7 Pickleball Dinking Strategies To Win The Game

Explore simple pickleball dinking shot strategies and dinking drills as well as see how to play pickleball shots effectively.

Pickleball has become one of the fastest-growing games in America due to its simple rules and entertaining nature. People take it as a fun game; additionally, it is a low-impact activity so aged people, slightly disabled, and young all can play it. Pickleball enthusiasts find ways to trick their opponents, use strategies, such as dink shots or hard shots as well as plan the entire game to win the match.

Pickleball is an easy-to-play game, but if your opponent is more skilled compared to you, the chances are high that he wins the match. Therefore, you should learn the strategies of pickleball, such as dink shot methods, dinking drills, and rules of the game so you can also leave your opponent astonished when the match finishes. If you want to become undefeatable then follow my lead to learn the dinking strategies of pickleball.

What Is A Dink Shot?

The majority of beginners find pickleball terms hard to understand such as dinking, volley zone, kitchen, etc. Dinking is a soft short used in pickleball to take the ball to the other side of the net. It is not as simple as it seems because one has to plan the placement, pace, and consequences of the shot.

Dinking requires a slight swing that you can execute by brushing your paddle on the back of the ball. It also requires accuracy because if you imperfectly hit the ball, your opponent can get a chance to hit it back on a spot where you cannot approach it. In short, dinking is a complex soft short that requires a considerable amount of planning before execution.

What Is The Purpose Of Dink Shot?

People often ask about the purpose of a dink shot because it is a soft delivery that your opponent can play effortlessly so why is it required? Dinking is a strategic short that can affect the pace of the game and help you plan further strategies. For example, you are on the court with your opponent, both are highly confident about the victory and the game is getting faster as it advances.

A fast-paced ball comes toward you and you hit it softly instead of attacking with full power. Your action will certainly slow down the pace of the game and your opponent who was expecting a quick attack will be confused to anticipate the slow-paced ball near the non-volley zone. As well, it will also help you plan further strategies as the game is slow now, you can plan whether you need to be attacking or defensive.

Furthermore, a dink shot is used when a player is losing control over the non-volley zone of the opponent. If you continuously focus on the dinking shots, you can push the opponent near the baseline and leave him with no choice except to hit the ball from the end of the court. Lastly, it helps you test the patience of the opponent and if you use dinking shots efficiently, you can bring down the stamina of your opponent.

Slow Vs Fast Paced Games

Beginners often underestimate the importance of dink shots while advanced and professional players are familiar with the fact that dinking can make them win within minutes. Beginners focus on fast-paced games and consider that playing pickleball at a high pace can transform them into advanced players. But the best pickleball player is one who can control the court whether the game is fast or slow.

Additionally, a fast game is simple to play if you compare it with a slow-paced match. Because we cannot implement strategies except a few in fast-paced games but we can make the slow-paced game complicated so we should rely upon dink and soft shots compared to attacking deliveries. Let’s begin understanding how to use dink shots.

Pickleball Dinking Drills

The posture you acquire, the way you grab the pickleball paddle and your focus can shape the effectiveness of a dink shot. Therefore, it is highly recommended that one acquire the perfect position, grip the paddle in the right way, and focus on the ball as well as on the opponent.

Positioning

Bend your knees slightly and acquire a balanced stance when the opponent is about to hit the ball. The majority of the players reveal their further strategies of the game by acquiring a position before it is required. So you should prepare right before you intend to hit the ball softly so the opponent cannot assess your next move.

Let’s say you planned that as your opponent starts attacking with fast-paced shots, you will immediately give the ball a soft touch to trick him. As your opponent attacks, you also hit the ball at a fast pace but acquire the position right after you hit the ball and when your opponent hits it back with strength, you give it a slight touch.

Gripping

Grip plays a pivotal role when it comes to a dink shot because it determines the accuracy, position, pace, and swing. If you are playing a fast-paced game then grip your paddle tight, but dinking requires a soft grip; therefore, slightly loosen your grip to maintain the control. Keep your paddle facing your body and try to hit the ball with the sweet spot of your paddle to get the desired results.

Pickleball Dinking Strategies

1. Placement

Dinking is a simple way to trick the opponent by launching a soft shot but it does not mean that we should execute dinks whenever we want. Instead, we should use the dink short very smartly so the opponent is unable to anticipate the ball’s position. For this, you need to identify the weakness of your opponent and then dink the ball in that direction.

The majority of the players are right-hand oriented so they face a hard time hitting the ball on their left side. If you want to make it more interesting, then you can dink the ball on the left side of the player with a balanced force.

Its height should stay low and go near the baseline of the opponent’s side. In this way, you are not only limiting the activity of your opponent but also getting enough time to prepare yourself for another strategic hit.

Pickleball court is designed in a way that players require more energy to hit the ball on the sidelines. So if you are planning a dink, you can hit it in the direction of the sidelines. In my opinion, you should hit straight but brush the paddle on the back of the ball so it swings in the direction of the sideline, and as a result, your opponent will fail to hit the ball.

In case you cannot find a weakness of your opponent then I will advise you to target his feet. Hitting a ball coming towards feet is not only difficult but also troublesome as one loses balance while spotting the ball’s direction. Try to force your opponent to hit upward and then target the feet.

2. Changing Angles

Angles can make you a winner, and a tough player and if you understand their use, you can defeat anyone. Usually, people do not focus on the angle at which they hit the ball but it can determine the fate of the game. Mindlessly hitting the ball without considering the importance of the angle can result in your defeat.

3. Cross Court Angle

Instead of hitting the ball in the same direction one after another, you should hit it in a direction that is opposite to you. For example, your stance is in the right sideline of the court so you can hit in the left direction towards the baseline, keeping the ball height low and speed at slow. Cross-court angle dink shots are useful because they force the opponent to cover a large distance from one position to another in a diagonal line.

Cross-court angle dink shots are very useful if your opponent is playing fast and you launch a slow-paced shot in the middle of the game. It helps you create openings because the opponent requires you to hit the ball after approaching in the opposite direction and as a result, you can exploit the gap created by your opponent. It also helps to affect the stamina of the opponent.

4. Straight-Line Dinks

Straight-line dink shot is very simple to play, that’s why majority of the beginners do not use it but they should know that it is more crucial compared to the cross-court dink shot. The purpose of a straight-line dink shot is not to trick the opponent or to slow down the pace of the game but to gain control over the non-volley zone.

If a player loses control over his non-volley zone, he can lose the game but we can use straight-line dink shots to neutralize the speed of the game and gain the area of non-volley. All you need is to hit the ball in the same direction at a low pace and height so the game goes slower and you gain control over the area.

5. Determining Height

Strategies should be changed as the match progresses; therefore we cannot say that one should always keep the height of the ball low in all conditions. Sometimes, the weakness of an opponent is the heighted shot and he can effortlessly play the low shot. Majority of the pickleball players consider that a dink shot always has a low trajectory but this is not true.

A dink shot is not extraordinarily heightened, nor is it very low but balanced. However, a dink shot is low compared to the average pickleball shot and we can increase the height of the ball based on the conditions. If you hit the ball in the same manner one after another, you cannot win the game; therefore you need to change the height and hit mixed shots.

6. Alter Speed

A pickleball player always keeps the ball in control by maintaining its speed. Whether you are an active player or you like passive or slow games, you need to learn the art of controlling the speed. Controlling and maintaining speed does not mean that a player always hits the ball with the same force he used in the previous shots but it means one should be efficient enough to decrease or increase the speed of the ball.

A dink shot is always slower than the average shot. Some people consider that a fast, low-height hit is also a dink shot but the fact is the opposite. However, one should always change the speed of the ball with each hit to keep the game challenging for the opponent.

If you hit the ball with the same force, your opponent will understand the weakness and return the ball in a way that you will be unable to approach it; therefore, always alter the speed of the ball with the passage of time and conditions. Then comes the space, timing, and flow of the ball that should be changed with speed.

The rhythm of the game is very important to control the court, it involves the space, time, and flow of the match. If you play pickleball with the same rhythm, you can lose the match. The purpose of a dink shot is to change the rhythm, it is a way to alter the speed, flow of the match, and timing.

7. Tricky Shots

Pickleball seems simple but when it comes to the tricky shots, it is one of the most interesting games in the world. Some people consider that pickleball requires only physical energy but they ignore the fact that one also needs high mental activity to win the match. It is the only game in which you can win if you know how to execute a deceptive shot.

You can practice fake dinks by learning how to portray yourself as you are preparing to hit the ball with full force but in the end, you touch the ball softly. You also need to learn the fake posture of a dink shot in which you convey an indirect message through your posture that you will launch a dink shot but hit the ball with full force and at a maximum height.

Moreover, you should learn how to spin the ball in the left and right direction. Spinning is not difficult to practice as one has to brush the paddle on the back of the ball in a way that changes the direction when it hits the ground. Without spin, you cannot make a difference, but it is simpler to trick the opponent if you practice spin.

Spinning makes it harder for an opponent to anticipate the direction of the ball after it bounces. You can use backspin in which the ball rotates backside when it bounces on the court, you can also practice topspin in which you can change the direction of the ball from low to high.

How To Hit Dink Shot Effectively?

The only way that can help you use dink shots effectively is by practicing. Mostly, beginners do not focus on the practice and try to use complex shots on the court in the middle of a match but it cannot make you an efficient pickleball player. If you want to become an extraordinary player then use pickleball shots smartly.

As a coach, I frequently advise my trainees to learn a unique shot for a specific timeframe. For example, if you are learning a cross-court dink shot, you need to practice it for more than 2 weeks to become efficient. Once you consider that you have practiced enough and can play the specific shot on the court then advance forward learning a new unique shot.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is A Dink Shot?

A dink shot is a soft shot to land the ball near the non-volley zone of the opponent so he cannot approach it and if he does then he cannot play it efficiently. A dink shot should be slow and have low height compared to an average pickleball shot.

What Is The Best Way To Dink Pickleball?

The best way to dink the ball is to hit it in a way that it softly approaches the non-volley zone of the opponent. The best dink is not a low shot but when we dink over the net above a foot.

Why Is There So Much Dinking In Pickleball?

There are various reasons why people use dink shots as some use it to control the game while others launch dink shots to trick the opponent. It is a useful shot that’s why there is so much dinking in pickleball.

Final Words

Pickleball is one of the most popular games in America, promoted by clubs and communities due to its low-impact activity and entertaining nature. The game is simple to play compared to others, such as tennis or squash but we can use tricks and techniques to make it a bit complex and interesting to enjoy it more. There are several techniques and strategies we can use like dink shots to trick the opponent and win the game.

Dink shots are very useful for controlling the game, managing the speed, maintaining the rhythm, and neutralizing the match. A dink shot is not as simple as it seems because one has to plan a proper strategy to launch and react after the opponent’s delivery. I have explained everything about dink shots, positioning, timing, flow, speed, and other strategies so now follow my guidelines and become an undefeatable player.

 

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