More NVZ Drills - Dink Practice Games

No one wants to drill, everyone wants to improve...

This post is the third about Non-Volley Zone drills. The first was specifically about volleys and this is the second post about dinks. It continues the focus on NVZ-first learning in alignment with the RV Picklers' article shown last week, Pickleball 101. 

NVZ Line Drills

Fun Dink Drills

Dink Game (Drill)

Description: Four players are positioned behind the NVZ in the center of each service box. A “game” is played with regular scoring. The difference in the Dink Game is that the NVZ line serves as the baseline. All balls landing past the NVZ line are a fault. Player A starts a game at 0-0-2 with a serve. The serve must be a dink that lands in the NVZ and inside the extended service court center line. The serve should be used only to start the game with no attempt to make an offensive shot. All shots following the serve must be dinks into the NVZ. All volleys, overheads, or other shots are faults. The game is played to 11 with normal scoring and service rotation.


Goal: This drill will teach the player proper movement, body positioning to hit the next shot, and proper paddle face angles to change direction of the ball. In addition to techniques, a player will learn strategic placement and strategies of playing with a partner.


Anything Goes Dink Game (Drill)

Description: Four players are positioned behind the NVZ in the center of each service box. A “game” is played with regular scoring. Player A starts a game at 0-0-2 with a serve. The serve must be a dink that lands in the NVZ and inside the extended service court center line. The serve should be used only to start the game with no attempt to make an offensive shot. The return of serve must also be a crosscourt dink with no attempt to win the rally. All shots following the serve should be attempted dinks into the NVZ unless a dink is popped up. At that point, anything goes with players allowed to play a normal rally with volleys, overheads, or other shots. The game is played to 11 with normal scoring and service rotation.

Goal: This drill will teach the player proper movement, body positioning to hit the next shot, and proper paddle face angles to change direction of the ball. In addition to techniques, a player will learn strategic placement and strategies of playing with a partner. The additional “anything goes” element teaches the value of reducing unforced errors.