Acing a game of advanced pickleball is not a piece of cake. You need to familiarize yourself with the advanced pickleball strategies in order to win the game as well as have the upper hand during the entire game. There are a few rules that come under the umbrella of advanced pickleball strategy that are my absolute favorite due to their simplicity yet effectiveness.
Along with practice, knowing when to take a shot and how to make the right shot is very critical if you want to win every game of pickleball. Every single strategy and rule of advanced pickleball that has helped me win countless games has been listed in this article.
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Serving
Pickleball is all about making the serve. Serve is basically the first shot of every round. The person who makes the serves is in charge of the flow and tempo of the ball; hence has the upper hand over the opponent. Therefore, the first strategy of advanced pickleball is regarding making the perfect serve.
As service is the only shot of the round where you have complete control over the ball, you need to make sure that you do it in a way that benefits you. You need to make sure that the ball should land in the right spot of the service box of the opponent.
Making Serve Tricky For Opponent
Another factor that comes under the wing of the right and perfect serve is making it difficult for the opponent to return the serve. There is one major way for you to make the return of the serve difficult, and that is to target the pickleball in the area of the opponent, which is their backhand. If your opponent is a right-handed person, then their backhand would be the left side and vice versa. This nifty little strategy of advanced pickleball is the small detail that sets the pro player apart from the novices.
In addition to that, there is another advanced pickleball strategy that can help you become a better player and make the serve difficult for your opponent. This method is hitting the pickleball deep into the opponent’s service box. You need to make sure that you hit the box far enough that it pushes your opponent back towards the edge of their service box. This makes it difficult for them to return the serve properly, giving you the upper hand.
Returning The Serve
Similar to learning how to make the serve properly, you need to know how to return the serve accurately too. An important advanced pickleball strategy is to learn how to return the serve as close to the opponent’s service box’s baseline as possible. This makes it difficult for the opponent to hit the box properly and throw it back into your service box with force.
This way, when the opponent does hit the pickleball back towards your side, you will be able to make a smoother shot. Whether you are playing a single game or a double game, this advanced pickleball strategy works wonders in both cases and helps you gain the upper hand. Another method of returning the serve towards the opponent is adding a touch of spin to the ball. When you hit the pickleball in a way that makes it spin, it makes it hard for the opponent to make a perfect shot.
Accurate Stance
The strategies that will help you win a game of advanced pickleball are not only about hitting the ball to and fro. You also need to be careful about the way you stand on the court, as that has a great influence on the game. The accurate stance gives a player an edge, as it helps them make perfect and winning shots more easily. This includes knowing how far your legs should be and how much you should be bending your knees.
When you know that you should be standing with your feet apart from each other at exactly the width of your shoulders, then you can proudly say that you know your way around advanced pickleball strategies. Along with keeping your feet apart at the right distance, you also need to bend your knees. This sounds like a small detail that many players overlook during the game, but bending your knees helps you make the low shots.
Playing To Opponent’s Weakness
A major advanced pickleball strategy is playing to your opponent’s weakness, and that includes playing to your own strength. If, as an advanced pickleball player, your strength is hitting the ball with force and enhanced speed, and your opponent does not, then you need to hit the ball to their weakness.
In addition to that, if the opponent cannot play well or hit the ball properly at the backhand, then you need to make sure that you force them to play the ball at the backhands. If you want to ace the game of advanced pickleball, you need to learn about your own strengths and your opponent’s weaknesses and use those weaknesses to your own advantage.
Keeping The Pickleball Low
This does not sound like an important rule, but this is a major advanced pickleball strategy. Hitting the ball low makes the other player sprint for the ball to make the hit, which often leads to the opponent not utilizing their entire strength to hit the ball. When you hit the ball low enough that it forces your opponent to sprint forward to make the hit, it gives you an extra edge over the next shot. However, when you are making a low shot, you need to make sure that it should be high enough to go over the net and into the opponent’s playing area.
Angle Of The Paddle
Along with the right and perfect stance of the body and the right height of the pickleball shot, the angle at which you hold your paddle to make a shot is also important. This is an important advanced pickleball strategy, as the angle of the paddle determines the angle of the shot. If you hold the paddle flat towards the sky that will give height to your shot, but it can also lead to the shot falling out of the playing zone, which will lead to an ‘out’.
Moreover, a flat paddle also causes the ball too often fall right back into your own side of the net. If the angle of your pickleball paddle is parallel to the net, then the ball will not go as high; instead, it will move forward towards the opponent’s zone with force. This is why it is critical for you to determine at which angle to hold the paddle to make the perfect shot that will score you a point.
Communicating With The Partner
A really crucial rule of a double game of pickleball is to communicate with your partner. Whichever stance you are about to take, if you want to hit the ball or you want them to take the shot, you need to stay in communication with your partner so that you are both on the same page. Otherwise, your partner may hit the shot that you were about to make or miss one that you wanted them to take. Moreover, sharing your strengths and your opponent team’s weaknesses with your partner is also critical if you want to win the match.
Not Hitting Out Balls
Most people do not keep this in mind, which leads to them losing points and their opponent gaining the said points. You need to learn not to hit the out balls if you do not want to lose the point. Detecting out balls is easy; if a ball is too high, there is no need to hit it. Simply let it go, and it will be considered an out ball. Whether you are playing a double game or a single game, you need to keep this rule in mind and never hit out balls.
FAQs
What are the 5 key strategies to help you in becoming a better pickleball player?
The 5 key advanced pickleball strategies that can help you become a better pickleball player includes always playing to your opponent’s weakness, knowing your own strength, making the serve in a way that benefits you, keep moving your feet, and communicating with your partner.
What is the most aggressive shot in pickleball?
The most aggressive shot in pickleball is known as the overhead smash. The overhead smash is when the player hits a ball that is high in the air, and they hit it downwards towards their opponent’s side of the net. This reduces the opponent’s chances of hitting the ball.
Conclusion
As easy as a game of pickleball seems from the audience stand, in reality, it is not as easy when you are on the court. However, with practice and knowing the advanced pickleball strategies, you can not only become a great player, but you can also win many games. I have shared a number of advanced pickleball strategies in this article to help you score the next win.
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