Play the Point, Not the Pressure

Stay on track...

DJ Howard's tip this week kind of ties into the Reset and Rescue Shot posts of the last 2 days. His post discusses play when under pressure. This could include play when under attack or out of position.

DJ's weekly tip:

Play the point, not the pressure.

Utilize high percentage plays. Don't take unnecessary risks. Exploit your opponent's weaknesses. Angles create angles. All good advice here. But if you forget all this good advice when under pressure, guess what? You lose.

You cannot afford to alter your game so much that you fail to simply play smart pickleball. If you succumb to the pressure of the situation, you will likely fail to play quality points consistently. And that gets you beat.

Learn to construct a point well regardless of the pressure of the situation. Play high percentages. If you're going to take a risk, which is acceptable or even recommended at times, make sure it is with a purpose and not because you panicked under pressure.

I know, I know, I'll get responses that say, "you HAVE to play the pressure! you can't simply play a point! Don't you understand that situations change? What if x-y-z...?" 

I get it. Don't try to read into what I am NOT saying. I am not saying, "be oblivious to the pressure of any given moment."

What I AM saying is, you still have to focus on playing smart points, regardless of the amount of pressure of the moment.

Play the point, don't play the pressure.

And be sure to keep reppin'!

-DJ