There’s no doubt that I’m a big proponent of the drop shot!

I’ve written a few articles on the drop shot (Third Shot Drop vs. Third Shot Drive; What to Do when Your Drop Shot Doesn’t Drop; 4 Secrets to Get Your Dropshot to Go Where You Want (and Not Where You Don’t).

I even developed the Drop Shot Masterclass on how to construct the perfect drop shot! Not only do bootcamp participants receive this, but there’s an entire session at bootcamp called Drop Shot ‘Til You Drop!

Yes, lots and lots (and lots!) of drop shots!

You must think that I always recommend a drop.

And that couldn’t be further from the truth!

But First, Why I Advocate the Drop Shot

My primary philosophy of Smart Pickleball is to make whatever shot buys you the most time.

If you’re serving, your opponents have the advantage of both being at the line while you and your partner have to wait for the ball to bounce.

In this situation, the drop is the shot that buys time for you and your partner to advance to the Kitchen.

This is a defensive shot! It is designed to take the advantage away from your opponents. It is not designed to win the point!

And Now, When Not to Drop…

Maybe you’ve done this dozens (hundreds?) of times – you and your partner are at the line, and your opponent makes a not-so-great third shot drop. They know it’s a bad drop! And they hang back, waiting for the slam, but then…

You make a drop volley into the Kitchen! Your opponents are so far back, they don’t even try to run up, and you win the point!

And you’ll never hear me advocate this strategy of dropping your opponents to win a point like that!

When your opponents are still back, especially when they’re back at or near the baseline, there are at least five possible outcomes.

And four of them are bad!

One: This is the drop I just described – you win the point with the applause of the spectators and the congratulations of your partner!

Two: You try to make too perfect of a drop, and it goes into the net.

Three: You try to angle the drop shot to ensure you win the point, and it goes wide out of bounds.

Four: You make one of those not great (but not terrible either!) drops, which gives your opponents time to get to the ball, and they drop it back into your Kitchen, taking away you and partner’s advantage of being the only team at the line.

Five: You make a terrible drop to the middle of the court, and your opponent drives the ball between you and your partner, winning the point.

I’m sure you can come up with other scenarios, but I think you get the idea!

Especially in Pickleball, You’ll almost Never Hear Me Say Always, BUT…

If your opponents are back, for whatever reason,

Do NOT bring them in!

KEEP THEM BACK!

Trust me, this is a sound (and safe!) strategy!

Imagine you and your partner are at the line. Your opponents keep trying desperately to keep the ball in play, but they’re not really trying to advance to the Kitchen with a drop.

You and your partner just keep hitting the ball at their feet!

Keeping them back!

Your opponents keep returning, returning, returning, and then it’s in your wheelhouse for the easy smash!

Or, because you’re not giving them anything to hit, they eventually send it out or into the net!

Keeping them back may not be as pretty (or satisfying!) as one of those drops, but in the long run, it’s safe and effective.

Yes, that drop shot when your opponents are back is a soft shot, and you’ve got plenty of time to reset, but you’re essentially (and effectively!) giving that time to your opponents to get to the Kitchen.

DON’T give up your advantage of being the only team at the Kitchen!

And when your opponents are back, KEEP THEM BACK!

And before you think this is the only time when you shouldn’t make a drop shot, next month is Part 2 when I’ll discuss other situations NOT to use the drop shot!  

“Randy, please don’t back up.”

“Don’t back up, Randy!”

“Randy! No backing up!”

“GRRRRRRRRRR! Randy! Stop backing up!”

I think that’s the equivalent of a growl!

If you’ve been to any of my bootcamps or clinics, you’ve heard me say a few times (or maybe a few hundred times!) “Paddles Up!” and “Don’t Back Up!”

And you may have heard me growl!

Clearly, I’m not a fan of backing up!

Lots of players have a tendency to back up, either a little or a lot, to take the ball on the bounce.

It seems like you’re giving yourself more time, and it seems like you’re getting into a better position to make a better shot.

There are a couple of reasons why I don’t recommend backing up (and as a bonus, I’ll give you one instance where it’s okay to back up!).

One reason that you shouldn’t back up is the misconception that you are buying yourself more time.

I teach that the shot you want to take is the one that buys yourself more time. So why doesn’t backing up buy yourself more time? Aren’t you providing yourself a precious extra second to make a better shot?

Not really!

When you back up, you’re actually giving that time to your opponents!

If you can take the ball in air, take it! This gives your opponents less time to reset and get ready for their next shot.

When you back up, no matter how little, you’re giving that time to your opponents; time to reset, time to analyze what you’re about to do with the ball, time to shift side-to-side, even ever so slightly, to counter what you’re about to do with the ball.

If you can take the ball in the air, especially when you’re at the Kitchen line, take it!

The other reason not to back up has to do with body mechanics.

Many strokes in tennis are based on a ‘back-to-front’ motion – your weight and paddle goes back, and you power the ball forward.

Pickleball is different – it’s more of a ‘front-to-front’ motion!

When you back up, your body has to compensate for that backward momentum, and that compensation typically translates into a pop up! (Or if you didn’t compensate, it goes into the net!)

Think how many times you (or hopefully one of your opponents!) backed up to take a dink at the Kitchen and served up an easy put away!

One other tip to avoid backing up is stay in front of the ball. For example, if you dink to your right, shift to the right to stay in front of the ball. This will prevent your opponent from dinking the ball behind you to your side, forcing you to get out of position, and yes, backing up!

Get in the habit of taking the ball in the air whenever you can. And if it helps, pretend I’m growling when you think about backing up!

Or pretend I’m standing behind you (at clinics and bootcamps, I actually stand behind students to keep them from backing up, just like in the above picture!).

Now, when do I recommend backing up?

On a not-so-good lob!

Last year, I posted an article on how to defend the lob. This article was on how to defend really good lobs, lobs that are without question, going over your head!

For a not-so-good lob, you can safely back up one or two steps and hit an overhead.

More than two steps, it’s probably a good lob and it becomes unsafe, with the possibility of your legs tangling and you falling over. I really don’t want that to happen to you!

The perfect summary about not backing up comes from colleague and pro player Dave Weinbach: “Good things happen when you move forward, baaaaaaaaaad things happen when you move back!”

A little while ago (actually over five years ago!!), I wrote an article on how to ‘play up’ and ‘play down’ during rec play’ (and there’s even a printable version!).

Everyone wants a good competitive game. Personal schedules outside of pickleball are packed, and court time is limited – you want to maximize your available pickleball time!

On most courts, there’s a wide range of skills and athletic ability. Some games will be competitive; some, not so much!    

So let’s revisit this issue about when you want to play up and when you’re playing down. Trust me, you’ll still be having fun regardless of who is playing on the other side of the net (or standing next to you!)!

First Things First – It’s Only Pickleball!

On my podcasts and webinars, you’ll often hear me use the line, “It’s only pickleball…”

You know I LOVE pickleball! And you know I’ll play with anyone – it doesn’t matter to me if it’s a 3.0 rec player or a 5.0 pro, I love pickleball that much!

I’m not tracking my wins and losses, and you’ll have to trust me on this, no one is tracking your rec play wins and losses either!

Is it a big deal if you lose a game? A bunch of games? Have an off day?

No, No, and No!

It’s also not a big deal if your games aren’t as competitive as you would like!

Yes, you want a good competitive game, but no matter what, you want to play pickleball. Imagine that you’re off to the courts and you’re planning on playing a bunch of games with three other similarly skilled players.

But the fourth player doesn’t show up!

You’re probably hoping that any player, no matter the skill level, will be a part of your foursome!

So Someone Wants to ‘Play Up’ with You…

I’m pretty sure no one started playing pickleball for the first time on a Friday and then showed up on Monday as a 5.0 player!

Drills and practice will make you better, but you probably need to play with and against better players to really improve your game.

When a lower-skilled player wants to play with you, my main piece of advice is to be nice and encouraging.

And unless it’s asked for, don’t try to coach!

This player knows when he made a mistake or an unforced error – rolling your eyes at a missed shot or a drop into the net probably isn’t going to help, nor is informing the player why he or she made a mistake!

This player is probably nervous about wanting to play well; sending negative energy toward your partner certainly will not help!

When the player makes that good shot, let him or her know it! A bad shot? Talk about how the player across the net made a good shot, or let him or her know that it was a nice try or that it was the ‘right idea’!

And if you’re playing against the lower skilled player, remember, no one is going to care how you dominated. Spread the ball around to the partner, focus on placement (in other words, don’t try to tag him or her in the chest every chance you get!), and work on making your game better.

…and If They’re ‘Playing Down’ with You!

Now you’re playing with the better players!

This suggestion may sound strange, but it will probably work!

Don’t try to do too much!  

In other words, don’t try to hit a winner on every shot, don’t try to overpower the more skilled players, and take the easier, more strategic, shot instead of that hard angle that will probably go out!

Don’t try to prove yourself to the other players!

I’m not saying to not play your game, and I’m certainly not saying to let your partner take almost all the shots! But I am suggesting to focus on keeping the ball in play and make smart shots!

A Personal (and Recent!) Example

Earlier in January, I took a friend to the Pickleball University courts in Vero Beach where there’s some pretty high-level play. While I was on another court, one of the players came up to my friend and invited him to come play.

Nervous, my friend said, “I just want to let you know, I’m not a 5.0 or anything like that.”

The other player, with a huge smile, said, “That doesn’t matter! C’mon! Let’s play!”

After my game was done, I went over to his court to watch the rest of his game.

I never saw him play better.

And he was playing against some very, very good players. (His two opponents are coaches at Pickleball U.)

After the game, his partner remarked how my friend made only four or five unforced errors throughout the whole game.

See, there was no pressure to perform, his partner was encouraging throughout the game, and my friend was loose and relaxed.

In other words, he was having fun!

My friend was playing up, the other three were playing down, and everyone had a great time and a great game!

Yes, be competitive, but also remember that it’s supposed to be fun.

And, of course, it’s only pickleball!