Transcription
By the end of this video, you'll have a clear strategy for where to hit your third shot drives and how to execute the famous shake and bake. And for all the advanced players watching, stick around for a special bonus at the end where I'm going to show you how to steal two to three extra points per game from your opponents.
Before we get into number one, where you should hit your third shot drive, it's important to note that hitting a drive that dips over the net and forces your opponent to hit up on the ball can give you an advantage, no matter where you hit the ball. And I'm going to make a video on the technique of this shot sometime soon. But getting smart with your third shot drop targets combined with hitting a dipping drive can significantly enhance your advantage.
Now, here's your first third shot drive target: hit to the player on the move. The player who's already stationary at the kitchen line is balanced and usually they're prepared for your drive, so they're less likely to miss. Instead, aim for the player who just hit the return and is now running up to the kitchen, because hitting volleys on the move is tough and often leads to errors. So, of the three targets you're learning right now, this is the one I'd recommend aiming for most: hitting at the player on the move.
Number two: hit at the weaker player. Target the player who doesn't handle power as well. So, even if they're the one already established at the kitchen, this is a strategic adjustment you can make if you think the weaker player, already established, is more likely to make an error than the player who hit the return and is now on the move up to the kitchen line.
Number three: hit to the middle. This is the confusion zone. When you hit it here, you force more communication, and as the famous saying goes, "The biggest problem with communication is the illusion it took place." So, what does that mean? Make them communicate more, and you're going to force more errors.
Now, to go one step further on this one: you'll eventually play teams with better communication and a better understanding of who's taking what ball. So, I like the idea of shifting your target from directly in the middle to slightly toward the right side player's backhand, assuming it's two righties. Because if it's right in the middle, often the left side player will just take it with their forehand. But if it's over here a little bit, you can get both players thinking they should take the ball, causing miscommunication and mistakes.
As far as if it's a righty-lefty team you're playing up against, I like right down the middle because both players have their forehand in the middle, and they both typically want to crush the ball. So, you just learned the three targets: hit to the player on the move, hit to the weaker player, and hit to the middle.
In addition, one of the really important things you can't forget is, what's the outcome you're looking for when you do hit to these targets? Think about it for yourself for just a moment. See, for a long time, I hit third shot drives with one purpose: hit it as hard as I could and try to hit a winner or end the point immediately. If you know someone like this, or maybe you are someone like this, type "I know that person" in the comments below, just so we can have a moment, you and me.
All right, the problem is, if you always take huge cracks of the ball and your drive isn't that consistent, you're going to end up missing a lot. Sure, sometimes you'll cause some pop-ups and you can poach, which we're going to get into in a moment. But often times, and this is key, listen up. Zoom in on my face a little closer. Okay, a little farther out. That's too close. Often times, you'll drive, they'll block it back, the ball will land somewhere in the midcourt, and then you'll have a somewhat easy fifth shot drop. Which is a fantastic strategy to use, especially if you don't feel confident yet on your third shot drop. Hit a drive, expect the block, drop the next one, your fifth, then make your way to the kitchen and look for opportunities to attack later in the points.
Okay, here's number two: executing the famous shake and bake. The shake and bake is when one player drives the ball while the other player moves forward looking to poach. It's one of those "felt awesome" shots that just makes you feel successful. Speaking of successful, successful starts with the letter S. You know what else starts with the letter S? Selkirk, the sponsor of this video. How about that transition? You already know about the great Selkirk paddles, but did you know about their SLK portable net? It's fantastic for playing anywhere. It's not hard to set up. Took me 13 minutes and 47 seconds to do it, and then it took 2 minutes and 6 seconds to take back down and put in the bag. So, check it out at Selkirk.com and use my code when you decide to get one: AD-thatpickleballguy.
Now, here's something many overlook on the famous shake and bake play. Sometimes, yes, it's a smart strategy. But at other times, chasing the excitement of the shake and bake without assessing the situation often leads to blindly charging the net and ending up in a bad position. So, to avoid that, you have to assess a few things.
Number one: drive quality. If your partner consistently hits strong, low drives, you can creep up toward the kitchen line a little bit looking for the poach because you trust the quality of their shot. But if their drives are a bit more erratic and inconsistent, I'd hold back a bit and prepare for your fifth shot drop.
Number two: opponent's blocking ability. You have to evaluate that, because if they have strong, penetrating counters, you might be more cautious to run in looking for the poach. What will end up happening is you run and give them a target at your feet.
Number three: player positioning. If you're a righty playing on the left side, you'll likely love your forehand poach. If you're a righty playing on the right side, and let's say you don't love your backhand, I'd be a bit more cautious to move forward and poach because you're going to have less power most of the time, and you definitely have less length with the backhand poach. Lefties have it good here because they almost always have their forehand in the middle, because they're typically playing on the right side. Which is actually why I'm developing my left-handed poach. Side note: give it a try, coming soon.
Cut to the video. Number four: return quality. If the return is short and bounces somewhat high, it's a good idea to attack with the drive because the short return means you're making contact sooner, which likely means the person who hit their return hasn't yet reached the kitchen line and will have to hit their next shot on the move. That's hard. Now, this clip is interesting because Krista plays this one a bit more cautiously, which is okay. It's just important to note, you want to continue working on your recognition of these short returns because with this short return, who her partner is a great driver and her backhand ability, which is amazing, I would have coached her to move in more aggressively and look for the poach based on what was happening in that play.
On the flip side, if the return is deep, you may still drive, but in this situation, your partner should be cautious to poach too aggressively because a deeper return likely means your opponent will be hitting their volley from the kitchen line on balance, so they're in a better position to counter the drive, which means shake and bake less likely.
And as a final note on this, when you recognize this is a shake and bake opportunity, you need to understand this final principle to set your partner up for success. If you go to drive the ball crosscourt, where the ball crosses the plane of your poaching partner, you set them up potentially for a more difficult shot because now they have to be prepared for a forehand behind them or a backhand in front of them. That's tough. There's two decisions they have to think through. Instead, aim to keep the ball in this zone, so the ball is always in front of your partner, which makes their approach way easier when the ball gets popped up.
And here's the bonus: the more advanced concept I mentioned earlier. It's called unwinding the stack attack principles. What if you recognize the opponent is in an unwind the stack situation? And as a quick reminder, that means that the player returning is going to hit their return and then run diagonally to their preferred side on the court. When you recognize this, here's three spots you can target to win more points.
Number one: I call it the "where they're going" spot. They know they have to hit and run a longer distance than normal, so hit to where they're going. Because if you can catch them outstretched while on the move, it often leads to pop-ups, and you can put that next ball away.
Number two: I call this one the "partner protection" spot. When the player at the net recognizes the short return, they'll often predict the drive is going to the player on the move coming in. This is Augie here, who's a lefty, so he's covering everything in the middle. Craig recognizes this and goes behind him to his backhand, which leads to an error. For Ring, Tyler hits their return, and I remember in this game, I had consistently been taking the ball at Tyler as he moved in because he was struggling with that on-the-move shot. His partner, JT, recognized that, so during this play, he slides over to the middle to protect Tyler. I recognize that and I go with the shot behind him to his backhand, and it ends up being a winner.
Number three: I call it the "secret spots." When a player is unwinding the stack, typically I'm talking about here when the player is moving from the right side back to the left. There's an opportunity because now the player who has these partner protection responsibilities would likely have to protect with their backhand, and the player coming in has a forehand in the middle. So, when the player is moving in, if you hit this zone right here, you can cause confusion. They'll think, "Should the partner protection backhand take this, or should they let the forehand take it?" And boom, you earn yourself an advantage situation, or in this case, the straight winner.
Now, that was a lot. You can't implement all of these immediately, so don't even try. But take it slow. I might even watch this video again and then just take one of these strategies to implement for the next time you go on court.
And one final thing before I let you go: I'm starting an online pickleball school that has beginner topics, advanced concepts, drill libraries, and a community feature to answer every question you've ever had. So, if you want to be a part of that, get your email on the priority list. You can find the link in the description below. I'm stoked about this. I'm making this for you all so you can improve faster and have some of the insights quicker than I had them as I was getting started. You're going to love it. Thanks for watching. Excited to do more with you. I kind of panicked there at the end, but all right, see you guys.