Train Like the Pros: Drilling Techniques That Work

James Ignatowich

Hey guys, this is James Ignatowich from Delray Beach, Fl. Today I want to talk about some drills that I do on a daily basis. If you want to get better, it’s very important to be drilling and practicing the right way. So we’re going to talk about a couple specific drills that I do when I’m training with other pros.

The Kitchen Game: Dinking with Purpose

This drill is a kitchen game where players dink the ball back and forth, but you’re only allowed to speed up the shot if you take it out of the air. In my opinion, especially in men’s doubles pickleball, out-of-the-air attacks are a lot better than off-the-bounce attacks. You’re leaning in, you’re making contact with the ball closer to the opponent, which means you’re taking their time away when you do this.

When to Speed Up: Paddle Face Cues

When we’re doing these games and we’re trying to only take the ball out of the air and speed up out of the air, you’ll see that we are leaning in. And when you’re leaning in, it’s very important to be looking to attack when your opponent has an open paddle face as shown in (figure 1).

(figure 1)

So if your opponent’s paddle face is faced toward the ground leading up to the hit (figure 2), that means they’re going to be imparting topspin on the ball. It also means that they can speed the ball up.

(figure 2)

Pay attention to your opponent’s paddle angle—whether the face is open (angled upward toward the sky) or closed (angled downward toward the court). Once you can consistently recognize an open paddle face, whether on a forehand or backhand, you should be ready to lean in, take the ball out of the air, and attack when the opportunity arises.

Why Open Paddle Faces Are Less Threatening

The reason for that is, if the paddle face is open, they are not going to be able to speed the ball up at you. And if they do speed the ball up at you, it’ll be with slice—and those are not effective speed-ups.

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