The Only Way To Attack in Pickleball

There are really only three ways to attack at  the kitchen line in pickleball. If you're not   using them correctly, you're just giving points  away. By the end of this video, you will be able   to be a better attacker. The first way to attack  in pickleball is a speed up off the bounce. When   we are in that dinking rally, there are going to  be times where the ball is bouncing, but it's just   sitting there dead. that is the case that we're  going to want to speed up the ball and not just   hit another dink back. If we do so, that's giving  up the opportunity to apply offense and pressure.   When we're hitting this off the bounce speed up,  a couple main things we want to think about is   getting our feet set early. Early feet and paddle  preparation. Our paddle will drop below the ball   and that paddle head will drop near the ground.  From this position, we're going to allow ourselves   to accelerate up the back of the ball, which will  allow us to get that top spin needed to keep the   ball in the court. A couple of errors that I see  when players are trying to hit speed ups off the   bounce is they're swinging forward too fast. In  other words, when you swing forward to the ball,   you're going to get pace, but you're not going to  get the ball to dip down in the court. We have to   make sure we start below the ball and finish at  that opposite shoulder. This is going to allow   us that top spin and get that consistency. Another  reason that I see players missing their speed ups   is they're not going for a good location. They  just get the ball, they see the ball, and they   hit it as hard as they can with no intent behind  it. We want to make sure that you realize that the   most important thing when it comes to attacking in  pickleball is location. Location is everything.   There are a few locations in pickleball that  I really like to go at when I'm attacking.   If you are being attacked yourself, chances are  you don't like to get attacked at the dominant   hip or shoulder or that chicken wing area. You  also maybe don't like to get attacked when you   extend for the backhand side. Where are players  ready positions? Usually right in front of them,   which means typically speaking, a ball's straight  at the player, they're going to punch it back at   you hard. We want to make sure that we're using  those good locations like the chicken wing or the   extended backhand. Now, with that extended  backhand position, every once in a while,   you're going to come across a player who has a  two-handed backhand counter. If you know they   have a two-handed backhand, we're probably going  to want to stay away from this position and go   more towards jamming them up again, maybe towards  that chicken wing dominant hip position. If you're   still struggling with your attacks, we have  created a free resource for you. Make sure you   visit attackmasterclass.com or scan the QR code  below. The next way to attack in pickle ball is   to reach in and take the ball out of the air. By  doing this, you're limiting the time your opponent   has to react and get set so you're catching them  off guard. When you reach in, we want to make sure   that we're still starting below the ball so we  can get that top spin needed. If there's a ball   up here, no reason to get that top spin and we  can just push the ball on the ground. When we   are reaching in and taking it out of the air, we  have to stay balanced with both feet established   and positioned at the kitchen line. If we are ever  in an awkward position with our feet staggered,   maybe one forward or one back, we're not going  to want to attack that ball since we're in an   awkward position to do so. There are two ways to  attack when you are leaning in and taking it out   of the air. The first way is the roll. When  you're hitting the roll, whether it's on the   forehand side or the backhand side, it is a slower  swinging shot. We're not accelerating very fast.   We're simply starting below the ball, getting a  flat paddle face so we can brush up the back of   it and jam them up typically at that chicken wing  area. On the forehand side, we lay our wrist back   to get that paddle position correctly. We start  below the ball just like the backhand side and   we finish. Some players like to finish on the  same side of their body. Other players like   to finish across their body at their opposite  shoulder. Either one is just fine. Simply make   sure we are starting below the ball. That is the  key. The second way to attack out of the air is a   flick. Very similar to the roll, but the flick we  are going to use a motorcycle wrist position. So,   we're going to get that wrist positioned back and  we are going to accelerate forward. I want you to   think about throwing a Frisbee. We are not going  to intentionally break the wrist when we swing,   but there will be some momentum that carries  our wrist forward. When we keep this paddle   face closed, that allows me to get the ball down  and that acceleration with the arm allows me to   get that pace that I need to catch them off guard.  You can also flick on the forehand side. However,   it's not going to be a frisbee motion. We're  simply getting our paddle face set either flat   paddle face or slightly closed. And we are going  to work on hitting the top edge of the ball. When   I get the top half of the ball, that allows me to  accelerate through, get a little bit of top spin,   and get the ball to dip down at the feet  and apply that pressure. The key to both   the roll and the flick and any attack that you're  hitting out of the air is balance. We have to make   sure our stance is nice and wide so we can stay  balanced throughout the shot. Because remember,   chances are even after the roll or the flick,  the ball is going to come back. If we are in   an unbalanced position and we're falling over,  we're not going to be ready for that next ball.   Golden rule of pickleball, every ball comes  back. The last way to attack in pickle ball   is actually to hit top spin dinks. Now, you may  be thinking, dinks are not forms of attacks. If   you have the right mindset, they absolutely are.  When we're thinking of moving our opponents around   and applying pressure, we can think of using our  dinks as attacks. So many players when they hit   their dinks, they're very dead and there's no  purpose to them. We want to make sure that no   matter what dink we are trying to hit, there is  a purpose behind it. If we have the opportunity,   we are going to use that top spin so we can move  our opponents around on the court and make them   feel uncomfortable. Now, speaking of dinking, if  you still struggle with your dinks, make sure you   check out the video above because I made a video  all about how to dink, the most common errors,   and how to fix them. If I'm hitting with good top  spin, that's really going to allow my opponent to   feel pressured, and to feel uncomfortable. One  main thing when we're hitting top spin dinks,   whether you're taking it out of the air or off  the bounce, we have to make sure that your own   shot gets to bounce on the other side. Why is  that so important to get it to bounce? Well,   the main reason is if they can take it out of  the air, they've just neutralized the point   and chances are they can maybe do something at  me. So, I have to make sure that ball bounces,   then it's going to kick because of that top  spin and really push them off the court and   make them feel uncomfortable. The last thing I  want to mention about top spin dinks as attacks   is location. Two of my favorite places to go  are middle of the court and crosscourt. Now,   make sure that we are mixing them up very  frequently. I usually like to say never go to   the same dinking spot more than twice in a row.  Once we get to three, four, and five times in a   row, it becomes a rhythm and a habit that our  opponents will now feel comfortable and they'll   know exactly where you're going. So, keep mixing  up the targets. Move the middle to pull them   out wide. Make sure we're always looking for  that next ball so we can set up our attacks.