Understanding Pickleball Shots and Strokes

Looking to master your shots and learn some new ones?

Well, first things first; let's start with some basic shots as a firm foundation, like anything, will give you the structure to ensure your success on the court.

A STROKE is different than a SHOT. A stroke is the fundamental of how you apply action to the ball, the shot is what happens after you have made a stroke.

There are a lot of shots to learn in pickleball, but the most important ones to master are the basic ones.  A "shot" is very specific whereas the "stroke" is based on principals and broader in nature.

There are 3 basic STROKES in pickleball: 

The GROUNDSTROKE, The VOLLEY, and the DINK. 

Now let's dive in....

THE BASIC STROKES:

The Groundstroke:

A groundstroke is simply any shot you make after the ball has bounced. Most of the shots made in pickleball will be groundstrokes

The Volley:

A volley is any shot that is made before the ball hits the ground. It doesn’t matter if you hit the ball near the ground or over your head, as long as it hasn’t bounced, Volley shots are typically much more powerful. Keep in mind that you can’t volley in the kitchen! 

The Dink:

A dink, even though technically a type of groundstroke, this requires a specific mention as it is only used at or near the net, or "the Kitchen area". They are soft shots designed to just barely get over the net. There are many different types of dink shots that you can use during a pickleball match, something like, over 80 different ways to hit a dink!

THE BASIC SHOTS:

1. The serve

The serve is the shot that gets the rally started. Be sure to know the rules on what makes a serve legal or illegal. Drop serve, volley serve, spin serve, there are many different ways that you can serve.

2. The lob

This is a shot where you hit it high up into the air and over the heads of your opponents. It forces your opponents to turn around quickly to run the ball down. This shot is used almost primarily for one reason: it helps to reset the tempo (pace of play) of a point. If your opponent is smashing ball after ball at you and you can’t seem to slow down the pace, the lob can help you reset all of this. Lobbing the ball into the backcourt forces your opponent to move away from the net, allowing you to own the kitchen instead. You don’t want to do this too often though because lobbing it too short can result in them smashing it back at you, or you can easily lob it out of bounds

3. The drive

A drive is a groundstroke or volley that you hit at, or nearly as hard as you can. Drives are meant to be hard, fast and unstoppable. Drives should be used as a tool and not a shot to use regularly. If you see an opening in the court or if your opponent is running towards you, driving the ball pass them to any of these positions can be very effective.

4. Reset shot

In pickleball, the reset shot is used to stop third shot drives or other drives from giving your opponent the advantage. It’s easy to mess up if an opponent hits a hard shot at you, but the reset shot is here to help. Reset shots are  a great way of slowing down the pace of the game so that your opponent doesn’t have the advantage.

5.  Punch Volley

This is a cool little shot that can catch the opponent off guard. The punch volley is a shot typically made at the net that literally involves you punching at the ball. This shot is designed to turn a high dink that your opponent made to a shot that shoots straight for them. It’s simple to perform. Just put your paddle in the backhand position and pretend like you’re punching with your fist! Easy!

6. Overhead smash

The overhead smash is designed for one thing and one thing only: to destroy the ball and make it impossible for your opponents to return it. It’s an opportunity shot. If your opponent’s pop up a shot that goes slightly over your head, then it’s your chance to put it away! Reach up and smash the ball downward. The key here is accuracy. If you’re hitting them into the net, don’t use as much wrist action. But if you’re hitting them out the opponent’s baseline then either use more wrist action or use a lighter paddle.

7. Third shot drop

The all important  "third shot drop" is the most critical shot to master in pickleball. This shot is absolutely essential to learn in advanced pickleball play. A lot of points are lost on the third shot. The opponents are already at the kitchen with a huge advantage, but you and your partner are still at or near the baseline. Third shot drops are soft shots that arc upward then land softly into the kitchen. Think of it as a LONG DINK.  The soft landing will force your opponent to dink the ball instead of drive it. If you hit your shot too far, or too high, your opponent can smash or drive the ball making it likely that you lose the point.