{"id":1062,"date":"2026-10-16T01:21:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-16T01:21:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/?p=1062"},"modified":"2026-10-16T01:21:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T01:21:13","slug":"fast-balls-open-the-face-hold-the-wrist-scoop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/?p=1062","title":{"rendered":"Fast Balls: Open the Face, Hold the Wrist, Scoop"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe title=\"How to handle fast balls in pickleball\" width=\"563\" height=\"1000\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5QkY95nDL_8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>Summary<\/h2>\n<p>Aylex coaching on pace: when balls come faster, open the paddle face rather than keeping a closed drive angle. Form more of a shovel\/scoop, especially as the ball pushes you back.<\/p>\n<p>Do not flick through contact or let the face change mid-swing. Hold the wrist so even as you open up, the angle stays stable \u2014 in front you stay a bit more under; under heavier pace you open further without a wristy slap.<\/p>\n<h2>Key takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Faster ball \u2192 more open face \/ shovel shape<\/li>\n<li>No flick through contact \u2014 hold wrist angle<\/li>\n<li>Open more as the ball pushes you back<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Action items<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Partner feeds increasing pace; only shovel resets allowed<\/li>\n<li>Film wrist at contact \u2014 face should not flip through the hit<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"tdd-newsletter\">\n<p><strong>Get the 5 best pickleball tips every week<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/subscribe-forms.beehiiv.com\/v3\/loader.js\" data-beehiiv-form=\"0e5f3fe0-e4d3-4036-8d7f-c33b311980b2\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/thedropdrive.beehiiv.com\/subscribe\">Subscribe free<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Aylex coaching on pace: when balls come faster, open the paddle face rather than keeping a closed drive angle. Form more of a shovel\/scoop, especially as the ball pushes you back.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":728,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[391,18,381],"tags":[921,1094,688,424,991],"class_list":["post-1062","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-defense","category-resets","category-technique","tag-aylex","tag-fast-balls","tag-paddle-angle","tag-resets","tag-shovel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1062"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1062\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/728"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}