{"id":1373,"date":"2026-11-10T04:21:18","date_gmt":"2026-11-10T04:21:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/?p=1373"},"modified":"2026-11-10T04:21:18","modified_gmt":"2026-11-10T04:21:18","slug":"split-step-as-they-hit-when-you-come-in-off-a-drop-land-ready-to-counter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/?p=1373","title":{"rendered":"Split-Step as They Hit: When You Come In Off a Drop, Land Ready to Counter"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe title=\"Split Step Timing\" width=\"563\" height=\"1000\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/66ohjUoX7ZM?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>Briones Pickleball Breakdown looks at the synchronization of split steps as players drop and come in. They&#8217;re looking for a ball that will descend into the opponents&#8217; non-volley zone. If they get that \u2014 and get the opponents to step off the line, as Jack Munro does in the clip \u2014 both players can make progress. That&#8217;s what&#8217;s so good about a quality third-shot drop.<\/p>\n<p>Then watch the timing: right as Jack is hitting his next shot, before anyone knows whether he&#8217;ll speed up or dink, the pair at the net is already in the act of their split. They both land ready for the counter if they need it.<\/p>\n<h2>Key takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>A third-shot drop that descends into their kitchen can make them step off the line so you both make progress coming in<\/li>\n<li>Synchronize the split as you approach \u2014 don&#8217;t run through the next ball<\/li>\n<li>Be in the act of the split as they hit, whether it&#8217;s a speed-up or a dink, so you land ready to counter<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Action items<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>On your next 10 third-shot drops, watch whether the ball makes them step off the line before you keep coming in<\/li>\n<li>As you approach, time a split to their contact and freeze: you should be landed and ready, not still running<\/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>Briones Pickleball Breakdown looks at the synchronization of split steps as players drop and come in. They&#8217;re looking for a ball that will descend into the opponents&#8217; non-volley zone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":729,"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":[2,6,20],"tags":[123,148,335,170,32,37],"class_list":["post-1373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-footwork","category-third-shot","category-transition","tag-briones","tag-counter","tag-jack-munro","tag-split-step","tag-third-shot-drop","tag-transition"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/01-doubles-at-the-net-over-shoulder-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1373","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=1373"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1373\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}