Parth Mody’s rule for reaching the kitchen: pressure creates margin. A drop that is only slightly high or that the opponent takes out of the air is not automatic permission to freeze and reset forever.
Tanner boils fourth-ball choices down to contact height. Below the knees, concede it — that ball is too low to attack or force.
Ed Ju trains in Toronto with seven-time Canadian champion Christina Chin, whose soft game forces opponents into a black hole of paced, topspin dinks.
Richard Pickleball uses a pro point to show what to watch when high-level players compete: how they transition. A good transition game is what gets a team to the kitchen.
Universal Rackets says many players mentally quit the point after a pop-up. A red-light ball, one that comes up too high, doesn’t end the rally; it just means you stay where you are.
Kyle Koszuta shows where to send your drops and rally balls: at backhands. The safest target is the right-side player’s backhand, because it is toward the middle of the court and gives you plenty of margin.
Tanner says time is the currency of pickleball: take as much of it from your opponents as you can. Do that by stepping in and taking balls out of the air, which gets you an easier, higher next shot.
All Things Pickleball compares a beginner dink with an advanced one. The beginner version pushes through the back of the ball with little spin or shape, weight spread evenly, and contact too close to the body.
Universal Rackets says a dink into the net gives away a free point in a rally you were controlling, and the cause is almost always one of a few fixable things.
Coach Jess of Athena Pickleball boils improvement down to five concepts that pay off at every level.