Pro Breakdown: Strategic Pickleball Advice for 3.0-3.5 Players

Back by popular demand, I am excited to continue my review of some actual pickleball gameplay. The video below features two beginner 3.0 teams in what looks like competitive rec or tournament play.

For the sake of anonymity, I will refer to the team closest to the camera as the near team, and the team further away from the camera as the far team. Let’s dive into the film and analyze what each team did well and could work on.

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Pro Analysis by Eric Roddy

Thanks to Supertime on Reddit for the video

Minute 1: Effective Shake and Bake Strategy

The first minute is a dominating performance by the near team. The common theme throughout these first points is the near team’s ability to shake and bake, applying immense pressure on their opponents, and getting easy pop-ups to smash or forcing errors.

While sometimes that happens because a team is playing too well and is unstoppable, it is completely preventable in this scenario. The far team puts themselves in a hole in each point with a weak return.

Pay attention to the average depth of the far team’s returns: Almost all of them are short and in the middle of the court, allowing the near team to either hit a dipping drop at their opponents’ feet, or an aggressive drive that leads to a pop-up. The first three points of the video follow this pattern, and the short returns put the far team in a hole. 

Strategy Advice: Better Footwork and Swing Mechanics

How can a 3.0-level team hit deeper returns when just getting the ball back is already tough? It starts with better footwork and a simple swing. Right now, they’re hitting short because they’re too close to the baseline or rushing to reach the ball. If they get into better position earlier, they’ll have more time and space to hit through the ball and send it deeper.

On the positive side for the far team, by the end of the first minute of the video, they execute a good return and get the serve back. From there, they even capitalize on a weak return from the near team. 

Takeaway: All four players need to work on better positioning themselves to hit the return deeper. 

Minute 2: Smart Decisions Get You to the Kitchen Line

I want to commend all four players for this minute of pickleball. The level from all four players is much higher than the first minute, and the quality of points is closer to a 3.5 level than 3.0. Having said that, we can get into a little more strategy.  

Again, this applies to all four players on the court, but in this minute of the video clip, there is too much driving of the ball and not enough dropping or resets. Even when these four players do try to drop the ball, the drops are too high and are easily smashed by the opponent at the net.

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Strategy Advice: Take some pace off the drive

One strategy I would love to see all four players use is the three-quarter speed drive. This shot does not have the speed or power of a normal drive, but is a little slower and more controlled. It is utilized to set up the next shot, which needs to be a drop. 

The woman on the far team actually hits a great three-quarter speed drive at the 44s time stamp. Watch as she hits a nice, controlled drive. However, her crucial mistake is she tries to drive the next shot (the fifth shot), and her opponents are all over it and able to turn the momentum in their favor.

Her partner on the far team then tries to hit two more drives from the transition zone, and ultimately makes an error. This point is a perfect example of why beginners must practice their decision-making.

Takeaway: A golden rule of thumb is if you are not at the Kitchen line, hit a drop or reset on 90% of your shots until you get to the Kitchen line.

Minute 3: Stay Ready and Shorten Your Swings

Shoutout to all four players—it’s super clear how much they’ve improved since the start of the video. Their serves and returns are going deeper, they’re making way fewer mistakes on third shots, and their decisions are smarter. Now we’re seeing more rallies with all four players up at the Kitchen.

Two basic yet crucial things stood out to me that all four players are doing in this minute of the video, but especially the far team. 

Strategy Advice: Stay in an Athletic Stance

First, everyone needs to get lower and in a more athletic position. Every player is standing too upright, which makes them lose explosiveness and therefore not get in the best position to hit each ball. The far team is especially guilty of this – their movement is more sluggish as a result.

Takeaway: Especially as a beginner, you want to focus on keeping your feet shoulder-width apart, squatting slightly in your stance with your paddle in the middle. This is the base athletic position that will allow you to move side to side, up and back, and give you a good base to execute your shots. 

Strategy Advice: Take Shorter Swings

Secondly, all four players (but especially the two men on the near side) need to take shorter swings. Especially when starting out, new pickleball players get excited when they get a chance to drive or slam a pickleball, and as a result, they take way too big of a swing.

A great rule of thumb for these four players and all beginners – pretend you are wearing a hula hoop while you are playing. Don’t let the paddle get outside of the hula hoop in any direction. In other words, always keep your paddle close to you, and keep your backswings and follow-through shorter. 

Check back in the video, and watch the near team when they get into a firefight at the kitchen or ready to slam a ball – their swings are way too big.

Takeaway: Power and spin in pickleball come from your legs and core, not the size of your swing.

Final Minute: Wait for the Right Ball to Put Away

Strategy Advice: Court Positioning Makes the Difference

Keep an eye on the player on the near side wearing shorts without compression sleeves—he really turns it on in the final minute of the video. You can see him step up with a couple of clean third-shot drops and follow them into the Kitchen with confidence.

Wait for the right ball to put away: On one of his (near-side with shorts) great drop shots, he gets a high ball back and puts it away. When his partner takes the third shot, he steps into the court a bit so he’s ready to attack the fifth if it’s a good setup. His positioning in the middle is especially strong.

Cover the Middle for Your Partner: There’s a great example where his partner chases a wide shot, and he slides over to cover the middle. He keeps the ball low and buys his partner time to get back in position.

Overall, in the last minute of the video, he’s doing the little things that show he’s ready to level up to a 3.5.

Thanks for reading, and be on the lookout for the next article. Enjoy the grind, and remember, you can’t dink all day if you don’t start in the morning.