Heyo!
I love pickleball because it has the largest overlap of accessibility and enjoyability of any sport. But like anything, it still takes some learning.
Here are two simple tips to help beginners go from doubtful to dinktacular:
Stand behind a line
A lot of learning a new sport is just learning where to stand. Whenever I play basketball, I feel like Ricky Bobby with my whole body.
There are only two lines you can stand behind on a pickleball court: the kitchen line and the baseline. You should choose to stand right behind one of them.
One of the biggest mistakes pickle n00bs make is standing in the middle of their quad. We call that no man’s land, and it’s full of feet-seeking wiffle balls.
If you stay behind the kitchen line, you’ll be able to hit a lot of balls out of the air and reach dinks. If you stand behind the baseline, you’ll be able to hit tennis-like shots and rush up to the kitchen if needed. But if you camp out in no man’s land, you’re going to find a lot of shots biting your ankles like minnows in the ocean.
A bonus tip: The game gets easier when you mirror your teammate. You should both choose to stand behind the same line. It’s tough to pickle well when one of you stays behind the baseline while one of you is behind the kitchen line. Dink together or sink together.
Let it bounce
You have to make quick decisions while playing pickleball. Many players get freaked out by the speed and hectically swing at anything that flies their way.
A way to slow the game down is to let the ball bounce rather than hit it out of the air.
New players (and still myself) are prone to hit a lot of balls out of the air that would go out of bounds if we just kept our paddles to ourselves. But since a ball is whizzing past our bodies, our brain screams, “hit it!” and we make a mistake.
If you let the ball bounce before you swing, you’ll have more time to think about how and where to hit the ball. You’ll slow the game down.
Obviously, there are plenty of times when it’s best to hit the ball out of the air, but a good rule of thumb is this: when in doubt, let it bounce.
Beyond slowing the game down, it’s just hard to hit a pickleball out of the air — especially when you’re first learning the game. The ball often ends up in the net like another victim of Deadliest Catch.
But you’re no shrimp; you’re a kraken of the kitchen with two more tools in your tentacle toolbox.
✌️
— Luke