Type of Dink to Hit Based on Zones v1
Summary
All Things Pickleball gives a simple cheat code for choosing your dink. The kind of dink you hit shouldn’t be random. It should depend on where the ball lands and how high it will bounce.
If the ball lands shallow in the kitchen (zone one), let it bounce. If it’s landing near your feet (zone two, the pressure zone), take it out of the air so it doesn’t get behind you. The exception: if a zone-two ball is going to bounce high, step back, let it bounce and attack it to put pressure back on your opponents.
Key takeaways
- Shallow kitchen ball: let it bounce
- Ball landing at your feet: take it out of the air
- High-bouncing zone-two ball: step back and attack
- Better dink decisions beat better dink technique
Action items
- Have a partner feed mixed-depth dinks and call the zone out loud before you hit
- Practice the step-back-and-attack on high-bouncing balls near your feet
- Talk through the zones with your partner before your next game