to survive a dink rally.
The lift dink. This is your safe dink, and it’s more defensive. It travels a little higher and slower over the net and lands in the front half of the kitchen. You should hit a lift dink when you're off balance, stretched wide, or when your opponent just hit an aggressive dink at your feet. It gives you the time you need to recover and get back into position.
The push dink. This is your offensive dink, and its job is to put pressure on your opponent. It travels faster and lower over the net with topspin and is aimed at your opponent's feet, pushing them wide or back off the kitchen line. You should hit a push dink when you're balanced and your opponent isn't attacking you.
And here's the rule that ties the two together: hit a push dink off a lift, and a lift dink off a push. Avoid hitting a push off a push or a lift off a lift. When you follow this rule, you'll be able to sustain long dinking rallies and learn how to apply pressure when you have the right opening.
If you want to see exactly what these two dinks look like, I break them both down in this video (starting at 7:18).
_____________________________________
I challenge you to start practicing both types of dinks in your drilling or rec games. Before every dink you hit, decide whether it's going to be a lift or a push. It’ll start coming naturally to you, and you’ll become a beast at dinking rallies.
Feel free to send this to your doubles partner if this helped you!
See you in the next one.
- Shea
