{"id":200,"date":"2026-09-18T01:28:31","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T01:28:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/?p=200"},"modified":"2026-10-04T10:19:25","modified_gmt":"2026-10-04T10:19:25","slug":"shorten-your-backswing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/?p=200","title":{"rendered":"Shorten Your Backswing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe title=\"Shorten Your Backswing\" width=\"563\" height=\"1000\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dJi0Rv5KBOU?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<p>ThatPickleballGuy (Kyle Koszuta) targets the classic hands-battle miss: a backswing that disappears behind the body on fast exchanges. When the paddle goes behind the shoulder, you lose peripheral vision of it \u2014 and with only ~0.3\u20130.4 seconds until the next ball, that long path is too slow. The fix is ruthlessly compact: keep the paddle in front of the shoulder where you can still see it, then punch using the pace already coming at you instead of manufacturing your own power.<\/p>\n<p>On the forehand side that means a tight \u201cblock\/punch\u201d from in front; on the backhand, a one-hander can turn-and-punch, while a two-hander may rotate the torso a bit more (paddle can travel slightly farther because the body turns) but still should not take a full tennis-style loop. The principle is time and efficiency, not aesthetics.<\/p>\n<h2>Key takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>If you can\u2019t see the paddle in peripheral vision, it\u2019s too far back<\/li>\n<li>Fast exchanges \u2248 0.3\u20130.4s \u2014 compact path or you lose<\/li>\n<li>Use opponent\u2019s pace; don\u2019t add a big swing for \u201cextra\u201d force<\/li>\n<li>FH: paddle in front of shoulder, punch<\/li>\n<li>BH: more core twist than full swing (2HBH still stays short)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Action items<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Partner speed-up feeds at kitchen; rule = paddle never behind shoulder<\/li>\n<li>Film side-on hands battle; pause when paddle disappears \u2014 that\u2019s the miss<\/li>\n<li>Warm-up: 20 FH punches with \u201csee the paddle\u201d call-outs<\/li>\n<li>BH: 20 turn-and-punch counters with no loop behind the body<\/li>\n<li>Drill: return only using their pace (no added swing) for 5 minutes<\/li>\n<li>Count unforced nets\/longs from big backswings in next match \u2014 target cut in half<\/li>\n<li>Cue card on bag: \u201cIf I can\u2019t see it, it\u2019s too far\u201d<\/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>ThatPickleballGuy (Kyle Koszuta) targets the classic hands-battle miss: a backswing that disappears behind the body&#8230;<\/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,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,21,3,192],"tags":[139,86,314,63,313,62,315],"class_list":["post-200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-footwork","category-hands","category-kitchen","category-volleys","tag-compact-swing","tag-hands-battle","tag-kitchen-exchanges","tag-kyle-koszuta","tag-shorten-backswing","tag-thatpickleballguy","tag-use-their-pace"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200","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=200"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":540,"href":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200\/revisions\/540"}],"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=200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedropdrive.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}