The Secret to Winning Net Points
You’re in the middle of playing one of the best points you have ever played in your life. You think to yourself, wow, there must be 20+ volleys in this point that both teams have hit without missing!
As you start to play more pickleball, you will come across points and exchanges that resemble the thoughts above. While, the scenario from above provides for a very entertaining and intense point, many of these situations, don’t have to be like this. Let me explain.
More often than not, the reason we see crazy long points that consist of attacks, defense, digs, dinks, overheads and everything else in between that you can imagine, is because of 1 of 2 reasons, the 1st reason being you are playing at such a high level that you and your opponents are so good that you can get every attack, get every drop shot, get every ball back in play, or 2) the balls and attacks that you are hitting are simply not as efficient as they could be.
I will go out on a limb and say that the vast majority of players struggle with option 2 - the balls and attacks they are hitting are simply not as efficient and effective as could be. As I analyze matches of players of all levels, I watch many of these types of scenarios mentioned above and I almost always identify instances where one of the players could have…
been closer to the non volley zone line to put the ball away easier
hit to the weaker player instead of the stronger player
hit to a better location
chose a different type of shot to hit
All too often, we get in the mindset of hitting the ball with a ton of power right back to the opponents strike zone (body area), instead, you should think to yourself where can I place this ball that will make it difficult for the opponents to return to. Almost always, that location will be down at their feet or away from them.
The benefits of hitting balls down at the opponents feet are two fold, 1 - there is the possibility of hitting a winner, 2 - if the opponents do end up getting that ball back, more likely than not, the ball they will hit back to you will be a pop up ball which will allow for you to truly put the ball away.
These tips sounds simple and common sense, however, as I have analyzed many matches, it appears it is not that simple, or that it may be harder to implement when it actually comes down to it. As tough as it might be, when you find yourself in these quick hand exchanges, try to remember these few tips that I have talked about and see how many more points you can get!