If you are looking for faster hands in pickleball, learn these three important tips that will help you improve. Pickleball coaches Barrett and Danea Bass will teach you how to improve your positioning on the pickleball court, what you need to do with your swing, and how your body position will help you get faster hands and win every pickleball rally. Plus, learn a new pickleball drill to help you practice your fast hands.
Tip #1: Pickleball ready position
The first essential tip to developing fast hands at the pickleball kitchen line is making sure you come back to the ready position in between every shot.
One of the biggest mistakes you can make in pickleball is hitting a volley and then dropping your paddle. When you do this, you will probably not be ready to bring your paddle back up for the next shot — so it's important that your follow-through ends with you at the ready position.
To practice the pickleball ready position:
- Grab a pickleball with your non-dominant hand.
- Stand across the kitchen line from your partner and begin volleying.
- In between every volley, touch your paddle with the ball that's in your opposite hand so you can practice getting your paddle back in front of you in between every shot.
Tip #2: Having a compact swing
When it comes to having fast hands in pickleball, it’s equally important to have a compact swing.
Players at the kitchen line can get in a hands battle and take the paddle way too far back. To have a compact swing, pretend you have a concrete wall that comes out from your hips and you never want to hit that wall.
To practice having a compact swing:
- Line up across from your partner at the kitchen line, and begin volleying back and forth.
- Reach out and keep your paddle in front of the kitchen line when you're volleying and resetting to the ready position.
- Use the net as a visual aid to not pull the paddle too far behind your body.
- Find the ready position out in front.
- Your partner is going to take a step back off of the kitchen line
- You will then hit some consecutive volleys between the forehand and backhand.
- Try to keep this rally going, making sure you don't pull the paddle too far back.
Tip #3: Balance and eye level
Many newer players will think that power on a volley comes from a big swing, but that's not true. Power will come from hitting the right spot on the paddle: the sweet spot. To do this, make sure that you are balanced and your eye level stays at the same point.
Keeping your head still and your eye level still is essential to hitting that sweet spot every single time, so make it your goal to stay low and keep your head at the same level as you volley back and forth.
To practice your balance & eye level:
- Get a cone and a ball and balance the ball on top of the cone.
- Hold the cone with the ball on top in your opposite hand.
- Your partner should be across from you at the kitchen line.
- Volley back and forth with your partner.
- Work on staying still and compact so you don't knock the cone off by moving your body too much in between volleys.
This will help you eliminate unnecessary movements and make sure that your volleys stay really compact and your eye levels are at the same spot.
Drill #1: Pickleball Popcorn Volley Drill
The Popcorn Volley Drill will help you practice fast hands in pickleball.
To practice the pickleball Popcorn Volley Drill:
- Start with your partner across from you at the kitchen line.
- Warm up with a few volleys.
- After you have warmed up, take two steps into the kitchen — you will now be really close to your partner.
- (Remember this is a drill, so even though it’s illegal in a game, this is to help you improve your fast hands.)
- Start to volley back and forth with your partner.
- The goal is to get 30 in a row without dropping it.
- Once you get 30 in a row, you're going to take a step back.
- Repeat this by taking steps back as you get to 30 in a row.
You’ll notice that, as you take steps back, the volleys feel a lot slower and you're able to handle them more. It's especially good to do this before a tournament because your hands are going to feel lightning fast.