This pickleball drill will help you get to the kitchen line more quickly and win more points. The Drive, Drop, and Reset Drill will teach you which pickleball shots you should block and reset, which shots you should counter, and which shots you should let go out.
Drive, drop, reset, back, shuffle, shuffle back, repeat
The drive, drop, and reset drill will help you get to the kitchen line consistently and win more pickleball points.
Here are the steps:
- Your partner should be at the kitchen line and will give you a nice, cooperative feed.
- You should hit a drive, followed by a drop, followed by a reset.
- You will then shuffle back to the baseline, rinse, and repeat.
This is what it should look like:
- You will hit a drive on the first shot.
- Then you're going to drop the next one.
- Then you will come up into the transition zone.
- You will then reset that ball.
- Shuffle back to the baseline and repeat.
Once you've mastered this sequence, you can then try out some different variations that will help with your decision-making — and make it more into a game-like scenario.
Block & reset, counter, or let it fly
Once you've gotten comfortable with the sequence Drive, Drop, Reset, Shuffle, Shuffle Back, Repeat you can add a variation. This variation will get you to the middle court where you're resetting the ball.
Now you're going to decide, do you:
- Block the ball and reset it into the kitchen if it's up a little higher (around your “yellow light zone”).
- Counter the ball.
- Or, you can let it fly and let it go out (if it's up shoulder-high).
You should add this variation in once you've hit a good reset and they have to concede and hit a dink back. You can then work your way up and play the point out from the kitchen.
Drive, Drop, & Reset Game
Once you've had an opportunity to play in the midcourt and work on your decision-making and whether you're going to: reset the ball, counter the ball, or let it go.
Now it's time to incorporate the game.
Here are the steps to this game:
- Play this game on half the court (or the “skinny court”).
- Start with the original sequence: Drive, Drop, Reset.
- Drive the ball.
- Come up, and then drop the ball.
- If you pop that ball up, your partner can come in and attack it.
- If you hit a good reset, you can come in and close.
- Once you hit the third ball in the transition zone, the point is live and you can continue playing the rally until one of you wins.
- The first one to 11 wins the game, and then you will switch roles with your partner.
- Once you've played on one side, then you can move to the other side of the court, so you can practice hitting shots from all areas.
If you practice this drill — with all the different types of shots that you get to work on — you will be game-ready and will be able to get to the kitchen line with ease.
The Drive, Drop, & Reset Drill is one of the best drills you can do to take your level to 4.0+.