At times in pickleball you will need to be offensive with your shots. This may require you to hit the pickleball below the net. While it may seem like a gamble there are 3 shot types that allow you to apply pressure and minimalize the risk.
Top Spin Volley – One way to create offense below the pickleball net is to use top spin. Top spin – which is spin that travels from 6 o’clock to 12 o’clock toward your opponents – will help the ball get up and over the pickleball net and then bite down toward the court surface. In other words, it is spin that helps keep the pickleball low and in the court.
High Speed-Up – There is one situation where you can be offensive without worrying about controlling your pace on your shot. This would be a high-power, high-pace shot that is right at your opponents—typically in the shoulder area (particularly, the “Chicken Wing,” which is the paddle-side shoulder area)—where either (i) your opponents will not be able to move out of the way, or (ii) you will be able to induce them to pop-up the pickleball. This 100% power can be a good strategy, but it is an all-or-nothing shot.
Offensive Lob – Lastly, an offensive lob—particularly, on a dink volley out of the air in order to surprise your opponents and cut down on their reaction time—is another offensive shot that you can execute on a ball that sits below the top of the net.
Leave a Reply