You’ve been in a doubles pickleball match where you just can’t seem to get your third shot drop right and consistently hit your ball into the net. I know the feeling, it’s frustrating. Nothing is worse than hitting a drop shot into the net. In fact, hitting your drop shot into the net may be the worst possible scenario, because you never give yourself a chance to start the point and score. It’s better to hit your drops a little too long than to hit the net. At least in that scenario the ball stays in play and you give yourself a chance to recover.
I’ve got a third shot drop drill here to help you break the problem, it’s designed to train your mind that longer drops are better than ones in the net. It’s called Tug of War.
The Third Shot Drop Drill – Tug of War
To do this drill, you need yourself and a partner. Your partner will stand at the non-volley zone line and you’ll stand at the baseline on the other side of the net. Setting yourself up to hit drop shots. Your set up will look like what we have shown in the image below.
To start the drill, you get 10 points. You win when you reach 20 points or lose if you fall to 0 points. Your partner at the non-volley zone will continually feed you balls at the baseline and you have to attempt a drop shot with each ball you receive. Each drop shot you hit will change your score. Here’s how the scoring works.
- A drop shot hit into the net is -2 points
- A drop shot hit too deep that is easy to put away is -1 point
- A good drop shot is +1 point
This drill works because you are penalized more for hitting your drop shots into the net than you are for hitting drop shots that are too deep. After you are consistently reaching 20 points in this drill then you’ll find yourself not hitting near as many drop shots into the net during games.
As you do the drill, pay attention to the situations where you hit more shots into the net. Is it your backhand? Is it when the ball has lots of spin on it? Whatever the situation is that makes you miss the most, practice that scenario more than the others until it’s just as good as everything else. Eliminate those weaknesses from your game!
Pro tip: To make the drill harder, have your partner hit faster shots at you and or shots with more spin. Basically, any type of shot that simulates the type of returns you would get in a real game.
Fundamental Technique for a Good Third Shot Drop
As you do this drill, it’s important that you use good form. We don’t want form to be the reason you are hitting your drop shots into the net. Here are some quick tips to keep in mind when you are hitting your drop shots.
- Hit the ball while it’s out in front of you.
- Hit the ball with forward momentum. You don’t want to be taking the shot with all your weight on your back foot.
- Hit the ball while it’s on its way up after the bounce.
- Aim for the apex of your shot, not the non-volley zone. The apex of this shot should between 6 and 8 feet when it crosses the non-volley zone line on your side of the court.
- Grip strength should be 6 out 10.
Watch this video to improve your backhand drop shot.
Watch this video to improve your forehand drop shot.
