5 Years of Coaching: Grip, Drill Volume, Thirds & Dink Locations

Summary

Pickleball Playbook packs lessons from five years of coaching. Standouts: at the kitchen, pure continental fights topspin — use a half-bevel between continental and eastern so you can brush over FH and BH; invert the BH wrist (cock the FH slightly) and keep swings concise in front of you.

Drilling beats rec volume (hundreds of drops vs a handful per game). Own the third shot and midcourt reset so you can take the net. Mentally it’s ~80/20 — prepare so you don’t fear the big points. Dinks: default crosscourt for margin (lower net / more distance); go line to bail out or take time away.

Key takeaways

• Kitchen grip: half-bevel between continental and eastern for topspin
• BH volleys: invert wrist; keep compact, out-front swings
• Drill for reps + pressure — rec games under-train drops/resets
• Dinks: crosscourt default; line to bail or steal time
• Mental prep + midcourt reset = you actually arrive at the kitchen

Action items

• Switch to the half-bevel kitchen grip for one full session of hands battles
• Replace one rec game this week with a 30-minute drop + reset drilling block