Deep, Deep, Deep

Depth creates pressure...

We all learned that the deeper the water, the greater the pressure. This is simply because more depth means more weight from above. It may be a poor analogy but the same is true of deep returns in pickleball - the deeper your returns, the more pressure on your opponent. Mark Renneson discusses the importance of deep returnes in his recent video Pickleball: Awesome Returning. 

Mark's focus is on the return of serve, likely because both opponents will be at the baseline at the time of the return. The importance of depth comes down to 2 factors:

1. A deeper return gives you more time to prepare for your next shot. More time equates to a better shot.
2. In contrast, a short return increases the likelihood that your opponents will drive their return as they move forward. This gives you less time to prepare for your shot.

A post from last week - The Jerry Drill - discusses a great drill to practice hitting deep returns.