Transcription
[Music] Hey everyone, Rob M here. We are going to go over how to hit a very, not a very, a more aggressive third shot hybrid where it's not a drive, it's not a drop, but I am really focusing on getting a nice topspin. So I'm dipping the paddle down, brushing up on it pretty hard and aggressively, looking to get the ball to dip at my opponent's feet at the kitchen line.
So where I'm aiming this most of the time is at the person that is coming in off the return. And the reason being is if they're a step slow, if they're steps slow, they're not getting all the way to the kitchen line for their fourth. I'm going to have a little bit more surface area to get the ball down at their feet. Um, from this side, another place I like to go, even if they're not coming in, is at this, the way I hit it, which is dropping the tip and coming from there. It really suits me going cross-court, really at Damian's like left foot, um, sometimes right foot, more middle. But, but I really like going for that angle so my partner can go up, put a lot of pressure, kind of right here, you know, kind of bait them thinking that they can go that line while Jamie Sue is actually waiting on that. She's not necessarily looking to come here and come here, she's looking to bait a little bit and have that covered while I can follow my shot in. So that's just meant to put a lot of pressure on you, Damian, as you go down to try to lift that up.
And the way we hit this is dropping the paddle tip straight, straight down, basically, and then coming right up on the ball. So there's no, there's no wrist. I want to emphasize that. I'm not coming here and doing like a windshield wiper. I'm dropping it and I'm lifting it straight up, really with only my shoulder. There's no elbow, there's no wrist at all. And the reason being is the more, the more I use my wrist, the more I use my elbow, the more that can go wrong. So in terms of technique, the way you want to do it is the less variables, the better, because the less that can break. So if we're only keeping our wrist locked, our elbow locked, and only pushing from our shoulder, not a whole lot can go wrong. If you make clean contact, you might leave it high, you might not hit it super clean, but it's going to be pretty consistent because there's not a whole lot of moving parts.
So where I like to hit this, and you guys can just hit it right back to me and I'll demonstrate a little bit here. We go. So I like to make contact, as you see, right below knee level, and I'm really just brushing up on it. That was going to be a good one. So as you see, I'm, I'm basically squarely behind the ball. I'm not getting sideways. And reason being is I feel like I have a lot of control just kind of with this open stance. Hitting the ball out in front of me, right about knee level or below, allows me to really get under it and get that lift that I'm looking for to get a sharp, to get a sharp, uh, topspin. So that's case in point right there is we want to have a nice hard roll where he doesn't know, should I let this bounce? Should I take this out of the air? What's Jamie Sue doing? She's putting pressure on me. She might hit me in the face again. Might not. My glasses off. So, so that's the idea is to really get that thing dipping so he's like, uh, indecision city where she's putting pressure and I'm following that in. So I'm not just hitting this watching, I'm hitting this, making my way in again, putting double pressure by Jamie Sue going up and myself going up.
So you see, I like going to his left foot on these. I also like going middle. So I'll go couple middle here. So as you see, I'm not, this isn't a full-on drive, but it's certainly not, it's certainly not just a drop because this is just a very safe drop. And if I want to get to the kitchen line, that's what I would hit. But I'm looking to use, basically my service side as an offensive shot and an offensive weapon by really going after it. So the game's changed to where it's not about just making the ball, getting to the kitchen, and getting the point going. If I get a little bit of a sketchy return from you guys that's sitting up a little bit where I can really get under it, I'm going to hit this. And not only that, I'm going to talk to my partner and say, go. Oftentimes, you know, especially if we haven't been playing a lot, especially if we don't communicate as well as you guys do over there. So we, I'm going to be, be saying, if I get one and I know it's going to be good, I'm going to say, go. And she's going to go up and put good pressure on.
So again, drop the tip. You can go both sides. So that's when I go for it way too often, just because I've hit in actual pro matches. I've hit a few drop winners by hitting this ball right there because they don't, they don't expect it because it's frankly, it's low percentage. It's high, highest part of the net. But when you make it, it feels so good. So, you know, I keep doing it. But if I'm playing percentages and playing high percentage, I'm going to go cross-court. It gives me the most surface area. It gives me lowest part of the net to clear. Um, so this is how you hit a hybrid drop. It's get under it. And if you want to evolve your game and continue to get better and get more tips, instruction, lessons, as well as podcasts like it feels right, subscribe to Cirk TV and you'll get it all. Go in there. Attack. Attack. Jamie Sue. Go. That's how you do it. So that's the hybrid drop. How to be more aggressive. This is Rob Nun, Cirk TV. We are pickle. [Music]