5 Crucial Pickleball Tips for beginners to get Better
In this article, I'll discuss the top five methods every new player should learn to move up to the intermediate level. Even pros who play at a 3.0 or 4.0 level often use these methods. If you want to move past the beginner level, you must master these skills.
Here are the tips to get better in pickleball:
- Keep your ready position up.
- Reduce the amount of backswing on dinks and volleys
- Stay on your toes
- Pay attention to the ball
- Stand firm in the kitchen line
So let's get started
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| 5 Crucial Pickleball Tips for beginners to get Better |
1. Keep your ready position up.
To begin, always remember to maintain the ready position between shots. For those who don't know, when you're in the ready position, you hold the paddle in the middle of your body. This position lets you reply quickly and evenly to both forehand and backhand shots. It prepares you for any lob, dink, overhead, forehand, or backhand shot that might come your way. Beginners often let their paddles drop after each shot, which leaves them open to attack. So, always get back into the ready position. You won't be ready if your opponent chooses to attack while your paddle is down. But if you're in your ready position, all you have to do to block the shot is turn the paddle. This approach works for every shot and every part of the court.
2. Reduce the amount of backswing on dinks and volleys
The second piece of advice for beginners is to keep your backswing short when hitting dinks and volleys. Before you hit the shot, you pull your paddle back, which is the backswing. At the kitchen line, your opponent is only 14 feet away, which gives you little time to respond. So, don't pull the paddle back behind you if you want to hit a dink or lob. Even when you're in the ready position and ready to hit, keep your paddle in front of you. Keep your backswing short, and always try to be ready for the next shot.
3. Stay on Your Toes
Third, make sure your feet are constantly moving and that you hit from your toes instead of your heels. Being on your toes makes you ready for the ball to go in any direction so that you can move quickly toward it. If you have more experience, you can add a half-step to your moves. Stay on your toes and walk from side to side instead of turning and running. You want to keep your back to the kitchen, and moving makes it easier to do that.
4. Pay attention to the ball
Pro tip: Don't just look at the ball as it comes towards you. Instead, try to find the holes in the ball or other small features to keep your eyes focused and stay in the game.
"How many times have you been there but not really there, like looking at someone but thinking about something else?" he asks. "We do the same thing when we play pickleball, so try to look for the holes in the ball." This will make it less likely that you'll miss a shot.
5. Stand firm in the kitchen line
Lastly, it's important to stay in place at the kitchen line and fight the urge to move back. During parades, beginners often leave the kitchen line and don't come back. Stay put when the ball comes from far away. Instead, try to hit it out of the air. This strategy puts you in an attacking position and makes it harder for your opponent to aim at your feet, which is a hard place to hit from. Always try to hit the ball away from your feet, especially if it's going past the kitchen line or bouncing close to it.
Conclusion
If you use these tips the next time you play pickleball, you'll immediately see a change in your game. These five easy tips will greatly affect how well you do. Once you've mastered them, you'll be able to play against people at the 3.0 and 3.5 levels.
