Ready Position: Belly-Button Height Beats High Hands

Summary

Tanner’s cue: amateurs hold the paddle high and react to everything — including balls sailing over the fence. Pros keep it around belly-button height.

Only speed-ups near that height are going in, so covering less vertical space makes your hands feel faster. Let the high ones go.

Key takeaways

• Ready paddle ~belly-button height, not chest/face
• High hold makes you chase outs
• Less space to cover → faster effective hands

Action items

• One kitchen game: if your paddle rises above the sternum in ready, restart the point
• Partner lobs outs — practice not flinching upward