Out Front

Make practice fun...

Jordan Briones continues his Primetime video series with another dink drill. This drill focuses on hitting the ball out in front raher than allowing it to get close to your feet. The video is titled #1 Dink Killer | The Main Thing That's Killing Your Pickleball Dinks

The theory that drives Jordan's discussion is that the single biggest negative impact on players' dink games is allowing the ball to get to the body. This causes players to make adjustments such as wrist snaps that have bad results.

Instead, Jordan states that players should hit the ball in front of their body in order to make a more consistent dink. He uses a visual to illustrate the danger zone.

The Johns' Backhand Roll

Specialty shots from the pros...

The Jordan Briones' video this week is a little different in that Jordan does not even make an appearance. Instead, the video shows Ben Johns demonstrating his technique for the backhand roll, a shot that was featured in Pickleball Magazine. The video is titled The Backhand Roll with Ben Johns. I usually try to enhance the video by taking some screenshots and explaining the concepts in text. But this video does a great job of slowing the action and analyzing the shot-making technique. I am at a loss for words.

Setting up Erne

Getting the fundamentals right...

It is Tuesday and w all know what that means - it is Jordan Briones time! This week's video is an interesting one for me since it is about a shot I have never even tried - the Erne. Let's describe the Erne first. It is a shot that is hit by a player standing outside the court beside the net post. It is usually a surprise shot. I wrote 2 articles about it in June 2017 - The Erne Shot and More on the Erne Shot.

What was left unsaid in those articles was the specifics of setting up the Erne for success. Jordan does that in his video How To Setup The Erne In Pickleball.

The not-so-secret part of hitting the Erne is that it must be off a down-the-line shot. Otherwise, the ball would out of the reach of the player attempting the Erne. So the secret part is setting up the opponent to hit the ball down the line.

Reset

Getting the fundamentals right...

After all of the equipment talk, let's get back to some play with Tuesday's regular featured Jordan Briones' video. This week, Jordan has Daniel Moore discussing the how to reset the point when the opponents are on the attack and you are back away from the NVZ line. The video is titled How To Hit A Reset Shot with Daniel Moore.

The reset shot is a cross between a "staying alive" shot and a defensive shot to gain a neutral position. It usually results from a poor third-shot drop that allows the opponents to attack from their NVZ line while you are stuck well behind it. As they attack, you are forced to take hard low shots and try to get them back. A reset shot takes it to the next step by dropping it into the NVZ and allowing you to get to the net. One of the most important points Daniel makes is that this shot is hard and it may take multiple attempts before success.

Lean In

Getting the fundamentals right...

Guest Dave Weinbach is back in this week's Jordan Briones Primetime video, with another tip about play at the NVZ line. The video is titled Offensive NVZ Line Positioning with Dave Weinbach.

The focus of Dave's message is how a player should be positioned at the NVZ line. First, he states that players should be right at the line. His feet position in the video show him with nearly no gap between his toes and the line. Second, Dave wants players to lean forward. His positioning shows a slight knee bend for balance, bending forward at the waist, and extending his arms.

Target Dink Drill

Make practice fun...

Jordan Briones continues his Primetime video series with another dink drill. This drill focuses on hitting targets in order to to move your opponent around. The video is called "3 Cone" Dink Pattern Drill | Pickleball. 

The drill starts as other dink drills do - with a player positioned at the NVZ line on each side of the net. But prior to that, 3 cones are positioned on the side of the feeding partner. The cones are set close to the net within the width of a half-court and dividing the half-court into thirds.  The set up is shown below.

Taking Time from Opponents

Getting the fundamentals right...

Dave Weinbach returns in this week's Jordan Briones Primetime video, with another tip about play at the NVZ line. The video is titled Pickleball Impact Zone with Dave Weinbach | How To Take Time Away From Your Opponents.

Dave first describes what he calls the "impact zone". This is the area in front of his body where he wants to hit the ball.

Two-Ball Dink Drill

Make practice fun...

The next video from the Jordan Briones Primetime video series is focused on two key parts of the game - dinking and hand-eye coordination. The video is called "2 Ball" Dink Control Drill | Pickleball. 

The drill starts with just as you would expect in a dink drill - a player positioned at the NVZ line on each side of the net. Both players simultaneously starts the drill by hitting a dink to their partner...so two balls are active at the same time. The objective is to keep the two-ball rally going as long as possible by hitting simple dinks back to your partner. 

Respect the Net

Getting the fundamentals right...

Dave Weinbach is back again in this week's Jordan Briones Primetime video, except this time it is about the dink. The video is titled How To Hit Unattackable Dinks with Dave Weinbach | Pickleball.

Dave's sole tip to successful dinking - at least in this video - is to hit the ball higher over the net than than you think you need to. Dave has a big rule - respect the net! That means do not ever hit the ball into the net.

He states that many players are taught to keep the ball low over the net, as low as one or two balls over the net.

Third Shot Tutorial

Getting the fundamentals right...

The Jordan Briones Primetime series continues today and features Dave Weinbach in 3rd Shot Success with Dave Weinbach | Pickleball. The topic is the third shot drop and the keys to a successful shot. I often say that the third shot drop is the hardest shot in pickleball. I'm glad to hear that Dave's thoughts align with mine. But he also says that it is the most important shot in the entire game. So let's see his suggestions to make ours better.

Dave has 3 keys to a successful shot. We will go through them one at a time.

1. Light grip pressure

The drop shot is part of the soft game. A soft shot requires a light grip to take energy off the ball. Dave recommends a grip pressure of 3-4 on a scale of 1-10. A tighter grip will be noticeable as the ball will rocket off the paddle face.

Offensive Volley Lob

Getting the fundamentals right...

A few weeks ago, the Jordan Briones Primetime series featured the offensive lob off the dink. This week, the series continues with his video Volley Lob Accuracy | Pickleball in which he uses the same same drill to practice the lob off a volley.

For the same reasons as the dink lob, the volley lob is an effective shot. It surprises the opponent and forces him to retreat away from the NVZ line. If anything, the shot is even more effective as the surprise factor is higher. First, the ball is hit before it bounces, giving the opponent less time to react. Second, it is a difficult shot that is not used as frequently as the dink lob.

Again, the set up of the court includes a mark-up 4' from the baseline.

Grip Pressure

Getting the fundamentals right...

Today's post continues the Jordan Briones Primetime series with a short discussion of grip pressure while dinking. The video, Grip Pressure Explained with Dave Weinbach | Pickleball, features Dave Weinbach, one of the best pros in the world of pickleball.

Disguise Your Lob

Getting the fundamentals right...

This week's edition of the Jordan Briones Primetime series follows up on last Tuesday's video on the offensive lob. The offensive lob is particularly effective off of a dink rally and especially when the lob cannot be "read" by your opponents. This requires disguising the shot by making it look like another dink in the rally. Jordan's video Disguise Your Lob Like A Pro | Pickleball shows how use deception in this shot.

The drill is a simple one. Again, start by setting up the target zone for the lob by marking an area 4' from the baseline just as was done for last week's drill.

Offensive Lob Drill

Getting the fundamentals right...

Our regular Tuesday feature of the Jordan Briones Primetime series continues with his video Ultimate Offensive Lob Drill | Pickleball. In this video, Jordan shows how to practice the offensive lob from the NVZ line.

This shot is highly effective as a surprise off of a dinking rally. As Prem Carnot said in my post Offensive Lob from the NVZ Line:

Hit the Stealthy, Dink-in-Disguise Lob ShotThis is when you & your opponents have gotten into a dinking match and they are getting predictable.  Wait ’til the moment when they are leaning a little too far forward, or getting a little slow moving back to the ready position.  Then, using the exact same motion you would have used to hit a dink,  give the ball some extra loft, and have it go well over their heads into a beautiful lob, which they can’t get back for because they were too far committed to a dink.

But it is effective only if gets over the opponents and lands in the back of the court. Jordan's video shows a drill to practice the lob. The first thing to do is set up the target zone. Jordan puts a couple of paddles about 4' from the baseline but tape or any method of demarcation would work.

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.

Third Shot Footwork

Getting the fundamentals right...

The Jordan Briones Primetime video series continues from a different position - the baseline. Today's post uses his video Pickleball | Essential 3rd Shot Footwork to show how proper positioning will help to make your third shot drop more consistent. 

The fundamentals of any consistent shot, especially the third shot drop, consist of hitting the ball in the same place every time. I talked about this extensively in the December 16, 2017 post Positioning and the Natural Swing. I stated:

I believe that everyone has a natural swing. The swing that you took the first time you touched a paddle was likely your natural swing. You performed it without thought and used what felt comfortable. Ever since that day, your swing has been influenced by your mind as it adjusts your swing to fix mishits and misplays and to add others' technical advice...

The principle of a natural swing is simple. It is all about comfort zones - something I have talked a lot about in this blog, especially when targeting spots to take your opponents out of their comfort zone. The same theory can be reversed when thinking of yourself. Getting yourself into a position to take your natural swing is the ultimate comfort zone. That's a place you want to be.

Jordan talks about hitting the drop shot in your comfort zone, i.e., not reaching and not allowing the ball to get too close to your body. It is the area when you are balanced and most in control. In order to always contact the ball at the same point, it is imperative that you move your body to the proper position. This takes anticipating the ball's path and and getting your feet positioned early.

Volley Dink

Getting the fundamentals right...

The Jordan Briones Primetime video series continues with work at the non-volley zone line. Today's post uses his video Volley Dink Success | Pickleball to discuss why hitting a dink out of the air is important. Better yet, it discusses how to learn the skill and decision-making that enables the shot.

Jordan opens the video with a discussion of both court and body positioning at the NVZ line. These techniques were covered in the past 2 weeks in our Tuesday series. Therefore, I will not repeat them here.

The first new material discusses a topic we have talked about before - what are the advantages of volleying a dink rather than hitting it after it bounces.

More on Positioning at the NVZ Line

Getting the fundamentals right...

The next video in Jordan Briones Primetime video series follows up on the post from 2 weeks ago called Fundamental Positioning at the NVZ Line. That video discussed "depth", meaning distance from the NVZ line. This video literally changes direction to discuss positioning and footwork side-to-side at the Non-Volley Zone line. The video is titled Pickleball Footwork | Winning Footwork At The Net

Jordan's main point on positioning is that players should be in the middle of their half of the court, i.e., nearly equidistant from the center line and the sideline.

Dingles

Make practice fun...

Jordan Briones Primetime video series returns to its fun drilling with the video Pickleball Dingles Game | Dink Consistency with Simone Jardim. As the title suggests, Simone Jardim is the guest "instructor" who teaches the drill. 



There are 2 versions of Dingles. In the first version, 4 players are in their normal positions at the NVZ line. Using 2 balls, each crosscourt partner hits dinks within the NVZ and in the imaginary crosscourt half of the NVZ.

Fundamental Positioning at the NVZ Line

Getting the fundamentals right...

The Jordan Briones Primetime video series continues with fundamental advice. Today's post uses his video Pickleball | How To Dominate The Net to discuss positioning and footwork at the Non-Volley Zone line.

The discussion is focused on techniques after all players are established at the NVZ. There are 2 main concepts to remember. Each is discussed below.

1. Establish yourself right at the line. Not a foot back. Not even 6 inches away. Right at the line.