How To Become a Better Pickleball Player

Whether you have one area to improve or you’re looking to refine all of your skills, this list will teach you how to do it.

Doing pickleball drills may not be as exciting as having a match, but drills are an absolute must if you want to improve your game. The list of pickleball drills is never-ending. There are solo drills, drills you can do on or off a court, and drills to improve specific skills.

If you’re not sure what type of drills you should be doing, search your current skill level on YouTube to find drills specifically chosen to take players to the next level. Drills offer a great workout too!

Lobbing the ball is a commonly overused pickleball shot that’s easy for your opponent to anticipate. To win a pickleball match, you need to surprise your opponent. Reserve your lobs for the perfect winning shot. Lobbing too often will make it easy for your opponent to use it against you and win the match. 

Instead of just hitting the ball to a specific person, hit it with intention. This means choosing and focusing on a specific target when you hit the ball. 

While the ball won’t hit the target every time, it will get closer with enough practice. Some examples of a target for the ball are your opponent’s backhand or a third shot right down the middle of the court. 

If your pickleball game isn’t improving despite your best efforts, it could be as simple as correcting your grip. Holding the paddle incorrectly will make it almost impossible to make accurate or powerful shots.

If you’re unsure what type of grip is right for you, try perfecting the continental grip and then go from there. This grip is commonly called the handshake grip because it feels like you’re shaking hands with the pickleball paddle handle. 

If you bend your knees and get below the ball, your reaction time will improve tremendously. You’ll notice a big improvement, especially when dinking, which is difficult if you’re starting from a fully upright standing position. The time it takes you to bend to reach the ball may not seem like much, but every moment counts. 

The third shot drop is one of the most important shots in any pickleball match. The third shot is the serving team’s second shot and offers the perfect opportunity to move into the non-volley zone. Newer players tend to make third shots that are powerful rather than strategic. Instead of making the goal to hit the ball hard, make it your goal to move toward the net. 

The perfect third shot drop will arc over the net and land in the kitchen of the opposing team. Getting a high arc will give you the most time to transition toward the net.

A dink is a specific type of drop shot that every player should master. While the third shot can be a dink, it doesn’t have to be. Dinking is a soft, strategic game that requires patience. Keep dinking the ball until your opponent makes a mistake, and you have an opening to make the winning shot. 

The pickleball court during a tournament is the last place you want to be learning to communicate with your partner. Before you ever compete together, your communication needs to be solid. You should be able to communicate on the court with simple signals, looks, or a nod. Moving seamlessly with your partner is the key to being successful at a doubles match.  

Footwork is what separates a good pickleball player from a professional pickleball player. Spend some time working through footwork drills to become more agile on the court. The more efficiently you move, the better your gameplay will become. 

When you’re not moving across the court, you should always be in the ready position. Footwork can make or break a pickleball strategy too. You can have the best strategy in the world, but if your footwork isn’t good enough to execute it, it doesn’t matter. 

One of the most obvious but underrated pickleball tips is to play to your strengths. That means knowing what you’re good at and using that to your advantage. Similarly, you should know what you’re not so good at. 

Awareness of your weaknesses will make it easier to compensate for them before your opponent can identify the weakness and use it to get the upper hand. 

Some of the best pickleball pros in the world teach coaching clinics that travel to multiple locations. If you have the opportunity to attend a coaching clinic close to you, do it! The hands-on training from world-class coaches can transform your game more in a day than you’ve been able to improve it in months. 

Coaching clinics do come at a cost, but it’s a fraction of hiring a personal pickleball coach with the same skills. 

Pickleball clubs have popped up all around the country, from small towns to big cities. If you’re serious about becoming a better pickleball player, find a club in your area! Most charge a small fee to join the club, but the benefits are well worth the cost.

You’ll get access to a group of pickleball players in your area who are also working on their skills! You can make friends and network in the pickleball community while you’re spending more time on the pickleball court.

Pickleball clubs can also include access to exclusive coaching, the best pickleball courts in the area, tournament play, and a drilling partner to help perfect your pickleball technique. 

Knowing your pickleball skill rating is important for multiple reasons. If you want to join a club or register for a tournament, you’ll have to know the rating. The real reason we recommend tracking your rating is not for competition.

You’ll always know where your skills stand if you consistently track your rating. Knowing where you are is the only way to determine what you still need to work on to become a better player. The satisfaction of finally reaching a higher rating is absolutely priceless! 

Just because you can’t afford a professional pickleball couch doesn’t mean you can’t learn from players who are better than you. Find players with a higher skill level than yourself for some fierce competition that will teach you a lot quickly. 

The pickleball game might feel easy for your opponent, but it’s an excellent way to identify your weaknesses and observe how a higher skill-level player moves on the court. Everyone was a beginner once, so most higher skill-level players are happy to play with you and even share pickleball tips while you work to improve. 

Competing in a tournament for the first time can be scary. Are your pickleball skills good enough? Will you embarrass yourself on the court? What if you lose? Those are all common questions but should not deter you from competing!

Tournament play will bring out your competitive side more than rec games, revealing how you play under pressure. This will make it easy to see your pickleball strategy’s good and bad parts, so you know what to improve on.

Tournaments pair similar skill levels together, so you won’t be competing against a professional pickleball player if it’s your first tournament. Relax, have fun, and use every tournament as an opportunity to grow your skills. 

Watching professional players in action is one of the best and most entertaining ways to see how pickleball strategy affects the outcome of a game. You can watch live matches or search for some of the best matches of all time online for a rewatch that you can pause, rewind, and rewatch as much as needed.

Watching a video multiple times allows you to focus in on different areas each time. The first time, keep your focus on the serving team. The second time, watch the opposing team. See how the players move, what types of shots they make, and what moves help one team win the match. 

• Maintaining a good grip, low stance, and ready position will lead to fewer missed shots.
• A good pickleball strategy focused on skill and footwork rather than power will elevate you as a player.
• Connecting with other players, especially those that are better than you, will help you identify what you need to work on. 
• Don’t be afraid to play pickleball or practice drills alone! Not having a partner is not an excuse not to practice. If you want more companionship, check out a local pickleball club.