Train Your Third Shots

Summary

Shea Underwood shares a third-shot drill he’s used for years. One partner stands at the kitchen line with a few balls; you start just behind the baseline in a ready stance. The kitchen player gives a friendly feed, you drive it, they block it back, and your next shot is a soft, controlled drop into the kitchen: feed, drive, block, drop. The goal is seven quality sequences in a row, and a rep only counts if the drive is low and the drop lands in the kitchen. It puts you in real game patterns on repeat, so you learn to hit a heavy, controlled drive that stays in and then soften your hands and float a drop as your momentum carries you forward. Tips: stay low through the drive and don’t stand up as you hit it; on the drop, shorten your stroke, relax your grip and don’t try to do too much.

Key takeaways

• Pattern: feed, drive, block, drop
• A rep only counts if the drive is low and the drop lands in the kitchen
• Stay low through the drive; don’t stand up
• On the drop: shorter stroke, relaxed grip, don’t overdo it

Action items

• Run the feed-drive-block-drop drill from just behind the baseline
• Goal: seven quality sequences in a row; restart the count on a miss
• Cue on drives: ‘stay low’
• Cue on drops: ‘short stroke, loose grip’