Recycle Sunday - Transitioning from Tennis to Pickleball

A blast from the past...

This week's Recycle Sunday article was originally published January 28, 2016.

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As discussed in Pickleball vs Tennis - And the Winner is..., more and more tennis players are also playing pickleball.  Some do it just to see what pickleball is all about. Others make it a permanent transition as their aging bodies are better suited to the smaller court.  These players have an edge over non-tennis novices due to their court experience, but there are 5 big differences to which they must adjust.

1. The stroke

A tennis stroke is much longer than a pickleball stroke.  The pickleball court, at 1/3 the size of a tennis court, is a much quicker game that does not demand the power needed to hit a ball the longer distance.  The tennis stroke starts with a long backstroke and a long follow-through as shown below.

By comparison, both the backstroke and the follow-through are shorter in pickleball.

The forehand is pictured but the backhand stroke requires the same adjustment. Tennis players using a two-handed backhand will require an even bigger adjustment. A two-handed backhand can be used in pickleball but the significantly shorter racquet/paddle restricts the ability to reach balls even a short distance from the body.

2. Footwork

Much footwork is common between tennis and pickleball. Movement from the back to front using the Split Step, as well as movement toward the back (such as chasing a lob) is identical. The difference in footwork is in the side to side movement. This is again due to the size of the court requiring a quick return to the Ready Position. The foundation of side-to-side tennis movement is a crossover step where one foot crosses in front of the other to move either right or left. The foundation of side-to-side pickleball movement is to slide without one foot crossing the other. The comparison is shown below where the player is moving to his right.

There will be shots where a crossover step is necessary to reach a very wide ball. But a crossover step should not be the primary movement in pickleball.

3. The serve

The tennis serve is a weapon used to win points outright or to gain advantage in the ensuing play. The overhead motion allows for power and a downward path over the net. The server can immediately charge to the net before the returner in order to control the rally. None of these are true in pickleball. A pickleball serve must be hit from low to high so a power serve risks hitting either the net or outside the court. The server must allow the return to bounce before it can be hit. Therefore, he cannot charge the net. Control of the pickleball rally lies with the returning team, which is the opposite of tennis.

4. Patience

Tennis rallies are generally over quickly after only a few shots. Pickleball rallies can last dozens of shots. In pickleball, the slower speed and lower bounce of the ball allows shots of all kinds, including overhead smashes, to be returned with regularity. Tennis players must adjust to the continuous play and to not make the assumption that a well-placed and hard shot will be a winner.

5. The soft game

Modern tennis is a power game, with players blasting powerful shot after powerful shot at or past opponents. The same kind of power cannot be generated with the short paddle and a wiffleball used in pickleball. As a result, winning strategies must adjust from power to finesse that allows a single powerful stroke to win the rally. A soft shot - the third shot drop - is needed to overcome the returners position advantage and allow the server to get to the kitchen. Then, the Dink becomes the key play. While tennis has a drop shot, it has nothing like the continuous dinking game that dominates a rally. 

Pickleball is growing fast and we welcome all tennis players to the game of their future. Just be ready for the differences.