The Art of Misdirection
A misdirection shot can be one of the most useful shots when you are playing Pickleball at a high level. The reason this is, is because players shots and defense can be so good that it is near impossible to get a ball through them which many people try to do. Many people try to hit harder and harder and the opponents simply block and block those balls back.
Well, in these situations, normally hitting harder doesn’t solve the case. What you need to focus on doing is either a misdirect shot or an off-pace shot.
The three tips I have for you to have success with your misdirects would be
Eyes - Make sure you are looking with your eyes where you want your opponent to think that you will be hitting the ball. This is extremely difficult as it means you won’t be watching the ball as it hits your paddle, however, this is the most important step in hitting a successful misdirect.
Breaking your wrist or delaying your shot ever so slightly - Similar to step one, you want to make your opponents think that you are hitting the ball in a specific direction but at the last possible second, you want to “break your wrist” or delay hitting the ball and that will create a misdirected shot.
Practice - I say this almost with everything that I teach, however, in order to feel confident or master your craft, you need to put these types of shots into practice. The same applies with perfecting the misdirect. It is vital that you practice this because by doing this shot, you will be doing something that you are not familiar with…not looking while hitting the ball. For most people who don’t practice this, this could be impossible to execute, however, by practicing this, you will find that you feel more comfortable hitting this shot.