Transcription
Hey guys, I'm Jack Monroe, pro pickleball player and coach. I've been ranked number one on the AP tour, won around 200 pro matches, and have taken home over 40 pro titles.
The third shot is one of the most important shots in all of pickleball. Whether you drop it soft or drive it hard, this decision sets the tone for the entire rally. And if you get it right, you control the kitchen, but if you get it wrong, you're stuck on defense. Today, I'll break down exactly when to hit a third shot drop, when to rip a drive, and the simple framework pros use to make that choice under pressure.
The third shot decides whether you transition to the net or stay trapped at the baseline. The biggest difference you could see between the drop and the drive is the difference in just game pace. You can see when I hit my drop, it's going to be a lot slower, floatier, and that gives us a lot of time to approach and play more consistent, as well as just change the game pace to be a lot slower. Compared to with a drive, we're upping the pace, and we're playing a lot faster. The game's going to move a lot quicker, shots are going to be way more powerful, and the game's going to be way more intense and quicker.
So, as you can see, when I hit this drop, it gives us a lot of time while it floats in the air to approach like this. Compared to when I drive it, while you are looking for opportunities and your partner is looking to poach, for the most part, you can't really approach on a drive. Your goal is to just place it well, see if you can create an opportunity, and then hit the fifth as a follow-up.
Controlling the kitchen means controlling the point. So, both shots do work, but only when used correctly. Also, notice in a game scenario, I'm placing most of my drops at the person that returned the ball because they may not be fully set at the kitchen line. So, I may have an extra foot or two to work with. So, when I'm hitting most of my drops, I'm aiming with the most margin towards the middle of the court in between both of my opponents. Now, there are times where you can try to get tricky and place drops towards the sideline, but now you have not only the net to work against, but you also have the sideline in case the ball goes too wide. So, if you get this right, you'll win more rallies before they even get going at the kitchen.
The third shot drop is a soft shot that lands in or near the kitchen, and it resets the rally and gives you time to move forward. Think of it as a point starter. It neutralizes the opponent's return and lets you join them at the net. The drop is a pickleball player's bread and butter, but it's also one of the hardest shots in pickleball. So, keep your swing compact, bend your knees, and guide the ball over your net. Focus on using your arm rather than your wrist to generate the control.
So, one of the big mechanic things you can see with me when I'm hitting my drop is I'm not using my wrist. My wrist is hinged backwards or it's locked. And that makes sure that I'm guiding it with my arm and my control is all coming from my arm rather than my wrist because my wrist is what's going to create a lot of the inconsistency. So if I don't lock my wrist and I keep it loose, then you're going to see it's going to be a lot more inconsistent. And with drops, we're just trying to float it into the kitchen. And so because of that, we want less variables, meaning that our arm is going to be the only thing moving during the shot.
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Now, the third shot drive is a hard, low shot designed to attack right away, and it's best used when your opponent gives you a weak, floating return and it forces them to volley on the run or pop the ball up. But if you overhit it or lift it too high, then you're just handing them an outball or a smash aimed right back at you. So, get low early, follow through, and aim for the middle gap. Remember, accuracy always matters more than raw power.
If I control the pace, then I control the rhythm of the game. So when I hit my drop, the game's going to move a lot slower and develop a lot slower. But if I hit a drive, then it's going to make it more intense, much faster.
So here's a simple framework pros use: Drop to reset and develop the point, and drive to attack and create opportunities. If the return is strong and deep, then hit a drop to reset or at most a hybrid roll. If the return is weak and high, then punish it with a drive.
So, if your opponent hits a strong and deep approach shot, then try to drop to give yourself extra time to get up to the kitchen. As long as the second shot isn't hit with heavy spin or slice, then dropping makes more sense than driving. If the ball comes to you easy and without much height, then go for the drop and avoid risky swings on low balls. Use the drive if your opponent is still making their way to the kitchen when the ball is in your strike zone. So, try to drive hard and low at them while they're moving up. And this often forces a defensive scoop or a low volley that pops up. So, drive when you see a gap in their formation. The middle is usually the safest target because you have the most margin to miss left or right. Down the line drives are high risk, high reward, so only use them if your opponent is leaning center or leaving an obvious hole.
Where to aim? While you generally want to drop to the opponent with less offense and reach, so crosscourt drops tend to be slightly easier to make because they pass over the shorter part of the net in the middle. Now, oppositely, drives should be aimed straight ahead since this gives your opponent less time to react to the ball and will often jam. But drop or drive, middle's king. Not only is there more opportunity for opponent miscommunication on middle balls, you're also hitting over the lowest part of the net and avoiding the danger of hitting the ball out of bounds to the left or right.
Also, make sure to pay attention to your opponent's play styles. If they thrive on pace or lack the ability to successfully speed up off the bounce, then default to the drop. But if they hit with lots of spin or struggle to unwind the stack, then opt in for a drive. Play smart, too. You can mix it up. If you've decided that drives are most effective for a particular matchup and your partner has better drives, then let them take more of the thirds because sometimes a clean third shot drop is tough, especially if you're deep behind the baseline. In that case, try driving the third or hitting a hybrid instead. A strong low drive or hybrid will often force your opponent to hit a defensive volley. That weak reply sets your partner up to look for a poach as well as sets you up to hit a much easier fifth shot drop as you move closer to the kitchen. This third shot drive, fifth shot drop combo is a favorite of coaches and pros because it buys you time to move forward while keeping pressure on the opponents. Think of it as like chess. The third shot isn't always the checkmate. Sometimes it's just the setup. So, keep your third shot drive low and aim towards the feet or downwards near the middle. Then, immediately advance to soften the next ball into the kitchen. Now, this is a more advanced strategy, so make sure to practice this with a partner. Drive the third and have them pop up the fourth and finish with the drop. Only count the fifth shot drops that land in the kitchen as wins.
Now, most players only look at their opponents when deciding between a drop or drive. But remember, your own positioning matters just as much. If you're offbalance, stretched wide, or retreating, it's going to be very tough to perfectly place a drop into the kitchen. Therefore, you want to hit a 70 to 80% drive that's very high margin and very low risk. Then follow it up with your soft control drop to then advance to the kitchen. Remember, drops are going to be more reliable to reset the point as well as develop it at the kitchen line. And if you think you're better at developing longer points or you're a better kitchen team with speed-ups as well as counters at the kitchen line, then make sure that you focus more on drops to then give you that advantage.
The golden rule that I use as well as a lot of other pros is to drive when you're balanced and drop when you're pressured. For drive technique, you want to get into a low stance as soon as possible. Make sure you move your feet around the ball. Now, while the correct drive mechanics can vary slightly, what I personally love to do with my drives is one, get low. Use your lower body and make sure that your lower body isn't just standing there while your upper body is doing everything. You want to make sure to bend your knees, engage your core, and that's what's going to allow for a lot of the torque and the power that explosion through.
What we're going to do with drives compared to drops is we're going to close our paddle face, which allows us to hit the ball harder, more linear, and it's going to give us a lot of topspin compared to drops. Our paddle face is going to be much more open, which is what allows us to float the ball into the kitchen. And make sure to add controlled power through torso rotation and lower body explosion. And make sure to follow through completely over your shoulder. Make sure to always target openings you see in the court because accuracy is 10 times more important than speed for both shots.
One common mistake I see from people hitting drives is swinging away at 100% every single time. With drives, we still want to make the ball in the court. So, make sure that you're not swinging for the fences or just trying to go for a little sliver of court. Make sure you hit your drive at around 80% of your total power. Another common mistake I see is slapping the ball rather than brushing up on it. When you're slapping your drive, that's going to cause a lot of variability and therefore inconsistency compared to when you brush. That's going to give you a lot more margin on your shots.
With drops, hitting too high gives the opponent an easy putaway, and hitting too soft risks the net. So avoid corners if your accuracy is inconsistent. Remember what we talked about with the net being shorter in the middle. With drives, overuse and predictability allow opponents to anticipate and counterattack much easier. So make sure to mix your shots up in very placement.
Following up a good drop with rapid forward movement is critical to taking control of the kitchen. Make sure that you judge that ball in the air and then advance as you see fit. Or if you hit a high drop, then make sure to stay back.
So what you can do while playing rec to train this is you can start with the call drill. After a serve and return, make sure to say "drop" or "drive" to your partner before hitting. And this trains quicker decision-making.
So, this is a drive-drop drill that I use in a lot of my drill sessions. So, since most drops are going to be funneled middle, I'm going to hit my drive middle. My opponent's going to hit it back crosscourt to me. And then from there, I'm going to hit a good drop to their feet. If I don't hit a good drop, then I'm going to continue to hit drops until I do, and my opponent's either hitting up on it or it bounces in the kitchen. And from there, since the ball is still live and in play, I'm going to go back to then hitting a drive. And then from there, another drop until it's a good drop. And then repeat the cycle until the ball goes in the net. Also, notice where I'm aiming my drive compared to my drop. My drive is going to be more funneled middle while my drop can be more crosscourt. Now, keep in mind with this drill, it's not based off of score. It's purely a rhythm-based drill, meaning that there's no winner or loser. I'm just trying to hit as many drives and drops without hitting it in the net as possible. And then from there, I try to set a record in my head that I can try to hit. For example, as a pro, I try to hit 10 in a row, meaning 10 drives, 10 good drops, and repeating that without a miss. And then if I go ahead and do that successfully, then that is a good rep. Near the end of this drill, then I have to make 10 drives and drops in a row before going to get water.
With a ball machine, you can use cone drills and place cones in the kitchen or midcourt. And depending on how the ball machine feeds, make sure to drop or drive accordingly. This improves placement and accuracy and simulates real game scenarios. For the third shot drive, fifth shot combo, just practice by driving the third and finishing it up with a drop, given everything that I've just told you, and only count kitchen drops as wins.
Now, don't panic on the third shot. Start with dropping against strong returns and driving against weaker ones. Mix it up. Pick your spots and make sure to make smart choices. Also, for this drill, note how important the serve is in order to buy your opponent less time to get up to the kitchen. So, if I hit a deep serve, then therefore I can hit it closer to the sandals further back on my opponent's baseline, which means that it's going to be easier for me to get it to their feet.
Now, for this drill, it's going to be a rhythm-based drill rather than having a set winner or loser. And that's personally my preference when I like to drill because all that does is just allow me to get consistent reps over and over again. You can see we have four sandals on the court. Two further back towards my opponent's baseline and then two closer in their kitchen. The two sandals that are further back are going to be the ones that I aim for when I hit a good serve and my opponent hits a weak high short return to me because I'm going to look to apply as much pressure as possible towards their feet because they're still going to be in transition. However, the two sandals that are in my opponent's kitchen are what I'm going to aim for when my opponent hits a good enough return where my default is going to be drop. Then I'm going to look to float more of a dink and have it land in the kitchen to buy me time to be in transition and therefore get to the kitchen and develop a point. Also notice how important the serve is here. If I consistently hit a deep serve, that's going to give me way more opportunity to find my opponent and jam them in transition rather than having them fully at the net.
Making it to the kitchen consistently is a cheat code that virtually guarantees you'll win more rallies. But remember, reading your opponents and recognizing your own position makes all the difference. Which one do you rely on more and why, drop or drive? Let me know in the comments down below.