12 Pickleball Tips for Beginners
Getting stuck on the beginner pickleball courts is never fun, but it’s a normal part of the learning process and everyone goes through it. It can get a little frustrating if you feel stuck on the beginner court because of your skill level, so It’s no surprise that beginners want to move up to the next level as quickly as possible. If you are new to the game, there are a few things you should know to help you get started. In this article, we will share 12 pickleball tips for beginners to help you improve your game and enjoy the sport to the fullest. Make sure to read until the end so you don’t miss out on a few tips you wouldn’t expect!
Table of Contents
- Staying On Balance When You Serve
- Return Serves to the Middle
- Practice Your Backhand
- Position Yourself Correctly
- Practice Your Footwork
- Learn to Dink
- Keep Your Eye On The Ball
- Play to Your Strengths
- Communicate with Your Partner
- Watch Your Opponents
- Keep Track of The Score
- Get to The Net
Staying on Balance When You Serve
Staying on balance when you serve is one of the most underappreciated parts of the serve. Proper balance during your pickleball serve helps to reduce errors and increase your consistency. Whether you serve with an open stance, a closed stance, or with a step, staying on balance is the foundation of a great serve.
Most beginners serve with a closed stance and a step instead of with an open or closed stance. Open and closed stance serves are typical for more advanced and professional players. Many beginners unknowingly are stepping with the wrong foot when they serve!
As an example, if you’re a right-handed player and you take a step forward with your right foot as you’re serving, you can become off balance. Instead, you should be stepping forward with the opposite foot. In this case, a right-handed player should be taking a step forward with the left foot during the serve.
For some players, taking a step at all can over-complicate the serving motion. If this is happening to you, you should remove the step and try serving with more of a closed stance. If you notice that you aren’t stepping with the opposite foot, give it a try and see how it feels. It might feel weird at first since you’re already used to serving a certain way, but after a few games, it will start to feel more natural and balanced.
Return Serves To the Middle
Returning the serve is one of the most important shots in pickleball, just like in tennis. It’s important that you feel comfortable and confident hitting this shot because you’re going to hit them a lot! While it’s always a good idea to hit a return to the weaker player, that is easier said than done.
Returning the serve to the middle of the court is a good idea for a few reasons. The first reason is that you’re less likely to hit the ball out if you are aiming at the middle. If you’re returning down the line or trying to return with a sharp angle cross-court, you may end up not giving yourself enough room for error and hitting the ball out. Returning to the middle gives you plenty of room for error and is an easier shot to hit.
The second reason to return to the middle is that it can prevent your opponent from hitting a sharp angle on their 3rd shot. If you return a shot down the line or a sharp angle cross-court, your opponent can attack the ball cross-court and create an angle of their own. Returning down the middle increases the probability of the 3rd shot being either a drop or a shot directly back to you or your partner.
The third reason to return to the middle is that it forces your opponents to decide who will be hitting the next shot. Communication is key in doubles, and not every team is good at communication. Forcing your opponents to make a decision is one more thing they need to do before they decide where to hit their 3rd shot. This might not be the best strategy for a strong doubles team who has great communication and knows who is hitting the 3rd shot, but it’s better than hitting the ball out or making it easier for your opponent to hit an aggressive 3rd shot.
This strategy might not be a great tactic for more advanced players or when playing against a good team. But for beginners and intermediate players, it’s more important that you keep the ball in the court and make it less likely that your opponent will attack their next shot. We purposely did not mention returning the ball deep and to the middle. It is always preferable to return the ball deep, but we left this out because beginners should focus on one thing at a time. Asking a beginner to return to a specific direction and hit it close to the line will cause unnecessary frustration. As you improve, you can practice returning both deep and to the middle.
Practice Your Backhand
Another great tip for beginners is to practice your backhand. Most players will have a weaker backhand than forehand, so don’t be surprised when better players try to hit more balls to your backhand. Just like in tennis, improving your pickleball backhand will give you a leg up against the competition. You don’t want your opponents to realize you have an obvious weakness that they can pick on.
You’re going to want to practice hitting third shot drops and resets on the backhand side. If you can’t attack from the backhand side, your next best shot is to drop the ball into the kitchen. It’s important that you feel confident dropping the ball into the kitchen from anywhere on the court. This will allow you to get back into the point and make your way to the net.
Dinking from the backhand side is also a shot you’re going to want to practice. Just like on a ground stroke, if your opponent realizes you’re not comfortable dinking from the backhand side they will start to dink every shot to your backhand. You’re more likely to pop the ball up on the backhand side if that is your weaker shot. Grab a partner and practice hitting dinks back and forth with just your backhand. Make it a goal to make 10 in a row with no mistakes.
If you’re feeling adventurous, you can always start to learn a two-handed backhand. This is more of an advanced shot in pickleball that is becoming more popular with the pros. The two-hander allows you to drive the ball and hit much more aggressively than with one hand. Tennis players that already have a two-handed backhand will pick this up much faster, but anybody can learn it with enough practice. Your current pickleball paddle handle might not be long enough to fit both hands, so keep that in mind if this is something you want to try.
Position Yourself Correctly
Another important tip for beginners is to position yourself correctly on the court. This means standing in the right place at the right time and anticipating where your opponent will hit the ball. Always be in the ready position with your paddle up, ready to explode in any direction.
One easy way to practice your position on the court is to pretend you are tethered to your partner. As a general rule of thumb, you don’t want too much space between you and your partner. If your partner runs outside the line to cover a cross-court shot, you shouldn’t be moving in the opposite direction.
If you’re in a net battle dinking back and forth and your partner is hitting most of the dinks, it is important to slide with them if they are pulled off of the court. The reason for this is that you want to prevent your opponent from attacking the ball down the middle. If you don’t slide will your partner and pretend you are tethered together, you’ll leave the middle of the court open for your opponent to attack.
Moving with your opponent also increases the probability of getting an easier shot from your opponent. Like the example above, if you slide with your partner as they’re being pulled off of the court, you’re already in the right position to hit a shot coming to the middle of the court. You’re also giving your opponent an opening to hit a cross-court dink to you, but that is a much harder shot to hit and will end up being defensive. Always position yourself in the place your opponent is most likely to hit.
The last way to position yourself accordingly is to practice pickleball stacking. Stacking is a specific doubles strategy where you and your partner line up on the same side of the court before the serve or return. Doing this allows you to switch sides quickly so that you or your partner are on your stronger side for the rest of the point.
Practice Your Footwork
Just like every other sport, footwork is a crucial part of becoming a great pickleball player. It’s important to practice your footwork regularly. Good footwork will help you get to the ball faster and improve your chances of hitting a great shot.
One of the most transferable footwork techniques from tennis to pickleball is the split step. A split step is done when you land with both feet on the ground at least shoulder width apart in preparation for the next shot to come over the net. This is most commonly done when returning the serve and on your way to the net. But it’s good practice to do this before every shot.
When returning the serve, a split step helps you stay on balance, get low for the return, and explode in either direction. Pickleball serves are much slower than in tennis, but the distance between you and your opponent is much closer. This means having good reaction time is just as important as returning the serve in tennis. You should focus on performing the split step just as your opponent is making contact with the ball. If you split step too late, you may find yourself having trouble getting to the ball and hitting a solid return.
The next place you should practice your split step is when you’re approaching the net. A good example of this would be after a 3rd shot drive or after you’ve returned the serve. On your way to the net, you should split step before your opponent hits their next shot back to you. This will help you explode in either direction if your opponent tries to pass you or to slow down if they hit a dink. Doing a split step here puts you in a great position to hit whatever shot comes back to you.
Outside of returning serve and approaching the net, it’s still a good idea to make sure you are doing a split step before hitting the ball from anywhere on the court. There will be times when it might not make sense or you just don’t have the time to do it, but it’s a good habit to get into.
Learn to Dink
Dinking and the kitchen is what makes pickleball different from all the other racquet and paddle sports. At any point in time and from anywhere on the court, you have a chance to slow down the point and prevent your opponent from attacking. Dinking is a shot used in pickleball where you hit the ball softly over the net so that it lands somewhere in the kitchen. This is a great way to control the pace of the game and set you up for a put-away shot.
When you’re first learning to dink, you should practice with a partner dinking back and forth. A good dink would bounce more than once inside the kitchen if your opponent or partner didn’t hit the ball back to you. You can move on to other drills such as dinking only cross-court or alternating from forehand to backhand. You’ll probably notice that one side will be easier than the other.
It’s also a good idea to practice dinks with a continental grip, or what’s also called the shake hands grip. This will be easier for beginners and help give you more control. It will also be easier to switch from hitting a forehand to a backhand since you won’t need to switch grips.
With that being said, many pros hit their dinks with a forehand grip for both the forehand and backhand side. You can always try that as you improve and get more comfortable in the non-volley zone. Some beginners struggle with this because they’re more likely to pop the ball up, but it feels more comfortable since that is the same grip they hit the forehand with.
Once you’re comfortable hitting dinks, you can learn how to hit 3rd shot drops. This is a shot where you hit a defensive shot that lands in the non-volley zone after you or your partner have served. You will typically be near the baseline when you hit this shot.
Keep Your Eye On The Ball
As obvious as this may sound, keeping your eye on the ball while hitting as a great way to improve your shots. For many beginners, realizing that you need to try your best to watch the ball make contact with your paddle is a light bulb moment. Unless you have a coach breathing down your neck telling you to watch the ball for every single shot, you’re likely picking your head up too soon.
When you pick your head up too soon and don’t watch the ball, you’re less likely to make solid contact with the ball. This can result in more balls going out, hitting with less spin, and being off balance. Keeping your eye on the ball helps to keep your head down. Your chin will feel tucked towards your shoulder. You want to make sure you’re doing this on both the forehand and the backhand side.
A great way to practice this is to tell yourself to watch the ball as its coming over the net to you. If you don’t have a coach telling you to do this, you’re going to have to do it yourself! It might sound a little ridiculous, but it will help you focus on watching the ball for every stroke.
Play to Your Strengths
Playing to your strengths is a great strategy to help you win more games. Every pickleball player has certain strengths and weaknesses. Some players have a better forehand than backhand, and others are better at dinks than hitting groundstrokes. It’s important to understand which shots are your strengths and figure out a way to hit those shots more often.
If you have a better forehand than backhand, you might want to position yourself on the return so the ball is more likely to go to your forehand. Not only will this give you an easier shot to return, you’re also forcing your opponent to hit a more difficult serve if they want to hit it to your backhand. They’ll likely try to hit the ball to close to the line and may end up hitting a few serves out. You will expose yourself to being burned with a fast serve out wide or down the middle, but it’s worth the trade off.
If dinks and volleys are your strength, do what you can to get to the net quickly. If you’re returning serve, you should be making your way to the net immediately following the return. Don’t give your opponent a chance to hit another ball that keeps you away from the net. If you’re on serve, make sure you’re charging the net right after the third shot.
Communicate with Your Partner
If you are playing doubles, it’s important to communicate with your partner and have a game plan. Most beginners and club players don’t communicate well or have a plan when they step on the court. Each teammate plays their best and tries to cover for one another, but other than that there isn’t much strategy going on. Communicating with your partner and having a strategy is an easy way to win more matches without having to hit better shots or improve certain aspects of your game.
One of the most important times to communicate with your partner is for shots that come to the middle of the court. This typically happens after you or your partner has served and you’re both staying back to let the return bounce. Depending upon which side you or your partner is serving from, it might make sense for the player whose forehand is in the middle to hit the shot coming back to the middle. This can be decided before your team serves. You can always decide when the return comes back by you or your partner calling it, but it may be a better strategy to decide on this beforehand.
Lobs are another important shot to communicate on. When a lob goes up, you or your partner should immediate call the shot. Similar to shots landing in the middle of the court, whichever player will hit an overhead on their forehand side should probably take the shot. Exceptions to this would be if the lob is clearly to one player or the other. Having one player run to the other side of the court to hit the shot will leave open court for the opponents to hit.
Watch Your Opponents
Pickleball is a fast-paced game, and it’s important to anticipate what your opponent is going to do. The best way to do this is to watch your opponents closely. Many players have tells just like in poker. After studying your opponents you can start to make educated guesses as to where they’re likely to hit the next shot.
Just like other racquet and paddle sports, pickleball is a game of probabilities. Depending upon where your opponent is standing on the court, they’re more likely to hit the ball in a certain direction. The same goes for if they’re hitting a forehand or backhand. Players have favorite shots that they like to hit and you can start to anticipate where they’re going to hit by watching them prepare to hit the ball.
Another tip when watching your opponents is to watch the player that isn’t hitting the ball. A good doubles partner will move to cut off shots they’re expecting their opponent to hit next. If you keep a close watch on the person not hitting the ball, you can identify where the open court might be if the ball comes to you. You may be able to hit behind them if they look to poach or cover a shot they’re expecting you to hit.
Keep Track of the Score
Keeping track of the score is an easy tip to help you win more matches. This might sound like a weird tip, but there have been so many matches lost because of a mix up with the score. While sometimes a mix up with the score can go in your favor, I wouldn’t bank on it.
Knowing the score at all times will also help with your shot selection. If the score is 7-9 and you’re on serve, maybe you shouldn’t go for a big serve and just try to get it in. The same can be said the other way around. Say the score is 9-7-2 and the other team is serving, theres a good chance they’re going to try and just keep the serve in and not go for a big shot. You can anticipate this and plan on hitting a strong return.
Your opponents and parter will thank you for keeping track of the score. You’ll end up being more calm and prepared going into each and every point. Understanding basic pickleball scoring and pickleball rules will take your game surprisingly far!
Get to the Net
Getting to the net is the name of the game in pickleball. Many beginners don’t fully understand how much of an advantage it is to take control of the net. It isn’t uncommon to see new players hanging back and only coming in if they’re forced to. Older players are given a pass on this tip! It isn’t easy for every player to quickly get to the net or sprint forward to get a shot that lands in the kitchen. If this is you, pick your battles and get to the net when you can.
You should be making it a point to get to the net immediately after returning the serve or hitting the third shot. A great way to make this a habit is to practice going to net after every return for an entire game no matter what. After you or your partner hits the return, make your way to the net and take control. The same goes for after the third shot. Practice doing this for a few games until it becomes second nature.
Remember, serving or returning and staying back doesn’t win matches. Mastering the simple strategy of getting to the net will increase your chances of winning more points and ultimately winning more matches.
Conclusion
Pickleball is a sport where mastering a few tips and tricks can elevate your game very quickly. By following these 12 tips for beginners, you can improve your skills and bring your game to the next level.