Ben Johns’s Favorite Shot part 1

Backpaddle Pickleball (with Coach Ryan) rebuilds the kitchen backhand roll volley — framed as the shot that separates players who put pressure on you from players who just keep the ball in. The appeal is that the ball does not even have to be high: if it is only a little up, you can reach in, roll from behind it, and still generate heavy topspin out of the air. The host admits their own roll was wildly inconsistent (pop-ups, nets, almost no real spin), so part one is a live mechanics rebuild rather than a highlight reel.

Coach Ryan’s core diagnosis: the miss into the net often comes from “brush peeling off” / brushing too fast without enough transfer into the ball, and high misses from snapping / contact that is too heavy. The fix language is repeated and specific — “start below” and “roll up into it” / “brush into the ball” — transfer the motion into contact rather than starting at the ball and then zipping up. On the roll path, keep the paddle more parallel (to the ground / to the net) instead of letting the tip slip or peel off; dropping the tip is more of a flick pattern and “not on our road yet.” Soften a touch when starting from below, and meet the ball closer to the line so contact is not off-line and artificially low.

Use this when you are already at the kitchen and get a ball that is slightly above the net tape — not a full putaway height, but attackable out of the air. Don’t try to copy Ben Johns’s full shot right away: the video’s order is consistency first, then spin. Common mistakes the lesson addresses: starting the roll at the ball (short last-second zip), tip peeling/open face, chasing finish height instead of transferring into the ball, and adding spin before the ball is landing in.

Key takeaways:

• BH roll volley = pressure shot on slightly high kitchen balls, out of the air
• Cue: start below → brush/roll into the ball (transfer), not zip-from-contact
• Keep paddle more parallel; tip-slip/peel-off kills the roll
• Consistency before RPMs — rebuild the path before adding spin
• Meet it nearer the line so contact is not off-line and low

Action items:

• Warm-up: 20 shadow BH rolls focusing only on “start below → into the ball”
• Partner feeds slightly high kitchen balls; goal = land soft in kitchen 8/10 before adding spin
• Film side-on: check paddle stays more parallel through the brush (no tip peel)
• Partner call-outs: “below!” if you start at the ball; “into!” if you zip after contact
• Soften pace on rolls that start from below — heavy snap = long/popup
• Next session: 10 minutes consistency-only rolls, then 5 minutes “add a little spin”
• Ban putaway-height feeds for week one — only “a little up” balls
• Note which miss dominates (net vs long) and map it to peeling vs heavy snap