The Jerry Drill

Expanding your mind from the standard programming...

After playing 4 years of pickleball, several principles have been embedded in my mind and, therefore, in my play. Some actions have become almost automatic...like dink low balls and attack high balls. One other action that is ingrained is to move to the net after a drive to an opponent at the baseline. The Jerry Drill is primarily a groundstroke drill but I found the mental challenge to be equally enlightening.

The Jerry Drill has one rule - every ball must bounce before it is hit. Instead of the 2-bounce rule, it is the always-bounce rule. Players can position themselves anywhere on the court, but, much like the positioning for the serving team, it only makes sense for all players to position themselves at the baseline so a ball can bounce in front of them.

Backhand Slice

Getting the fundamentals right...

This week, the Jordan Briones Primetime video series again works from the baseline. Instead of the servers, though, this post focuses on the return of serve and, in particular, the backhand slice by viewing his video Backhand Slice Success | How To Hit A Great Pickleball Backhand Slice. We will follow along through Jordan's presentation as he breaks the shot mechanics down and then puts it all together at the end.

But first, why even bother with a slice? Why isn't a regular backhand good enough? Simply put, the slice puts additional pressure on your opponent. It has a couple of benefits.

A Topspin Drill

My mind is spinning in circles...

One of the most significant uses of spin is a topspin groundstroke, particularly when hit as a driving shot instead of a drop shot. Adding topspin to a low hard shot will cause the ball to dive down below the top of the net and help to prevent the opponent from making a winning volley. Today's post will be a review of some basic drills to learn topspin through tennis training techniques. These tennis drills can be used for pickleball without change. Temporary nets may need additional support if they cannot be tightened sufficiently.

Playing Against Spin

My mind is spinning in circles...

Yesterday's post talked about using spin. Today, we will look at Prem Carnot's view of playing and recognizing spin. His article is titled How to Play Against Someone Who Spins the Ball.

How to Play Against Someone Who Spins the Ball

Those pesky tennis players with such beautiful ball control, smooth strokes, good footwork and tricky spin… Do you ask yourself, “How ever do I play against them?” When you diagnose the problem, it’s quite simple actually, once you know these two secrets.

Secret #1: Wait until the ball is past the top of the arch and almost to the second bounce.   

This is similar to the strategy I talk about in my article, The 4 Secrets to Getting Your Dropshot to Go Where You Want (And Not Where You Don’t) in regard to how to hit a good drop shot.

What about Spin?

My mind is spinning in circles...

I managed a skills and drills class for beginners last week in which we drilled on serves and returns of serve. I have done several of these classes recently and a common theme has emerged - some beginners think extreme spin creates an advantage. The fact that a high percentage of their shots went out of bounds didn't seem to matter as long there was an occasional shot that spun away from their opponent.

My recommendation for beginners is that their time is always better spent working on basic shots. These will be more important to developing their game more quickly. In addition, as they develop and play better opponents, spin becomes less effective.

But that doesn't mean that spin should never be used as players advance. Topspin and backspin are particularly useful. We'll explore some of the views on spin in this post.

Consistent Groundstrokes

Last week we talked about the strategies of the return of serve. Since that shot is just a groundstroke, it might be helpful to review some of the basic techniques of the stroke. We started with that yesterday and will continue today with a Mark Renneson video called Better Groundstrokes.

Mark focuses on the contact point to establish a consistent swing that can be replicated time after time. The contact point should be about thigh high and in front of the body.

Basic Forehand Groundstroke Lesson

Since the forehand groundstroke is one of the most elemental shots of pickleball, I first wrote about it nearly a year ago in The Forehand Ground Stroke. That article discussed the techniques of the stroke in detail. The Beginner Pickleball Program at The Villages has a basic instructional video called BPT Forehand that illustrates some of the basic elements of the forehand groundstroke.

As always, the shot starts with the player in the ready position - feet shoulder-width facing the direction from where the ball will come and the paddle up and in front.

Sarah's Slice in Slo -Mo

Yesterday's post, Sarah's Slice Shots, centered on a full-length video from Sarah Ansboury's site in which she explained the techniques of the underspin return. Today's post has the same subjects - Sarah and the slice return - but focuses on slow motion replays of the shot in a Pickleball Channel video called The Slice with Slow Motion.

Below are some screen captures from the video.

Sarah's Slice Shots

Sarah Ansboury's video Pickleball Slice illustrates the techniques of hitting a groundstroke with slice or underspin. I'm not a big fan of adding spin to a player's game because their pratice time can be better spent learning the more basic shots of the game. But players may reach a point where adding topspin or slice shots can help them advance to the next level. As usual, Sarah's techniques are very good and well explained.

Sarah demonstrates both the forehand and backhand slice shots in the video. This is one of those rare occasions when the backhand is actually the easier shot. The reason is the physics of the shot combined with the mechanics of the body.

The backhand shot requires minimal body rotation as the paddle rotates around the body using the shoulder as a pivot point. This can be seen in the following 2 photos, the first taken at the start of the swing and the second at the end of the swing.

The Half Volley

The importance of getting to the kitchen has been emphasized to the point where I don't need to reiterate that point. Instead, today's post will discuss a shot needed to to overcome the disadvantage of being in no-man's land as progress toward the net is made. 

The subject shot is called a half volley. The name is a bit of a misnomer, though, as it is actually a groundstroke. The shot is defined as "A groundstroke shot where the paddle contacts the ball immediately after it bounces from the court and before the ball rises to its potential height." A half volley is needed when an opponent hits a shot to a player's feet, thus requiring a return made on the "short-hop". The most likely area where this occurs is in the mid-court as players earn their way to the net.

Let's start the discussion with a video from Deb Harrison called Half-Volley Pick Up.

Sarah on the Two-Handed Backhand

I recently posted a Marke Renesson video that discussed the two-handed backhand at the highest levels of pickleball. In A Two-handed Backhand, I added my analysis which included:

Two-Handed Backhand Pros

• More Control - Having two hands on the racket creates less margin of error.
• Easier To Learn - It takes more coordination to learn the one-handed backhand.
• More Consistent - Your racket is more stable at impact when using two hands.
• More Power - Players with weaker arms will have more powerful backhands whena second arm is used.

Two-Handed Backhand Cons

• Reach - You will be losing about 2 to 3 inches.
• Slice - Your slice isn’t as natural as a one-handed backhand player’s would be.
• Body Shots - It’s more difficult to make a return close to the body.
• Preparation Time - The physics of swinging with 2 hands vs 1 hand is such that a one-hander is more flexible to a variety of heights and proximity to the body. A two-hander requires taking more steps to get into proper position. 

A Two-handed Backhand

Christine McGrath is a top female player who recently won the Women's Doubles Pro championship at the US Open (while 7 months pregnant!). McGrath's playing style is notable for her two-handed backhand. She is one of very few players who are successful with that shot at the top level. Mark Renneson analyzed her stroke in the video called Breaking Down McGrath's 2-handed backhand.

Groundstrokes with Sarah

I have written several posts on the groundstroke, including The Forehand Ground Stroke, The Backhand Ground Stroke, Strengthening the Backhand Ground Stroke, and Backhand Ground Stroke - New Video. These posts cover the entirety of the swing, discussing weight shift, backstroke, follow-through, eyes, contact point, etc. Sarah Ansboury has a video called Groundstrokes focusing on a couple of these points .

Sarah first discusses the tendency of many people to ignore the body when hitting groundstrokes. Instead, these players use only their arms, a technique that will provide some success at lower level of play but will limit their success as they advance. Note the open stance in the below photo. This allows only the arm to be used in hitting the ball.

Ambidextrous Forehand

A long time ago in my post The Grip I discussed a method to avoid switching grips in the midst of playing a game. That method is to switch hands instead. I did not recommend using this method because it takes a lot of skill and practice to equalize shot-making with both strong and weak hands. Mostly I didn't recommend it because I hate playing against these players

Regardless of my preference, there are a few players who do switch hands. The following Pickleball Channel video called Ambidextrous Forehand shows one of the top players in the world, Wes Gabrielson, demonstrating the technique. The video is not too exciting, but does include some tips for hitting a forehand that apply even if using only the strong hand.

Tips to hitting a forehand:

1. Keep eye on ball through shot.
2. Keep body & legs low.
3. Follow through toward your target.
4. Keep your head down to ensure good contact.

Backhand Ground Stroke - New Video

When I write a post for this site, I try to include the best information and videos available at the time. A relatively new and rapidly growing sport has new information created frequently however. I will always try to keep readers up to date with the latest information by adding updates as they become available.

Such is the case with a new Pickleball Channel video called The Backhand with Slow Motion - Yvonne Hackenberg about the backhand groundstroke that recently was sent to me. It is an excellent view of the proper hitting technique with slow motion action. It should be viewed in conjunction with reading my posts The Backhand Back Stroke and Strengthening the Backhand Ground Stroke.

The video highlights several parts of the stroke:

1. Move your feet to get into proper position.
2. Focus on your target to improve accuracy.
3. Watch the ball hit your paddle to ensure clean contact.
4. Keep opponents back with deep shots.
5. Finish high.

Strengthening the Backhand Ground Stroke

Have you ever felt like you are a wearing a target on your backhand side as your opponents continuously pepper that side with shot after shot?

Spin

One of the phases most players go through is spinning the ball. Putting extreme spin on a shot makes it bounce in directions that are hard for an opponent to predict. That unpredictability often leads to a fault by the opponent – either a miss or a mishit. Even if the player returns the ball, it looks impressive. Sounds good, right?

The reality is that extreme spin might be effective against lower ranked players but it will generally become less effective as skill levels improve. Players with experience can predict the bounce though visual clues like the arc of the paddle swing and the spin on the ball. A spinning pickleball is easy to read.  Its construction includes lots of holes that contrast with the solid color. So, if spinning the ball won’t work against players that you will encounter in your future, why bother even spending one minute practicing it? My experience is that my time is better spent perfecting shots that will be effective.

Ground Stroke Drills

Drills are most effective when players learn to control their shots sufficiently well to sustain long rallies with their drill partners. That is especially true for these groundstroke drills. Players should try to hit a target area near the back corner of your partner’s court with firm strokes but not so hard that they are outright winners. The objective is to develop a feel for the shot and the muscle memory to execute it under pressure. That requires repetitive hitting of the same shot.

Basic Groundstroke Drills

These drills practice the most basic of groundstrokes – returning in the same direction from its origination. Completing all 4 drills means you will have practiced forehands and backhands both cross court and down the line from both sides of the court. These drills can be done with either 2 or 4 players.

The Backhand Ground Stroke

The forehand groundstroke is the most common shot for most players in the area between the baseline and mid-court as I discussed in The Forehand Ground Stroke. But no one can cover their entire area using only the forehand stroke. Your opponents know that your forehand is your stronger shot so they will make every effort to hit their shot to your other side. Therefore, you must know how to cover that area with a backhand groundstroke.

The movements for a backhand groundstroke have many similarities to a forehand groundstroke. All you do is reverse the direction your body is facing. The forehand requires your paddle shoulder and foot to the back. The backhand requires those parts of the body in the front. But the similarities exist in the motion. Your body should turn so your front shoulder is aimed at your target. Your weight should shift to your back foot. Your paddle should be drawn back in the backswing. Your weight should shift forward onto the front foot simultaneously with the paddle swing toward the ball. Your paddle should follow through toward the target. All of these are identical to the forehand groundstroke motion.

The Forehand Ground Stroke

The forehand groundstroke is the most common – and comfortable – shot for most players between the baseline and mid-court. A ground stroke is simply hitting a ball after it bounces, a regular occurrence when players are deep in the court.  The forehand is a more natural shot on the stronger side of the body and, thus, more comfortable for many players. The forehand groundstroke is so common that all players should master the basic techniques.

The body position and movement for a forehand groundstroke is very similar to The Service Motion. Your body should turn so your front shoulder is aimed at your target. Your weight should shift to your back foot. Your paddle should be drawn back in the backswing. Your weight should shift forward onto the front foot simultaneously with the paddle swing toward the ball. Your paddle should follow through across your body. All of these movements are identical to the service motion.