{"id":1164,"date":"2026-10-23T01:19:34","date_gmt":"2026-10-23T01:19:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/?p=1164"},"modified":"2026-10-23T01:19:34","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T01:19:34","slug":"return-and-run-move-through-contact-dont-hit-then-sprint","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/?p=1164","title":{"rendered":"Return and Run: Move Through Contact, Don\u2019t Hit-Then-Sprint"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe title=\"Are Slow Getting Up To The Kitchen?! Return and run is something I say a lot when returning\" width=\"563\" height=\"1000\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/wvZuuCY0Aec?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>Troy Akin says most players hit the return, stop, then run \u2014 and get burned on the third. Flip it: start the run while you\u2019re returning so contact and forward momentum are the same motion.<\/p>\n<p>Stand a step behind the baseline so you can move forward as they serve. Sequence: run, return, claim the kitchen \u2014 not return, pause, then chase.<\/p>\n<h2>Key takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Hit-then-run leaves you late to the kitchen<\/li>\n<li>Run through the return so momentum already points forward<\/li>\n<li>Start deeper so step one is forward, not a scramble<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Action items<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Shadow returns with a continuous step-through \u2014 no pause after contact<\/li>\n<li>One game: if you stop your feet at contact, the return doesn\u2019t count<\/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>Troy Akin says most players hit the return, stop, then run \u2014 and get burned on the third. Flip it: start the run while you\u2019re returning so contact and forward momentum are the same motion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":737,"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,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,440,20],"tags":[934,469,160],"class_list":["post-1164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-footwork","category-returns","category-transition","tag-kitchen-transition","tag-return-and-run","tag-troy-akin"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/09-ready-position-closeup-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1164","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=1164"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1164\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}