Dinking Strategy - Part 1

Several recent posts have addressed how to dink and how to defend the dink. But technique skills alone won't allow optimal play. Understanding how to use the dink through advanced strategies is just as important. As usual, the most comprehensive video that discusses strategies is by Joe Baker. This video is called Doubles Pickleball Strategy 201 - Dinking Strategy.

Beginning dinkers playing comparable opponents will have success using a dink that stays low and challenges players to hit a string of shots up and over the net. But as players advance, their goal should be to increase the stress on their opponents. One aspect of this is pushing the ball toward specific targets as described in Dink like the Pros. Another aspect is when to aim at these targets. That strategy, as well as how to defend against it, are the topics of this post.

USAPA Atlantic Regional Tournament

Not many NC mountain players venture to Maine for a pickleball tournament, but distance doesn't stop the intrepid Dee and Rick Ezrol as they made the trip. That effort alone deserves a post on their results.

Rick Ezrol of Crosswalk and Niles Newton in the Mens Doubles (50+)

- Defeated Jim LaBrosse and Matt Rowe 11-3, 11-3

- Lost to Glenn Jordan and Hans Gundersen 11-3, 11-0 

- Defeated Tim Milam and Neal Buiniskas 15-4 

- Defeated Jim LaBrosse and Matt Rowe 15-7 

- Defeated Guy Tetrault and Mario Laflamme 11-5, 15-13 

- Lost to Glenn Jordan and Hans Gundersen 11-3, 11-8

Dink like the Pros

We earlier discussed the beginner's basic dinking method in Basic Dink Technique. Then we learned about targeting the dink in The Dink Game. While the basic method and targeting is a great start, a more effective dink is "pushing" the ball toward the target low and with spin. Deb Harrison describes this technique in her video Dink Like the Pros.

Hendersonville Dinking Clinic

I will be holding a clinic for all pickleball players Wednesday, June 29 from noon until 2:00 pm. The clinic will be held at the Hendersonville Athletic/Activity Center at 708 South Grove Street, Hendersonville, NC. The facility has regular play scheduled at the same time on 2 courts. The clinic will be held on the third court. Players can rotate in and out play as they choose.

My plan is to focus on one topic - dinking. The dinking phase of a rally can easily represent well over 50% of the play. That statistic should reinforce the need for players to understand both how to dink and how to use the dink. The shot is so important that this will be my first clinic devoted to a single shot. As preparation for both me and attendees, there has been a series of posts over the past several days on dinking...and those will continue tomorrow. 

The clinic will be free. Please spread the word.

Offbeat Sunday: Who Sleeps in the Barn?

A badminton player, a squash player and a pickleball player decided to stay at a country inn, but when they arrived there, the innkeeper told them he only had 2 beds free, one of them would have to sleep in the barn.

“That’s OK”, said the badminton player, “I`ll sleep in the barn.” So off he went.

A few moments later there was a knock at the inn door. The innkeeper opened the door to see the badminton player who explained that he was unable to sleep in the barn as there was a pig in there, and he could not sleep with a pig.

“That’s OK,” said the squash player. “I’ll sleep there.”

So, off he went. A few moments later there was a knock at the inn door. The innkeeper opened the door to see the squash player there, who explained that he was unable to sleep in the barn as there was a cow in there, and he could not sleep with a cow.

“That’s OK,” said the pickleball player, “I`ll sleep there.” So, off he went. A few moments later there was a knock at the inn door. The innkeeper opened the door to see a cow and a pig standing there.

The Dink Game - Anything Goes

We introduced the dink game in the post Dinking Drills. Deb Harrison took the game to next level by identifying dinking targets in her video The Dink Game Pt 1. Now Deb takes the game to its natural conclusion - playing it out without limits - in the video The Dink Game Pt 2: Recognizing the High Ball.

The Dink Game

I have previously written about the dink game in the post Dinking Drills. A simple description of the dink game is that it is played just like a regular game except that all play occurs with players positioned at the non-volley zone line. All shots, including the serve, are dinks and scoring is identical to a regular game. Deb Harrison takes the game to the next level in her video The Dink Game Pt 1.

Triangulation in the Dinking Phase

Since dinking comprises such a large part of the game, it is essential that players understand where they should be positioned during the play. We talked about team movement while at the kitchen line in the post Moving as a Team Part 1 - At the Kitchen Line. In that post, I talked about forming a wall in order to cover the 2/3 of the court that opponents could most easily exploit. Deb Harrison talks about the same concept in her video Tipbit: Triangulation.

Basic Dink Technique

The dinking phase of a rally can easily represent well over 50% of the play. That statistic should reinforce the need for players to understand both how to dink and how to use the dink. The shot is so important that I will have a dinking clinic next week, my first clinic devoted to a single shot. As preparation for both me and attendees, there will be a series of posts over the next several days on dinking. Today, we will start with technique.

Since dinking is so important, we certainly have not ignored it until now. Previous posts about technique include It Should be Called Dinkball and Basic Dink -- Consistency. I recommend a review of those posts because very little will be repeated here. Instead, we will start with a Mark Renneson video called Pickleball Dink Technique.

Powerade State Games Results

The Powerade State Games were played on Friday-Saturday with several local players participating. The results are shown below. Photos are from the Pickleball in the Triangle Facebook page.

Bruce Birdsall and David Kelly, both of Crosswalk in the Mens Doubles (50+)

- Defeated Jim Hendren and Ricky Stephens 11-0, 11-4

- Lost to Sean Shull and Reuben Montoya 11-4, 11-4 

- Defeated Rick Allred and George Ball 15-5 

- Defeated Donn Hendrickson and Pat Ryan 15-3 

- Defeated Jim Hendren and Ricky Stephens 15-9 

- Defeated Glenn Wible and Les Massengale 11-13, 11-4, 11-8 

- Lost to Sean Shull and Reuben Montoya 11-3, 11-3

Bruce and David win the silver medal. Congratulations!

Lelia Patterson Pickleball Tournament

I recently received an email from a fellow player about a local tournament July 6-10. It is indoors. It is nearby. It is inexpensive. Sounds great and I've already sent my registration form. Yours is below along with the other documentation in the email.

Lelia Patterson Pickleball  Tournament

July 5, Open practice for registered teams. 5:30 PM to 9:30PM

July 6, Women’s doubles: doors open @5:00 PM

July 7, Men’ doubles: doors open @5:00 PM

July 10, Mixed Doubles: doors open@ 12:00 PM

July 6&7

Skill levels 3.5 and below will have pre- game instructions at 5:15 and start play at 5:30. Skill levels 4.0 and higher will have pre-game instructions at 7:15 and start as soon as courts are available after the first group finishes.

Offbeat Sunday: Mullet Mike talks about the Kitchen

Don't try this on your courts.  From Mullet Mike:

Sarah talks Serving

I have posted several times about the changing nature of the service game. Traditionally, the serve has been considered part of the "Formality Phase" of a game, i.e., the serve was intended to start the rally without any offensive intent. In Service Strategies, I posted:

At all levels of play, getting the serve in-bounds is critical to success. An in-bounds serve is not normally the shot that wins or loses a point. It is generally considered simply as the shot that starts the rally. Even the top players in the game rarely do anything special other than exhibit basic strategies that can help set up a winning rally.

In The Basic Overall Strategy of Doubles - Phase 1, I discussed a Joe Baker video in which he used the "formality phase" term and I posted the following:

Even at top levels of play, the serve is not used as a weapon (although that is changing as mentioned in A Different Third Shot Strategy). There are a couple of reasons for this. First, the serve is an underhanded motion that takes away most of the ability to hit it it hard. Second, there is only one serve allowed (as compared to a game like tennis which allows two serves).

Prem Carnot Webinar (Part 2)

Yesterday I started to present the slides from Prem Carnot's webinar 7 Steps to Playing Advanced Pickleball. The size of the presentation required splitting it into 2 parts. This is part 2.

Prem Carnot Webinar

A couple of weeks ago I posted about a webinar hosted by Prem Carnot and his wife, Wendy Garrido. I sat through the 90 minute presentation and later received a 94 page slide presentation that was the basis for the discussion. Because you likely weren't crazy enough to sit in front of your computer for 90 minutes, I will present the key parts of the presentation here.

The first 20 slides were generally establishing the bona fides of the couple as pickleball experts. Most readers will accept that as fact and I will not include those slides. The next 30+ slides were dedicated to the presentation of the 7 Steps to Playing Advanced Pickleball. These are the slides shown in this blog. The remainder of the presentation was an "infomercial" promoting their boot camp and are not included.

The size of the presentation requires splitting it into 2 posts. The relevant slides for the first post are presented below without comment. The strategies and tactics discussed are nothing new to readers of this blog. But it is worth a read because it links a lot of thoughts together into a structured format. Click on the image to make it larger.

Six Rules of the Fast Game - Part 3

Today's post will conclude discussion of Joe Baker's pickleball strategy video Pickleball Strategy 301 - Six Rules of the Fast Game. We will cover rules 5 and 6. In case you haven't already done so, it might be helpful to review our discussion on the fast play section of his earlier video in the post the Basic Overall Strategy of Doubles - Phase 4. Here is the video that is the subject of today's discussion of rules 5 and 6.

Six Rules of the Fast Game - Part 2

Today's post will continue yesterday's discussion of Joe Baker's pickleball strategy video Pickleball Strategy 301 - Six Rules of the Fast Game. We will cover rules 3 and 4 today and conclude with rules 5 and 6 tomorrow. In case you didn't do so yesterday, it might be helpful to review our discussion on the fast play section of his earlier video in the post the Basic Overall Strategy of Doubles - Phase 4. Here is the video that is the subject of today's discussion of rules 3 and 4.

Six Rules of the Fast Game - Part 1

I love Joe Baker's pickleball strategy videos, mostly because he goes into such depth and explains things so clearly. His most recent video - Pickleball Strategy 301 - Six Rules of the Fast Game - is no different. As usual with his videos, the depth requires spreading the summary over several posts so we will begin here with the first 2 rules he discusses. But prior to that, it might be helpful to review our discussion on the fast play section of his earlier video in the post the Basic Overall Strategy of Doubles - Phase 4.

That post was one of a series that described the 4 phases of a rally played by advanced players. The 4 phases are:

1. The formality phase, consisting of the serve, the return of serve, and the capture of the net by service return team.
2. The serving team's struggle to move to the net to gain parity with the service return team.
3. The soft game of dinking.
4. The fast game that starts with an errant high shot.

In advanced play, about 1/2 of all rallies progress to the fast game, Therefore, it is imperative that fast game strategies are developed and used. Joe has done that and presented 6 strategies to assist players in this video.

Offbeat Sunday: The Spin Master

Third Shot Pickleball Presents: The Spin Master (Trailer)

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.

Henderson County Senior Games 2016 Results

Henderson County has provided the results of its pickleball competition for its Senior Games. I have used the same format as used for the Transylvania results.

These results seem more traditional when compared to the Transylvania results. Henderson County reported the results as teams rather than individuals. That prevents the awarding of more than 2 medals in a doubles event. As stated in the Transylvania results post, it is irrelevant for determining eligibility for the state games. Once eligible, players can change partners in the state games. The specific rule says:

Premier Pickleball Post System

A recent post about Hilton Head pickleball included this photo of a net system.

This is a temporary net system that is not embedded in the court surface as permanent net posts are.

Palmetto Dunes (Hilton Head) Pickleball

Back in March, I posted an article from the Hilton Head Island newspaper about the growth of pickleball on the island and specifically about the changeover of Palmetto Dunes Tennis Center tennis courts to pickleball courts. I took my annual vacation to Hilton Head where I always stay in Palmetto Dunes. That gave me an opportunity to check out the facilities and their pickleball program.

A player is greeted with a large banner announcing that pickleball is played on-site.

Overhead Advice from the Experts

There are a couple of shots that have been little discussed here. One of those shots is the overhead smash. While mentioned in several posts, it has only been extensively discussed in one - The Overhead Smash. We will remedy that lack of discussion by reviewing 2 videos. The first is from Sarah Ansboury and is called Three Tips For Overhead Smashing.

Sarah's video is intended to provide the 3 most fundamental factors to attain good contact and make a good overhead smash. Before the overhead keys, it is important to start in the ready position (as discussed in The Ready Position at the Kitchen Line).

Pickleball Practice Ball Machine - Simon

I've started researching ball machines in hopes of someday getting the funding to buy one. There are 2 ball machines in the marketplace - Simon and Tutor. I have yet to reach any conclusions, but here are some videos using the Simon machine from the Pickleball Rocks folks.

SIMON The Pickleball Machine

The Perfect Pickleball Practice Partner

Offbeat Sunday: Cure For Pickleball Potty Mouth

Sunday is reserved for off-beat and fun posts related to pickleball. Today is no different as I shamelessly copy a post from the PickleballCentral.com blog.

Cure For Pickleball Potty Mouth

posted in Improve Your Game by Anna

We love Brian Ashworth.  He works at PickleballCentral and is also one of the world’s best pickleball players. At the recent International Indoor Pickleball Championships in Centralia, Washington, Brian became so engaged in competition that a few choice words escaped from this mouth and landed in the young ears of sisters McKenna and Kendall Hastings. This is a serious concern; not only could cursing corrupt young minds but it can also result in a technical foul.

IFP Official Tournament Rulebook, Rule 14.M.1.

A player using objectionable or demeaning language directed at another person shall incur a technical warning or a technical foul, depending upon its severity. Once a technical warning has been issued, the second offense will result in a technical foul. Excessive profanity used for any reason shall incur similar action. The referee will determine the severity of any violation.

Upcoming SE USA Pickleball Tournaments

Dates: Friday, July 22 - Sunday, July 24

Location: Greensboro, NC Sportsplex 

For more information, go to USA Masters Games.

Hendersonville Beginner Clinic

I will be holding a clinic for new pickleball players Wednesday, June 15 from noon until 2:00 pm. The clinic will be held at the Hendersonville Athletic/Activity Center at 708 South Grove Street, Hendersonville, NC. The facility has regular play scheduled at the same time on 2 courts. The clinic will be held on the third court. Players can rotate in and out play as they choose.

My plan is to focus on one topic - hitting the ball solidly, whether hitting a groundstroke, volley, serve, or any other shot. The ability to hit the ball serves as the basic foundation for playing the game.

The clinic will be free.

7 Steps to Playing Advanced Pickleball - a Webinar

Prem Carnot has a FREE webinar this Saturday, June 4 at 4 PM. Registration is prior to its start. The following is information from the registration site:

WITH THE PICKLEBALL GURU (& MY BRILLIANT WIFE)

a.k.a. Prem & Wendy

Maybe you're brand new to the sport, you're already addicted, and you're hell-bent on getting better fast...

OR

Maybe you've been playing for a while, but you're tired of working so hard for every point... You are DONE feeling like you're "not good enough" to play with the better players and you are READY to find out what THEY are doing that you're not...
Join me, Prem Carnot, the world's premier pickleball coach and my wife, Wendy Garrido, co-authors of the Amazon.com #1 Bestseller, Smart Pickleball: The Pickleball Guru's Guide for this powerful FREE webinar.

Over 10,000 players have already improved their game using the strategies outlined in my book and now YOU can take it another step further and get in on this cutting-edge instruction.

This webinar includes (and blasts way beyond) some of the main points covered in the book, so even if you already know the book by heart, you won't want to miss this jam-packed webinar.

Georgia Mountain Spring Pickleball Classic Results

A previous post listed the unofficial results from the subject tournament. The official results were released late last week and are shown below. 

The local participants in the tournament were:

Lucia Delchamps of Brevard and Charlie Britt in the 2.5/3.0 Mixed Doubles (Ages 50-59) 

Suzanne Pell of Crosswalk and Paul Aaron of Cummings Cove and Crosswalk in the 3.5 Mixed Doubles (Ages 60-69) 

Suzanne and Paul win the silver medal. Congratulations!