In business it has been proven time and again that execution is more important than strategy. More company have failed with a great strategy but poor execution. Very few have failed with great execution and poor strategy. How does this transfer over in the game of pickleball?
My premise that it is more important to focus on execution of your shots than the strategy of these shots. I have a great serve that is both fast and has a ton of speed. The challenge is that at best, I can only get it in 50% of the time. The other 50% ends up being out by being wide or long. My fast serve is a challenge to return so I am in a good position to win the point on this serve.
I can also serve the ball at a medium pace and it will land in close to 90% of the time. This serve is much easier to return. The best way to describe it as nothing special. So which serve should I use?
I choose the easy serve because I cannot justify in my mind giving up my serve advantage half the time. I lose the opportunity to score a point without the other team doing anything. My fast serve looks great and it feels really good to ace someone. How can you justify giving your opponent such an easy point while I try to hit the hero shot.
Think of this way, if you cannot hit your shot over the net, does it matter if it was a drop shot, crossing shot or a lob? You lost the point because the ball was out not because it was hit to the wrong spot on the court. Think of it another way, if you put the ball in play, there is a reasonable to good chance that you opponent hits their return out. Why rob your opponent of their unforced error?
I play against a guy who regularly takes a big swing for a short shot or even a dink. Add to this that he is usually running forward to hit this shot. There is a remote chance that he hit the ball in given these factors. He either hits it into the net or that ball flies into the fence. Either way, his execution of the shot did not stand a chance to be a good one. A weekend player like him should reevaluate this shot. To hit this ball in, he needs to reduce his momentum, cut back on his swing and set himself. If he does all of this, he can then decide where he wants to hit his shot.
The first lesson in pickleball is to hit the ball over the net. Then you move onto making the easy shots. Don’t worry about the chessboard of your potential shot selection if you are missing the easy shots. Focus on your footwork, swing mechanics, ball placement and the like. Once you are confident that you return easy to difficult shots with regularity, then you can bring in the strategy concepts.
Before you focus on strategy, master these shots:
- Hit Every Third Shot In — Stop hitting third shots into the net or long. Does not matter if you dink or drive. Just keep the rally alive.
- Master Your Dink Shot — Can you reset the ball into the kitchen regularly like ten times in a row?
- Serve Deep and Consistently – Practice your serve so that you can hit in and deep most of the time.Â
- Return Deep and In Play – Your return should be in most of the time and bonus points for hitting it deep regularly.
- Stay Balanced Always – This is especially true at the net. You need balance to return shots hit to you.
- Being Boring Wins Points – Keep the ball in play by hitting high percentage shots that are boring, safe, low and even soft. No need for hero shots. Let you opponent make the mistake.
You win in pickleball with hitting winners, keeping the ball in play and your opponent’s unforced errors. Nothing feels better than hitting a hero shot that could be a cross-court winner that you opponent cannot return. But what are the odds that the ball will be in as opposed to flying out? It is safer to keep hit an easy shot and avoid unforced errors. You can never overestimate your opponent’s ability to mess up a shot. Don’t give away easy points trying to make a highlight reel shot!!
Remember, execution beats strategy. Every day.