{"id":1192,"date":"2026-10-25T01:26:07","date_gmt":"2026-10-25T01:26:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/?p=1192"},"modified":"2026-10-25T01:26:07","modified_gmt":"2026-10-25T01:26:07","slug":"thirds-off-slice-aim-higher-backspin-pulls-it-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/?p=1192","title":{"rendered":"Thirds Off Slice: Aim Higher \u2014 Backspin Pulls It Down"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe title=\"How to Counter a Slice Return in Pickleball with Ben Johns\" width=\"563\" height=\"1000\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/FeQYzoOQ1XY?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>Ben Johns (via Pickleball 360) explains why thirds off slice returns feel impossible. Hard, low slice skids through so you stay back waiting; backspin also acts on the paddle and pulls the ball down.<\/p>\n<p>So on a third-shot drop off backspin, aim higher than you otherwise would. Slice also floats deeper in the air than players expect \u2014 they step in, the ball keeps coming, and suddenly it\u2019s at their feet. Topspin is easier to add off backspin, but that topspin also dives sooner, reinforcing the \u201caim up\u201d cue.<\/p>\n<h2>Key takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Slice return: skids through + floats deeper than it looks<\/li>\n<li>Backspin on your paddle pulls the ball down \u2014 aim the drop higher<\/li>\n<li>Misreading depth = ball at your feet mid-swing<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Action items<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Partner slice returns only: every third drop must clear higher than your flat-drop aim point<\/li>\n<li>Freeze on contact height \u2014 did you step in too early on the float?<\/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>Ben Johns (via Pickleball 360) explains why thirds off slice returns feel impossible. Hard, low slice skids through so you stay back waiting; backspin also acts on the paddle and pulls the ball down.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":731,"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_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,440,200,381,6],"tags":[71,214,442,32],"class_list":["post-1192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drops","category-returns","category-strategy","category-technique","category-third-shot","tag-backspin","tag-ben-johns","tag-slice-return","tag-third-shot-drop"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/04-overhead-at-the-net-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1192","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=1192"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1192\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}