The pickleball tip of the week is 'Dink with a plan'

[ASFN Admin]

The dink is one of the most common shots in pickleball and when you watch a high-level pro match, they are often getting involved in a dink rally. The pros have a plan during those dink rallies. Do you?

That's Coach Mary's Tip of the Week. Don't just dink and hope your opponent eventually hits a ball you can attack with. Dink with a plan.

Mary's Tip of the Week: Dink to set up an attack​

Instructor Sergio Briones explains the strategies and even shares some drills you can do to work on using your dink shots to set up your opponent, not just keep the point going and I've adopted his thought process in my own game and my teaching drills with my advanced class. Why?

• The pros dink successfully, but not so much for recreational players. Why? Because they are not good, controlled set-up dinks!
• It is using the dink to set up an attack, rather than just dinking or attacking off a machine fed ball. More game-like.
• Working on precision targets for your dinks and tracking the ball and your body to where the ball is coming from.
• This makes you keep your paddle out in front, ready to attack or speed up, after you execute a dink.
• You can work on this on both sides, working topspin speed-ups from both the forehand and backhand sides.

Create patterns that work​

Pattern 1: You are looking for a dead dink or something that you can speed up after you move them out wide. After you move them wide, you move over to the middle, ready to attack. Move them to the middle, then pull them out wide, to open the court.

Pattern 2: Use your topspin roll to their inside foot, then move them wide. You can also move them back to the middle, then if they give you a dead dink, you can attack. Notice that you can make this just a dinking drill, without attack. Jordan emphasizes leaning in, ready to speed up. See the yellow outline of his body. Love his two-hander topspin dinks! See how low he gets.

Pattern 3: Focus on leaning in, setting your feet early, and looking to attack when you have put quality dinks in play.

(You can see Sergio Briones' video along with this article at desertsun.com, just search for Pickleball, it's easy. Or find it on YouTube by searchig Jordan Briones, and go to Winning 97% of points off this play.)

Come out and play​

Next Round Robin is in less than two weeks! Paddle in the New Year is Sunday, Jan. 4 at Rancho Mirage Community Park. Email Mary to register: [email protected]

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This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Pickleball tip of the week is to dink with a plan

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