Aspen's Advice: Body Language and More

Body language gives away tendencies...

I had an article about deception all queued up and ready to go. Then Aspen Kern posted a one of his advice pieces in the Pickleball Forum that I thought would be a good lead-in. Below is Aspen's advice. We'll branch out from here over the next couple of days.

Aspen's Advice

Get in the habit of watching your opponents as they get ready to hit the ball. There is body language and there is paddle language. If you pay attention to their body mechanics as they are preparing to hit the ball, several things will let you know where they are planning to hit. Their feet,

their torso and their shoulders and head let you know their intentions even before they make contact with the ball. Paddle language is watching their paddle and seeing which direction it is faced before they make contact. The angle of the paddle face will tell you what direction the ball is going to travel after contact. 

There are advanced players that have the ability to trick you by using their body language to suggest they are going in one direction and hit the ball in another. This is misdirection, a way of faking their opponent out. Misdirection can also be obtained by giving false paddle language. You think the ball is going one way but at the last second they use the wrist to turn the paddle and fire it in another direction. If you are playing against a player that uses misdirection, try watching the ball as it comes off the paddle and you will not be tricked, their is nothing they can do to the ball after it leaves the paddle. Watching the players paddle and body language is something every level player can learn to do, where as performing misdirection is a more advanced technique and takes practice to execute.

The first part of Aspen's advice - about body language giving a clue about the opponent's shot - is a common theme echoed by many experts. including those discussed over the next couple of days. When we get through those, we cn get back on track with the second paragraph topic - deception.