An Underutilized Drill Every Pickleball Player Should Be Doing

Here's an underutilized drill that every pickleball player should be doing to improve consistency in getting to the kitchen line.

This drill focuses on the first four shots of a rally: the serve, return, 3rd shot, and 4th shot. These are the shots that set up the entire point, so if you can execute them consistently, you're going to put yourself in a much better position during the match.

The Drill

The drill is simple: Serve, return, hit a 3rd shot, hit a 4th shot… and stop.

What makes this drill so effective is that you can tailor it to whatever you're specifically working on. Maybe you're practicing driving your 3rd shot to the open court. Maybe you're working on a short angle roll on your 4th shot. This drill gives you repetitions in real point situations within the first four shots.

A Few Great Variations

#1: Play straight up cross court patterns. Serve cross court, return cross court, and continue the 3rd and 4th shots cross court. Make sure you practice this from both the right and left side.

#2: The server slides over after serving. The serve goes cross court, the server moves to the opposite side, and now the return must go down the line. The returner follows it in, and the 3rd shot is also hit down the line.

#3: The returner switches sides after the return. The return is hit cross court, the returner then follows their shot switching sides up to the kitchen line, and now the 3rd shot gets executed down the line.

#4: Both players switch sides after the serve and return. The serve goes cross court, the return is hit down the line, then the 3rd shot goes back cross court. This mimics stacking situations you commonly see in mixed doubles.

Why It Works

This drill may be simple, but it's incredibly effective for building patterns, improving ball placement, and developing a game plan for the start of each rally. Before the point begins, I already have a clear idea of where I want to place my first two shots, whether I'm the server or the returner. That's the result of practicing this drill consistently.

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