How to Hit 3rd Shot Drives in Pickleball

June 26 2023

The 3rd shot drive is every pickleballer’s favorite shot to hit. There is nothing like crushing a big forehand and rushing the net. Most people learn this shot prior to a 3rd shot drop simply because they’re already used to hitting regular groundstrokes and haven’t practiced hitting drops. That and it is a lot more fun to hit than a 3rd shot drop! In this post, we’ll go over what the 3rd shot drive is, why you need to learn it, how and when to hit it, and practice drills to give you confidence to execute this during a match.

What is a 3rd Shot drive in Pickleball

A 3rd shot drive in pickleball is when you attack on the third shot of the point and expect to get a weak shot back as a result. This shot is often hit from inside the baseline and with topspin. Competitive players will often target the weaker opponent and hit to their backhand. This is your chance to hit a hard, yet controlled shot.

Why You Need to Learn the 3rd Shot Drive

You need to learn the 3rd shot drive because it is the best way to get on offense and set you and your partner up for an easy ball on the next shot. There are three main reasons to hit a 3rd shot drive.

Increase the chances of getting a weak shot back
Attack your opponents weaknesses
Applies pressure on your opponents return of serve

3rd shot drives increase the changes of getting a weak shot back because it is a strong and offensive shot. If you have time, you can run around the ball to hit a big topspin forehand. If your backhand is the stronger side, you can run around the ball and take the backhand instead. Your opponent won’t have enough time to react because you’re hitting the ball hard and from inside the baseline. They will only have time to hit a reaction volley and put the ball back in play wherever they can.

You’ll also get a chance to attack the weaknesses of your opponent. Since you’ll have more time to attack the ball, you can take your pick of where you want to hit it. Most of the time, you’ll chose to attack the weaker player. If hitting to the weaker player is too difficult, you can hit to the weaker side of your opponent. This is typically the backhand side. If neither of these options make sense at the time, you can always hit a big shot to the middle of the court and force one of your opponents to call it.

Having a strong 3rd shot drive can also put pressure on your opponents and cause unforced errors. If your opponents know that you have a good 3rd shot drive, they could go for more depth on their return and hit more balls out. They will be afraid to give you an easy shot on the return because they know you’ll make them pay for it. Applying this kind of pressure can be exhausting for your opponent.

How to Hit a 3rd Shot Drive

3rd Shot drives are most similar to an approach shot in tennis. You’re inside the baseline, have plenty of time to setup for the shot, and you’re heading to the net. There are three simple steps in order to hit a great 3rd shot drive

Early Preparation and Footwork

Early preparation and footwork are the foundation of almost all shots in pickleball. First you must analyze the return of serve thats coming back to you and determine if you’re going to hit a 3rd shot drop or 3rd shot drive. Once you realize the return is not going to land very deep and is going slow enough to attack, you can start approaching the ball.

Most players will want to hit a forehand for a drive, but there are many pros on both the mens and womens side that have a stronger two-handed backhand. Quickly determine if you’re going to hit a forehand or backhand and get yourself into position. You’ll want to have a wide stance with your knees bent and keep the ball to the side of your body. If you’re hitting a forehand, don’t be afraid to put your non swinging arm out in front to help you judge the ball.

A big backswing isn’t necessary for a drive, but you can take the paddle back further than you would for a 3rd shot drop. You can hit this shot with a closed or open stance, or somewhere in between if that is more comfortable. Bring the paddle back with a loose grip and keep it low, at or below waist height.

Attack the Ball with Topspin

The next step after moving your feet and preparing to hit the shot is actually hit the shot. You’ll want to make sure you’re hitting this shot with power and topspin. Power is important because you want this to be a difficult shot for your opponents to hit, and topspin is important because you want the ball to land in the court if they decide to let the ball go.

Your paddle should already be back and low, preferably below the height of the ball. With a loose grip and wrist, you’ll then accelerate from low to high, up towards the ball and brush it with topspin. You can adjust the level of topspin as you practice this shot more. Try not to close the paddle with too much of an angle or you will hit your drives into the net. You want the face of the paddle to be open enough be able to brush the ball and create an arc.

Follow through will be slightly different than the 3rd shot drop. You’ll want to push the follow through forward towards the net since you’re driving the ball. The swing will still be low to high, but the focus should be on finishing toward your target instead of finishing high near your head.

Move Forward with Your Paddle Ready

After you’ve hit a big 3rd shot drive, your next step is to follow your shot toward the net. Since this is an offensive shot, you don’t want to stay back at the baseline. Pick your target, strike the ball, and move forward to look for an easy shot.

Most of the time, you want to follow your shot and move towards the most likely place for the next ball to go. It’s very easy to move in a straight line and not anticipate where the next shot is likely to land. A good rule of thumb is to place yourself in a position to cover the middle as well as cover a sharp angle. Sometimes it makes more sense to cover the middle and force your opponent to hit a harder cross court or a sharp angle. This may cause unforced errors or weak shots that you can capitalize on.

When you’re moving forward, you should be low and not standing up straight. The paddle should be at chest height so that you can handle a reaction volley if it comes back to you. Make sure to slow down and pause as your opponent hits the ball. This is the perfect time to do a split step so that you can explode in either direction. This will also help you prepare for the next shot and have better timing. Continuing to run forward as your opponent is hitting the shot can cause you to be off balance when hitting the next ball.

Practice Drills for 3rd Shot Drives

There are many different drills you can do to improve your 3rd shot drive. Make sure to think about the steps outlined above when doing these practice drills. The most important part about any drill is actually making the time to do them.

3rd Shot Drive Feeds

The first drill you can do to work on 3rd shot drives is to drop feed yourself the ball or have a partner feed balls to you. If you’re practicing on your own, you can toss yourself a ball from standing inside the baseline. Prepare in the same way as you normally would and hit a strong drive. After hitting you should let your momentum bring you forward towards the net. This will be easier to do on the forehand side.

Having a partner will make this drill more effective. They can either toss the ball to you or do a paddle feed from the other side of the net. Some people are not comfortable with a paddle feed, so they can always toss the ball and hand feed if that’s easier for them.

Focus on making 10 drives that land in the court before switching to the backhand side. Once this becomes second nature, focus on making three shots in a row. The first drive down the line, the second down the middle, and the third cross court. You want to be comfortable hitting any of these shots and be able to mix them up.

5 Shot Drill

The 5 shot drill is where you play points where you can only hit a maximum of 5 shots. You can do this with singles or doubles. This game forces the server to hit 3rd shot drives and move in to finish the point on the 5th shot. If the server doesn’t win the point on the 5th shot, the returning team automatically wins the point and goes on serve. This can be a challenging drill and might make sense to play games to 5 instead of 11.

Play a Practice Match Only Hitting Drives

One of the easiest ways to practice your drives is to hit them during a match. Your partner might not like this idea, but if you’re casually playing practice matches this is the best time to do it. Every time you or your partner is on serve you should plan on hitting a 3rd shot drive on the next shot.

Start by hitting every drive to the middle of the court with plenty of topspin. The point of this drill is that you’re going to learn which returns are easiest to hit drives off of and which ones should probably have been a drop. Hit the drives no matter what and try to get to the net.

Short Ball Drive Drill

The short ball drive drill requires either a cone or other marker on the court. In this drill, you’ll lay out an extra line running across the court halfway between the kitchen line and the baseline. Players must hit a drive and come in if the ball lands short before that line.

This is a great drill to help you recognize when you should hit a drive and when you should hit a drop. Eventually, you want this to become muscle memory so you don’t have to think about which balls to attack.

Common 3rd Shot Drive Mistakes

Hitting a Drive at The Wrong Time

The biggest mistake when hitting 3rd shot drives has nothing to do with technique. You need to make sure you’re waiting for the right ball to hit this shot. If your opponent hits a deep return that pushes you back, don’t try to hit a drive. Drop the ball into the kitchen and try to neutralize their return.

Analyze your opponent and learn which serves are more likely to give you a short ball on the return. If they have a weaker backhand, serve to their backhand and prepare to move forward and attack the drive.

Hitting the Ball Too Hard

We get it, it’s exciting when you get the chance to crush a 3rd shot drive. One of the most common mistakes is trying to do too much with the shot. It’s very easy to overhit the ball with either too much power or too much topspin.

It’s important to hit the ball with good pace, but try to hit these around 75% power. The extra power doesn’t always make a big difference and you’re better off focusing on placement. Once you’re consistent with your drives, you can slowly start to add more power.

Not Keeping Your Hands Relaxed

Since the 3rd shot drive is typically hit hard, it’s easy to squeeze the grip too hard. This is a common mistake across a lot of different sports, from golf to tennis. Your mind wants to squeeze the grip harder to match how hard you’re trying to hit the ball. Instead, make sure to keep your hands relaxed with a loose grip. This will help you snap your wrist toward the ball and generate topspin.

Running Through the Shot

One of the most common mistakes when hitting a 3rd shot drive is running through the shot. Since you plan on moving forward to the net after the shot, it’s easy to hit the ball while running at the same time. It’s important to pause and set your feet prior to striking the ball. This is why the preparation and footwork step is so important

Conclusion

The 3rd shot drive is an effective way to take control of the point. It is an offensive shot whereas the 3rd shot drop is more defensive or neutralizing. Mastering this shot by doing the drills and techniques mentioned above will help you win more matches and put pressure on your opponents. The more easy points you can win, the better!