After new players are introduced to the game, the first skill they often work on is dinking. This is because dinking is an essential shot to hone to extend rallies and dictate points.
While drilling any skill can yield small improvements in a pickleball game, a more focused, deliberate approach can pay dividends.
Set goals for your drilling session
Before starting any drill, it's important to set clear and precise goals, which can range from bigger objectives like improving footwork or enhancing consistency, to smaller markets like adopting an aggressive stance.
By deliberately choosing an objective for each drilling session, players have a clear focus for their practice.
Select a goal that best suits your needs, whether that’s keeping the rally going for as long as possible or deliberately choosing where you're going to place the ball in between each hit.
The warm-up
After setting goals, it's time to start a warm-up. Do some gentle dinking across the net and cross-court.
The goal here is not to be perfect, but to start preparing your mind for the main drill session. Think about the goal you have chosen.
The best dinking pickleball drill
Once you are warm, it's time to start drilling. The best pickleball drill is to do a mini game with your drilling partner.
You can stand cross-court or straight in front of each other. Play a game with rally scoring to 11, with the goal of winning.
Drilling in this way allows you and your partner to practice live game scenarios. It puts you each under pressure and simulates real points, where your opponent won't be taking it easy on you.
One crucial part of this drill is the opportunity to reflect after each rally. If you realize you made a mistake, take a moment to reflect on what went wrong and what you can do differently before moving on to the next point.
What to look for when drilling
There are endless things players can do to improve their dinking technique, but look out for these common improvement areas:
- Stance: Are you positioned as close to the kitchen line as possible? You should be positioned with your hips to the net, arms out in front, and slightly squatted.
- Footwork: Are you running around the ball to hit a forehand dink? What about lunging or reaching for a ball? Try moving your feet a little more to be in a better spot to receive your shot.
- Be aggressive: Are you letting each ball bounce, or are you looking for opportunities to attack? If the ball is within a comfortable zone, look for opportunities to take it out of the air. Create a difficult shot for your opponent to return.
- Keep the ball low: Are you popping up your dinks? Try hitting the ball with less follow-through, pushing from your shoulder and not your wrist.
