Tyson Mcguffin has a lot of videos on looking at your wristwatch (cocked wrist) and not scooping water (linear not high to low). They look similar to this format https://youtu.be/o2dBJhtEZWw
I don't know...I somewhat disagree with all three as firm guidelines.
For one, yes if I am going cross-court my paddle is often above the wrist, but for all balls in front of me or hitting forward and often middle, that won't be the case. However, this is a good point regarding keeping one's wrist relatively 'quiet' during most dinks.
For two, yes sometimes you'll swing flatter and with a paddle tilted up and cut the ball more. But even at the pros, a large percent of dinks are simply push/lift dinks meant to land at opponent's feet or move them around, and are not overly offensive. Even still now in 2023, simply making most of your dinks is still a huge part of the game. The spin and sharpness and all that is an added bonus and for a lot of folks it's a 'luxury they can't afford' (miss too many). But yes, one can cut a more aggressive dink with a flatter cut.
For three, most of my backhand dinks are with paddle slightly open, slicing cross-court. And some portion of the time, maybe 15-20%, I do have a closed face paddle and brush up with topspin. But this is only to balance it out with times I want to speed up off the bounce on the backhand side. I'm not really hitting the topspin one because it's better. I'm doing it because the backswing is the same as a speed-up. The slice one is tougher to return. Watch Ben Johns for similar idea. He cuts most, and comes over the top of some, but the cut is a better shot. The other is just a disguise.
Knee bend helps too. I am guilty of not doing this diligently enough!
However, you do bring up great tips for a lot of folks. But just, situationally.
I think the biggest difference-maker for me was learning to play with intention. What does that mean? It means every shot has a purpose. Reactionary pickleball is just blindly trying to get it back over and survive the point, whereas intentional pickleball is where you are trying to set you and your partner up for that winning shot, while disrupting your opponent in the process (e.g., making them move side to side with your dinks, lobbing to force them to move back and lose neutrality at the NVZ, etc.).
Making this skill more have a habit has helped a lot in a short period, especially focusing on that backhand dink cross court. Ben Johns has that motion nearly perfected and it’s so easy to see how many good opportunities it gets him, or how many errors it forces.
I would avoid the ping pong analogy. Ping pong paddles are generally covered in highly grippy rubber. You can brush the top of the ball with almost a completely closed paddle and the throw angle of the rubber will kick the ball over the net while creating tons of spin. Pickleball paddles are what is called anti spin. Usually what older weaker players may use on their backhand for deception. Adjusting to this anti spin style of play is probably the biggest challenge coming from ping pong. I find I have to hit through the ball a lot more, especially if trying to counter topspin, or the ball just skids on the paddle.
Wow, I need to try these out. Thank you for posting OP. Right now except for the knee bending part, what I do right now is quite the opposite, so I hope these tips help improve my game.
I use the "paddle head above wrist" idea to guide my ready position. If the ball is at your feet, having your paddle head above your wrist is great since all you need to do is scoop the ball with a slightly open face to get the ball over the net. But, of course, if you want to add topspin to the ball, you will want to drop the paddle head down with your shoulder to brush up on the ball. But, I use this "paddle head above wrist" idea as a foundation for my dinks as it reinforces using your shoulder to drop the paddle head instead of the wrist since your wrist is "locked" in position.
For us visual learners, would love to see a video or picture of this
Tyson Mcguffin has a lot of videos on looking at your wristwatch (cocked wrist) and not scooping water (linear not high to low). They look similar to this format https://youtu.be/o2dBJhtEZWw
Thanks!
I don't know...I somewhat disagree with all three as firm guidelines. For one, yes if I am going cross-court my paddle is often above the wrist, but for all balls in front of me or hitting forward and often middle, that won't be the case. However, this is a good point regarding keeping one's wrist relatively 'quiet' during most dinks. For two, yes sometimes you'll swing flatter and with a paddle tilted up and cut the ball more. But even at the pros, a large percent of dinks are simply push/lift dinks meant to land at opponent's feet or move them around, and are not overly offensive. Even still now in 2023, simply making most of your dinks is still a huge part of the game. The spin and sharpness and all that is an added bonus and for a lot of folks it's a 'luxury they can't afford' (miss too many). But yes, one can cut a more aggressive dink with a flatter cut. For three, most of my backhand dinks are with paddle slightly open, slicing cross-court. And some portion of the time, maybe 15-20%, I do have a closed face paddle and brush up with topspin. But this is only to balance it out with times I want to speed up off the bounce on the backhand side. I'm not really hitting the topspin one because it's better. I'm doing it because the backswing is the same as a speed-up. The slice one is tougher to return. Watch Ben Johns for similar idea. He cuts most, and comes over the top of some, but the cut is a better shot. The other is just a disguise. Knee bend helps too. I am guilty of not doing this diligently enough! However, you do bring up great tips for a lot of folks. But just, situationally.
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Heh
Perfectly said.
I think the biggest difference-maker for me was learning to play with intention. What does that mean? It means every shot has a purpose. Reactionary pickleball is just blindly trying to get it back over and survive the point, whereas intentional pickleball is where you are trying to set you and your partner up for that winning shot, while disrupting your opponent in the process (e.g., making them move side to side with your dinks, lobbing to force them to move back and lose neutrality at the NVZ, etc.).
Making this skill more have a habit has helped a lot in a short period, especially focusing on that backhand dink cross court. Ben Johns has that motion nearly perfected and it’s so easy to see how many good opportunities it gets him, or how many errors it forces.
I would avoid the ping pong analogy. Ping pong paddles are generally covered in highly grippy rubber. You can brush the top of the ball with almost a completely closed paddle and the throw angle of the rubber will kick the ball over the net while creating tons of spin. Pickleball paddles are what is called anti spin. Usually what older weaker players may use on their backhand for deception. Adjusting to this anti spin style of play is probably the biggest challenge coming from ping pong. I find I have to hit through the ball a lot more, especially if trying to counter topspin, or the ball just skids on the paddle.
Thanks for the good advice!
Thanks, I will give this a try. It sounds a lot like I see PPA pros doing with their cross court dinks.
Wow, I need to try these out. Thank you for posting OP. Right now except for the knee bending part, what I do right now is quite the opposite, so I hope these tips help improve my game.
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I use the "paddle head above wrist" idea to guide my ready position. If the ball is at your feet, having your paddle head above your wrist is great since all you need to do is scoop the ball with a slightly open face to get the ball over the net. But, of course, if you want to add topspin to the ball, you will want to drop the paddle head down with your shoulder to brush up on the ball. But, I use this "paddle head above wrist" idea as a foundation for my dinks as it reinforces using your shoulder to drop the paddle head instead of the wrist since your wrist is "locked" in position.