Pickleball Machine Drills To Improve Your Game

Explore how we can use a pickleball practice machine for training and learn methods to drill beginner, intermediate, and advanced-level shots.

Beginners frequently complain that they cannot find pickleball practice partners but now the training has become easy as one can use the pickleball practice machine. It is a tireless couch that helps you train and improve muscle memory for pickleball. Practice is the only way to transform from a beginner to an advanced player, but practice partners are not available 24/7.

On the other hand, you can use the practicing machine that can help you increase the level of your game and make you an efficient pickleball player. Being a pickleball coach, I can understand the problems most pickleball players face but pickleball machine drills can pave the way to success. Come with me to explore techniques, strategies, and drills to improve your level in pickleball with the help of a training machine.

Why Do You Need A Pickleball Machine?

There are various reasons why you need to purchase and use a pickleball machine. Firstly, it is a tireless coach that can help you practice whether it is midnight or early in the morning.

You can use the machine to practice anytime based on your routine. The majority of people complain that they do not play pickleball because they cannot invest additional time in the beginning to learn the game.

But you do not need to spare hours from your busy routine as you can use pickleball practice machines to learn basic tactics. Secondly, it can reduce the cost of hiring a coach and joining a club. Couches charge hundreds of bucks monthly to train beginners as well as they give limited time but if you have a pickleball practice machine, you do not need to manage the budget as well as you can use it for hours.

Thirdly, you can change the settings of your machine according to your level. Let’s say, you are a beginner who started playing pickleball for the first time; therefore, you are hesitating to use the paddle in the group of advanced pickleball players or the presence of your coach. But if you have a machine, you can practice in the back of your house, train yourself alone in the beginning, and change the difficulty level to increase the intensity, speed, and height of the ball.

How To Use Pickleball Machine For Drill?

Practice machine makes life easy by eliminating the need for a practice partner. The purpose of the machine is to improve the level of the player by allowing him to practice for hours. We can use the machine as a beginner as well as intermediate and advanced players can use it.

How Does Practice Machine Work? The machine is designed in a way that feeds the ball to throw it towards the player. It fires the ball at a certain speed, and trajectory, and with a consistent rhythm. There are further types of practice machines such as oscillating and programmable machines which we can use for various purposes.

Pickleball Machine Drills For Beginners

As I have mentioned above, all levels of players can use the machine for practice. Some experts object to beginners using a practice machine because they think that at the start of a game learning, we should play with human partners rather than machines. They say that machines have limited strategies and maneuvering plans while others claim that machines are good for learning the basics of pickleball.

It is true that machines have limited strategies and cannot maneuver like humans but still, we can use machines to learn pickleball. Beginners can learn basics such as forehand drills, backhand, and groundstrokes or dink shots. Let’s explore how to use machines to learn beginner-level techniques.

Forehand Drive

Forehand is a fundamental shot in pickleball often used at the beginning of the game just like tennis. Practicing forehand is the most important part of a beginner’s quest to learn pickleball. You can use a pickleball practice machine to drill the forehand dive, all you need is to set the machine next to the net in front of you.

Do not set the machine at the end of the court, always set it in the middle of the baseline for effective results. Once you are done with the placement, change the feeding setting at two-second intervals so you can effortlessly play the ball one after another. In my opinion, a two-second interval is ideal for beginners but if you still find it difficult to play then increase the interval duration.

Grip the paddle with balanced force and slightly bend your knees then prepare yourself to hit the ball. Your focus plays an important role in the game; therefore, be attentive as the machine starts firing the ball. First start learning to hit the ball with the sweet spot of the paddle in a particular direction then change direction and start playing spinning shots.

Backhand Drive

Another shot that can transform you from a beginner to an advanced player is the backhand drive, one of the most played shots in pickleball. In the beginning, it is very difficult to play the backhand shot but one can improve by persistently practicing. Backhand is a dink volley shot that can spin the ball at high speed and is hard to catch for an opponent.

To learn backhand you need to place the machine in the middle of the baseline and set it at the two-second interval. Backhand is difficult to play for beginners but if you successfully learn it, you can use it not only for volley but in the middle of the game. You need to prepare yourself after setting the place and interval duration.

Grip the paddle with both hands like holding a tennis racket, your dominant hand should be lower and tight while the second one is on the top of the bevel to control the paddle’s movement. Bend the knees slightly and hit the ball with maximum strength so that it goes high in the air on the opponent’s side. Practice hitting the ball without spinning and once you have learned the basics then use spinning.

Dink Shot

The above two are used in the middle but widely played at the beginning of the game. However, a shot that can be used in the middle or at the end of the match is a dinking shot which will not only make you a winner but also enable you to identify the weaknesses of the opponent. We can use a pickleball machine to learn the dink shots.

Set the machine in the middle of the baseline and change the ball fire speed to moderate. Start with the moderate-speed fire and then increase the speed when you think that you can handle the moderate-speed coming balls.

Intervals are also important to practice the dink shot so change the duration to 4 or 6 seconds in the beginning then shorten the intervals over time. Another factor you should notice while adjusting the settings is changing the elevation to low.

Grip the paddle softly, bend down your knees, and keep your focus on the ball. Hit the ball with minimum power so that it crosses your kitchen area and lands right after the net of your opponent. Keep the ball’s speed and height slow as well as target the cross-court side to conquer the kitchen area of your opponent.

Pickleball Machine Drills For Intermediate

Intermediate players can also get benefits by using the pickleball practice machine. Mostly, intermediate players are familiar with the forehand, backhand drives, and dink shots but they face a tough time playing the defensive and offensive lobs. Additionally, they can use a practice machine to drill the angle shots, now come with me to learn intermediate machine drills.

Lobs

Lobs are the high shots we can play to take the ball to the opponent’s side and land it in the middle of the baseline. Lobs are very useful if you play them smartly. There are two types of jobs you can learn with the help of a pickleball practicing machine: the offensive and defensive lob.

Offensive Lob

A heightened and deep delivery in cross-court direction targeting the end of the court to take the ball above the opponent’s head. Place the machine on the baseline on the other side of the net and change elevation to high, speed to fast, and duration to 3-second intervals. Use your paddle in a way that hits the ball up in the air at the maximum trajectory and in a cross-court direction then land it deep in your opponent’s area.

Defensive Lob

The purpose of an offensive lob is to make it difficult for the opponent to play the game while a defensive lob is played when we are losing control over the game. Follow the same instructions I mentioned in the Offensive Lob section, and hold the paddle softly. Hit the ball in an upward direction but with less force compared to the offensive lob and take the ball to the end of the baseline of your opponent’s area.

Angle Shots

Angle shots are as significant as the volley, dink, and lobs. Intermediate pickleball players focus on controlling the speed and the height of the ball but very few of them are familiar with the fact that angle plays a more pivotal role compared to speed and height. There is a list of the angle shots but all require similar practice.

Cross Court Shot: Set the machine in the middle of the line and change speed to moderate then practice hitting the ball in your opposite or diagonal direction.
Straight Line Shot: Set the machine in the middle of the baseline and increase the speed of the ball to high then practice hitting the ball straight in a line with moderate speed and desired elevation.
Drop Shot: Set the machine in the middle of the baseline and increase speed, decrease the height of the ball then practice landing the ball right after the kitchen area of your opponent while maintaining moderate force.

Pickleball Machine Drills For Advanced Players

Advanced players efficiently play all kinds of shots, lobs, and dives in various directions, maintaining speed, height, and angle. But they should practice deceptive shots, spin, and strategic dives. They can use a pickleball practice machine to drill these shots.

Deceptive Shots

We can turn any shot into a deceptive one by changing the body’s posture, position, and gripping style to hold the paddle. A deceptive shot is used to trick the opponent by portraying to him that you are about to miss the shot but unexpectedly hit the ball with proper strategy.

Learning deceptive shots is a long-term process in which you need to master position, posture, gripping, and strategy-making. Most professional and advanced players plan the entire game, identifying the weaknesses of the opponent and then launching deceptive shots based on the opponent’s downside.

Not all kinds of deceptive shots are useful as some players are good at detecting the deceptive and a normal shot while others require time to process the return so launch a shot based on all these conditions. You can practice by placing the machine in the middle of the baseline and adjusting the speed, elevation, and angles.

Your pickleball skills play a significant role in launching a deceptive shot but the expressions and body posture is more important. It is the body language that indirectly conveys to us the type of shot our opponent intends to play and if he can fake his body language, we cannot assess the incoming shot. Therefore work on your body language rather than polishing skills.

What Kind Of Machine Should You Use?

When it comes to the practice machine, we have two major choices: The Lobster pickleball machine and the Spinshot pickleball machine. Each is useful in its way but used for various purposes.

The Lobster machine drills are for the players interested in consistency and control. More precisely, these machines are for beginners and intermediate players while Spinshot machines are for advanced and professional pickleball players.

Lobster Pickleball Machine Drills

A Lobster Machine is perfect if you just started playing pickleball. These are simple-to-use machines designed for beginners who are drilling fundamental pickleball shots. The Lobster machine is used for learning consistency and control.

It has various futuristic features including oscillation and programming. The oscillation feature enables the machine to start firing the ball in a direction and change the angle or direction with each shot. The feature is very useful for beginners who are training to hit the ball while moving from one end to another.

Programming is a feature that helps you design the entire game with the machine. You can set the angles, elevation, speed, and intensity of the shots. Once you program the Lobster machine to fire according to certain instructions, it will throw balls following the program.

Spinshot Pickleball Machine Drills

If you are familiar with all kinds of fundamental shots, you can use the Spinshot Pickleball Machine. It is designed for advanced and professional-level players who lack the skills of topspin, backspin, and deceptive shots. The Spinshot pickleball machine has upgraded software compared to the Lobster machine.

Users can customize all kinds of features such as pace, trajectory, angles, flexibility, spin, and placement. It also offers upgraded oscillating and programming features compared to the Lobster machine.

It can throw the ball in various directions from left, right, or in the middle without letting the player know the ball’s next direction. Anyhow, you can choose one of them based on your game level and requirements.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is The Maintenance Of A Pickleball Tutor?

A pickleball machine does not require maintenance like other sports, such as tennis or football tutor machines. However, the user should regularly clean the internal ball-throwing wheel for desired results if he uses the machine daily.

Can You Practice Pickleball At Home?

Yes, you can practice at home by using a pickleball machine. The machine does not require more room nor is it complicated to use. It is designed in a way that all levels of players can use it if they do not have a practice partner or cannot visit a court daily.

How Long Does A Lobster Battery Last?

The battery duration depends on multiple reasons, such as the way you use it, overall battery quality, or your game style. However, the average recorded duration is 3 to 4 hours.

Final Thoughts

Talent alone does not make someone a winner unless he works on polishing his skills and learning new techniques and tactics. Pickleball is a simple game for those who know how to play it, but it can become a nightmare if they visit the court without proper practice. The major problem people face is that their practice partners are not available 24/7, as well as coaches or trainers charge hundreds of bucks for 1 or 2 hours of training.

If you also have similar problems then I advise you to get a pickleball training machine and start drilling the shots. I have explained everything about pickleball machines and how you can use them for drilling. Whether you are a beginner or a professional player, you need to practice properly with dedication and repeat each shot again and again to learn it perfectly, so get a machine and start working on yourself.