Episode 50 Transcript

Three Things That Are Different in Pickleball [0:01]

Mark:  Hi there, it’s Mark from Third Shot Sports. Welcome to another episode of Pickleball Problems. Today on the show we talk about what is changing in the Pickleball world. What are we seeing that’s new this year, early 2021 compared to a year ago? What do you predict for the future? What’s coming down the pike? I’ve got three things to talk about what is changing in Pickleball? Stay close. 

Sponsor: Pickleball Coaching International

Third-Shot Drives [1:20]

Alright, welcome back to the show. Today on Pickleball Problems. We’re talking about how Pickleball is changing. Three things that are making Pickleball different than it was even just a year ago, let alone five years ago. So let’s get started. 

The first thing that I want to point to is more third-shot drives. It used to be the case, I know, especially when I first came into Pickleball back in 2014. I was just a wee young boy back then. It was all about the third-shot drop. You’d hear about this all over the place. If you’re not playing a third-shot drop, you’re not doing it properly.

Well, folks, things have changed. And I mean, it’s not like it’s just changed all of a sudden in early 2021. This has been happening for a while. I’ve been watching videos. I’ve been watching the pros in person, and you’re seeing the percentage split between drops and drives are really changing. It used to be if you’d watch the pro match, I don’t know, I’m going to guess based on some of the stats we’ve done before, we used to see sort of like upwards of 75% of the time being third-shot drops.

And now as you watch the pros over the last year, it was sort of like a 50/50 split. And now what I’m seeing early in 2021, is that we’re seeing now a greater proportion of third shots being third-shot drives. It’s not even 50/50 anymore. Now, of course, this isn’t uniform across the board. There are still certain people out there who are always going to that third-shot drop. I’m looking at you, Dave Weinbach. But there are other players who are saying, “No, no, third-shot drive is on the table for me, that is my default place.” So it’s not like it’s every single person, but overall, when you watch the top pros play Doubles Pickleball, you are seeing third-shot drives. And of course, this isn’t limited just to the pros. You’re probably playing at your local rec center or YMCA and you’re seeing a lot of third-shot drives as well. And so, why is that? Why is it that we’re seeing more of these third-shot drives? So I think it has a little bit to do with the kind of return that’s being hit. You’re seeing a lot of returns hit with a lot more spin these days, more on spin in a minute. And a ball that’s spinning quite a lot, it’s very difficult to be really precise and slow off a ball with heavy spin. And of course, that’s what a drop is, right? It’s a very slow, precise shot. So if you’re receiving a heavily spinning ball, it could be really challenging to be as precise as you need to be playing that drop, so a lot of players are saying, “Okay, you’re going to give me a lot of spin. No problem. I’m going to hit a third-shot drive. And then when you play that volley back to me, presumably that volley won’t have as much spin, and so the fifth shot drop becomes a lot easier.” So that’s one of the reasons why you’re seeing more drives on the third shot. Of course, you’re also seeing it because players are getting better at driving. Paddles are getting more powerful. Players are coming from other sports backgrounds where they’re hitting balls hard. So I think all these things kind of in combination, one of the reasons you’re seeing more of these third-shot drives over the last year, and I think you’re going to continue to see them going further into 2021.

Alright, I want to talk about two other things that we’re seeing major differences, and we’re going to do that in just a sec. 

Sponsor: Selkirk Sport

Flicks [5:10]

Welcome back to Pickleball Problems. I’m your host, Mark Renneson. Today, we are talking about the changes in Pickleball. What we’ve seen over the course of the last 12 months and what we’re expecting going forward. A moment ago, I was talking about a third-shot drives, becoming more prevalent. Let’s think about instead of being back near the baseline, let’s think about being up closer to the net. One of the things I’m seeing a major difference is how many more flicks are now being hit. 

Now, a flick — I’m sort of putting in opposition to a dink, right? A dink is a slow, low ball that you hit to someone who’s at the net when you’re at the net, mainly intended to keep yourself out of trouble because that ball is sort of low and difficult to attack. A flick would be the opposite of that. You’re still playing it low, but this time you’re playing it fast, usually at your opponent’s body sometimes to their forehand hip, that’s an uncomfortable position for them sometimes through the middle, I guess, too. Anyway, the point is that I’m seeing way more of these balls that a year ago would have been dinks. We’re now starting to see balls that are fast or sometimes even call it a speed-up, so it doesn’t have to be called a flick — so more of these speed-ups. Why is that happening? What’s happening there? Well, I think people are realizing that when you play a dink, in many cases, the best you can hope for is a shot that’s difficult for your opponents to attack. But very often these drinks, aren’t very offensive shots themselves. I mean, there’s exceptions, we’re going to talk about that in a moment. But what players are saying is like from up close, even if that ball is just a little bit high, it doesn’t even have to be above net level. If it’s a little bit high, especially if it’s on your strong side, like a forehand, that could be a good chance to apply some pressure to your opponents who might not be ready for it. Or even if they are ready for it might not be able to handle it. So that’s always been the case. So what is it that’s contributing to us seeing more of these?

Well, I think a few things, we already mentioned paddle technology. As the paddles come along and are able to develop more power and more spin, you can hit those balls faster and still have a chance to keep them in play. I think people are becoming more precise with these speed-ups or with these flicks. They’re able to target their opponents a little bit better either they’re targeting their opponent’s body, so yes, it might be a ball that would go out but instead you’re able to hit your opponent with the ball — not to hurt them or anything, but to win the point. And people are just overall becoming a more refined with their sort of soft game skills and would we consider a flick or a speed-up still a soft game? I don’t know. I guess that’s a debate for another question. It’s definitely not as fast as something like a drive, but anyway, that’s neither here nor there. So I am seeing from up close that these flicks, these speedups, we’re seeing a lot more of those. A lot more often, players are also becoming better at disguising those shots. We’re also seeing more of them, not just on the strong side, like the forehand, but also on the back end as well. So it’s one reason I’ve talked a lot previously about the importance of having a solid backhand if you want to be a good player, this is one more reason for that. If you were the kind of player who every time the ball is on your backhand, your opponents can bet that you’re not going to do anything very aggressive, that’s a real liability for you, that’s one of the reasons why we’re seeing more players who are sort of scampering out wide, avoiding their backend, using their forehand, even if they’re out of position. But they put themselves in a position to be a bit more of a threat. 

So anyway, we can sort of put this under the umbrella of balls that previously were likely to be dinks are now being sped up far more often over the course of last year, and I expect going forward into 2021. 

Alright, I’ve got one more thing to talk about. One more, uh, trend that we’re seeing that we haven’t seen for the last year and we expect to see for the year coming forward, and we’re going to talk about that in just a moment.

Sponsor: Jigsaw Health

When Dinks are Hit [9:48]

Welcome back to Pickleball Problems. Today, we’re talking about things that have changed over the last year and things that we expect to change going forward. I’ve already mentioned more third-shot drives. I’ve mentioned more speeding things up from around the non-volley zone. The other thing I want to talk about is when dinks are hit.

So a second ago, I was saying, “Look, there’s fewer of these dinks.” And I think that’s true, but when dinks are hit, I’m seeing a real difference here. And I’m seeing this with the men, but also the women as well. Some of the women have been even more pronounced in this. What is it that I’m talking about? Well, I’m talking about spin. The amount of spin that’s being put on. These drinks really have evolved. Of course, there’s sort of two primary spins that you’re going to see on these drinks. You’re gonna see backspin and you’re going to see top-spin. 

Backspin, of course, is when players hit a ball and as it’s traveling away from them, it’s rotating back toward them. And then on the, on the question of topspin, that’s the opposite. So the ball is still traveling away from you, but it’s spinning away from you as well — sort of over the top. 

Typically, what we see is the backspin shots are being hit off of the backhand side. It’s not impossible to hit a top-spin dink with your backend, especially if you use two hands looking at you, Lucy Kovalova. But you’ll often see a lot of backspin on the backhand. Katherine Parento comes to mind is someone who really puts a lot of backspin, sometimes known as slice on her dinks. 

And on the forehand side, you’re seeing that spin as well, but you were also seeing more top-spin. And why is that? Why do you see a little more top-spin on the forehand than the backhand?

It really has to do with the wrist and your ability to drop your wrist and drop your paddle below the ball which is necessary in order to brush up and to create that top-spin. That’s a little bit more challenging to do on the backhand, especially the one-handed backhand. Of course, if you’re a two-handed backhand player, when dinking, you can use that non-dominant hand. Really it’s like hitting a forehand with your non-dominant side, and it’s a little easier to drop the paddle head that way. So I have seen that when players are playing dinks, that they’re being more aggressive with them. They’re trying to do more than just stay in the point. They’re trying to cause some trouble for their opponents. 

I guess before we end this, we should talk about what the spin does. Topspin makes the bone go up and over the net and drop a bit sooner than it otherwise would. You also get a little bit more of a rebound, a quicker rebound at the opponent when you play with top-spin. Whereas with backspin, you get a flatter trajectory as it crosses the net and you get a bit more of a skidding action. So mixing up these spins can make it a little more difficult for players to really be precise and to control those balls that they’re trying to send back. 

Alright, so there you have it. Those are the three things I’ve seen change over the last year and expect to see more of in 2021. More third-shot drives, more flicks and speed-ups close to the net, and generally more spin, especially when we’re talking about dinking, top-spin, backspin, really just trying to make life difficult for your opponents. 

We are going to leave it there. Thank you for joining us. Just a reminder, as well as being able to listen to me here on Pickleball Problems, you can also watch it on YouTube. We now make videos of all these recordings. So check out the Third Shot Sports YouTube channel for that. Check out PickleballCoachingInternational.com or PCIpickleball.com. We’ve got some really exciting things happening there. 

Thank you very much for listening. If you have any questions for me, you want me to address, send me a note to mark@thirdshotsports.com. You can find us on all the social media as well. And brand new, I’m now in Clubhouse. If you like listening to me talk my head off and you’re on Clubhouse, look up @thirdshotsports, you can find me there talk about lots of interesting Pickleball stuff. Alright, until next time I’m Mar Renneson. Take it easy!