Another excellent video, Nicole! No one else gets down to the nitty gritty details - ex 1/60 second - like you. “How to aim the ball” brilliant! As a natural athlete, many of these nuances are intuitive for me, so I often can’t recognize and then explain what I’m doing to others. You are right - cross court contact is slightly before the point of contact for down the line. Again, I so appreciate your simultaneous side-by-side comparison videos. Your video presentations raise the bar for everyone else publishing TH-cam Pickleball instructional videos. I’m a fan. 👍
Very clear, appreciate the split screen shots, and the combined verbal and visual teaching really comes across to me. Thank you for your clear thinking and analysis.
As usual, you are superb in your instruction and you capture and communicate the most intricate fundamentals. I never could figure out why I constantly pulled the ball to unintended areas of the court. I have a lot of practicing ahead of me - but that’s ok now that you have demonstrated what I’ve been doing wrong. A big THANK YOU!
I completely agree with this comment. My aim is unpredictable and this video breaks down the reasons AND the fix. Thank you for the excellent content, Nicole!!
Thanks Nicole, great job as usual. I have a few overarching thougts on what I see from players who have trouble aiming their shots. First, having a target, In order to hit a target you must have a target. Second, late preparation. Get your shoulders turned and your feet moving as soon as possible in order to have a smooth, consistent stroke. Adjust and correct your aim by understanding that the ball always goes where your paddle face is pointing at contact. 😊
Wow! Great demonstration! Thank you so much for breaking it down that way! It makes such great sense! Looking forward to checking out more videos! Very different from most!
I had to add a second comment on this video because I had noticeable results in my last drill session. My husband and I have finally improved to the point where we can be a reliable feeder to each other. Yesterday, I effectively got your point about the timing of each hit. The side-by-side comparison of different shots in this video made it so clear! I watched it before so I must be able to understand better at this point. So, many thanks, Nicole for breaking down the details so clearly!! I can’t wait until I remember those skills consistently in a game 😀
Thank you so much for breaking this down because there are many players like me that have no paddle or racket sport experience. Many teachers just assume we know the basics but we don't. This helps so much! 🤗
Another awesome video(content and production) And i guess this is part of the reason why high level tennis players transition so quickly. They have that shot mechanics repeatability dialed in and then just have to adjust to the pickleball timing.
Thanks! Brilliant, I've always been bewildered whensome shots go astray! Can you recommend drills that help with timing/placement? Thanks for great content!
Thanks so much for this! I have a video coming out soon on drills with the slinger ball machine that will help with this. Alternatively, just hit down the line groundstrokes from baseline to baseline with a partner... straight ahead as well as cross court. Forehands only and then backhands only. Get the ball as deep as you can and aim it right for them. Try to keep your strokes very similar with only minor adjustments. Get your contact in the same zone as much as possible.
Thanks for a great video on the subject that is rarely discussed in such a clear way. I was under the impression to hit inline or cross court, I need to have different swing paths. That was wrong and I end up having hard time to control the direction of the ball. From this video, it is shown that the actual difference is in timing and contact point.
Lots of reps! Start with a slower incoming ball. Get good there and then increase the speed a little bit at a time. Don’t move up to a higher speeds until you have control at slower speeds.
@@primetimepickleball maybe a video on what that practice would look like. How do I actually get the paddle to contact the ball slightly earlier or later to control where the ball goes? Is this in your Prime Time pickleball course?
To me this makes sense and just like hitting in baseball, where you place the ball in the field is on timing and have to start with slower balls before moving on to faster balls
@@margaretdunbar6642 The course is all about strategy so it does not cover that as that is technique related. As I mention in the video...you leave just a little bit earlier for your swing so that by the time you get to the ball, your paddle is facing cross court. And you leave a bit later for the down the line. It's such a nuanced difference that you can only figure out how it should feel to you by doing LOTS and LOTS of repetitions. Start on a slow ball to and pick one target (let's say crosscourt) until your solid on hitting that target. Then hit down the line until your're awesome at that. Then alternate between down the line and crosscourt and you'll train yourself to learn what it will take to change between the two targets. You can do this by drop feeding out of your hand. I have a video coming out soon on how to train to hit forehands and backhands using a ball machine from all locations and too all locations. Hope this helps!
As I get into more top spin serves my accuracy is suffering? Does length of my backswing effect timing and accuracy? How do I time brushing up on the ball in relation to hitting forward towards the target?
You don't want to reach back, you want to turn back. My backswing "looks' big but it isn't really. It's because I turn and coil up my body a lot and then can release very relaxed. You swing low to high for topspin as you go forward. Film yourself and compare to my forehands/serve or a pro and see the differences. That should help you quite a bit.
"Strong and consistent shots." Do you have any input on consistency when the ball is hit? I'm struggling because I'm occasionally hitting close to the end of the paddle or close to the edge. Any drills to improve hitting the center of the paddle?
This requires a bigger answer but essentially, the concept is the same as far as the motion, but your footwork will be different. Slow mo advanced players and check out their footwork patterns while on the move. I'll see about making a video on this.
When I attempt a down-the-line passing shot from a position near the sideline, (usually, when the pace of the ball being hit to me is not at full speed), I attempt to align my body perpendicular to the line and focus most of my swing to be parallel to the sideline. This seems to enable me to be more consistent than only relying on the timing and paddle angle at point of contact. While, I agree, that timing and paddle angle is the most critical component, if you and your swing are well aligned, the timing will be less of a factor and you'll be more effective at hitting the target. When the pace is too fast to get this alignment, I don't attempt this risky of a shot and stay down the middle. Nicole, what are your thoughts on this strategy?
Yea i like the way you think about it. That's a great way to get the timing right by placing your attention on something else (alignment) that get's the timing done as a happy bi-product.
You mean lead tape? I’m not sure I understand the question. Whatever changes you make to your paddle or if you change paddles you have to get used to that paddle so that you produce the same motion you did only recalibrated (timing wise) for the change in weight. If you have your timing down. A change in paddle shouldn’t be much of an issue for you.
I turn my core and shoulders. I don’t reach back with the paddle. This is how you want to do it. Look at pro players. My backswing is very similar in size.
It looks to me like in your cross court shot your wrist is a bit straighter which would help the shot go cross court. Is that coincidence or do you think you use your wrist a bit to help compensate for small last minute errors in timing and possibly to help with aim? For me personally, while I'm not certain, I believe that I use my wrist for last millisecond compensation for timing, aim, bounce height, weird bounces, etc. Since you come from a tennis background, that might sound like a terrible idea to you, but I am also a ping pong player where wrist motion is essential to making shots and pickleball shots sometimes feel more like ping pong than tennis. Before I started playing pickleball, one person described the game as "just like ping pong but you're standing on the table!" Also, for me, I want to hit most balls in the portion of the swing where you hit the down the line shot. That's the portion of my swing where I'm most consistent and accurate (where my "kinetic chain" still has consistent loading). By the time my stroke gets to where you hit the cross court shot, it's starting to degrade and lose consistency. In fact, I do slightly better (on the forehand) with a slightly more open stance and striking the ball even earlier in the swing (just a little bit).
My wrist is a tad bit straighter on the crosscourt shot. Since I'm hitting everything just a tad bit later in the motion as compared to the DTL shot, it does make sense that my wrist is a tad bit more released by this point in the swing since it is "later" in the swing and therefore a tad bit "later" in the release of the kinetic chain. But it's so small and I've done it so much that I feel good on both and feel I have control in a "strike zone" that is not limited to exactly one spot or exactly one part of my kinetic chain. You have to get comfortable in a "zone" since each incoming ball is different. The bigger the zone that you're comfortable in, the better of a player you will be. That said I am sure I do minor last second compensation in all kinds of ways including with the wrist. This is all part art and part science and although there are important similarities between shots on two players with a great forehand (or backhand or any shot) there are also many stylistic differences. Also when we're talking about minor differences in timing at a high level of skill, a lot of that is not taught, it just comes down to reps and reps and reps and how you synthesize it between your brain and your body in a way that makes optimal use of your body given the situation.
@@primetimepickleball I definitely agree with all that. Coincidentally, I've been moving my focus to trying to extend my strike zone. When I hit the ball within my admittedly minuscule comfortable strike zone, my shots are 2nd to none. Well, ok, maybe still 2nd to Ben Johns. 🙂 Any good drills for extending my strike zone other than purposely doing less good footwork and less good timing and trying to hit good shots nonetheless while a bit out of position, somewhat off balance and/or swinging a bit too early or too late?
Looks like you are watching the ball into your paddle. So I have assume you made up your mind to ggo cross court or down lane begoe you hit. Thus, you have a vision in your mind of your target, is that correct?
The target is not moving, the ball is so look at the ball. Yes, you should hold the target in your mind's eye but you don't need to look at it. You know where it is based on where you are in the court.
Another excellent video, Nicole! No one else gets down to the nitty gritty details - ex 1/60 second - like you. “How to aim the ball” brilliant! As a natural athlete, many of these nuances are intuitive for me, so I often can’t recognize and then explain what I’m doing to others. You are right - cross court contact is slightly before the point of contact for down the line. Again, I so appreciate your simultaneous side-by-side comparison videos. Your video presentations raise the bar for everyone else publishing TH-cam Pickleball instructional videos. I’m a fan. 👍
Thank you so much! Very happy to hear that my content is helpful.
Very clear, appreciate the split screen shots, and the combined verbal and visual teaching really comes across to me. Thank you for your clear thinking and analysis.
You're very welcome! Glad it was helpful.
As usual, you are superb in your instruction and you capture and communicate the most intricate fundamentals. I never could figure out why I constantly pulled the ball to unintended areas of the court. I have a lot of practicing ahead of me - but that’s ok now that you have demonstrated what I’ve been doing wrong. A big THANK YOU!
Awesome! Glad you are getting practical value from my content. Thanks for the comment.
I completely agree with this comment. My aim is unpredictable and this video breaks down the reasons AND the fix. Thank you for the excellent content, Nicole!!
Thanks Nicole, great job as usual. I have a few overarching thougts on what I see from players who have trouble aiming their shots. First, having a target, In order to hit a target you must have a target. Second, late preparation. Get your shoulders turned and your feet moving as soon as possible in order to have a smooth, consistent stroke. Adjust and correct your aim by understanding that the ball always goes where your paddle face is pointing at contact. 😊
Absolutely! Totally agree.
Wow! Great demonstration! Thank you so much for breaking it down that way! It makes such great sense! Looking forward to checking out more videos! Very different from most!
I had to add a second comment on this video because I had noticeable results in my last drill session. My husband and I have finally improved to the point where we can be a reliable feeder to each other. Yesterday, I effectively got your point about the timing of each hit. The side-by-side comparison of different shots in this video made it so clear! I watched it before so I must be able to understand better at this point. So, many thanks, Nicole for breaking down the details so clearly!! I can’t wait until I remember those skills consistently in a game 😀
So happy to hear this! Keep at it. It all adds up :)
This is such a detailed analysis and breakdown! Amazing stuff, thank you so so much! :D
You’re so welcome!
Thank you so much for breaking this down because there are many players like me that have no paddle or racket sport experience. Many teachers just assume we know the basics but we don't. This helps so much! 🤗
You bet!
Great video. I loved that you showed the side by side shots. I'm a visual person, so this was extremely useful.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Another excellent video. I never never processed aiming my shots this way. Very helpful guidance.
Glad you enjoyed it
Very helpful! The way you broke this down solved what I have been trying to figure out for days now. Thanks!
Awesome. Gals it helped.
Thx, Nicole, this is a great in-depth video. Going to be so helpful to me, I’m sure!
I'm so glad! Thanks for the comment.
Another awesome video(content and production) And i guess this is part of the reason why high level tennis players transition so quickly. They have that shot mechanics repeatability dialed in and then just have to adjust to the pickleball timing.
Exactly!
Simple and precise, good tips as always. Thank you.
😁 thx!
Same as a baseball swing, hitting a little out in front vs. hitting ball slightly back farther in stance.
Some similarities yes
❤nice explanation , but got more confuse ❤ thanks for the info.😊
Glad you enjoyed it. What’s confusing?
Nicole your the best. Explanation and demonstration is just great. Thanks for your insights.
Thank you! 😊
What a great lesson, thanks, timing and mechanics, who knew? Now all I need to do is practice, practice, practice.
You can do it!
You’re right…mechanics is indeed the key. Excellent info. Thank you.
Totally! Thanks fore the comment.
Nicole, outstanding content and quality video editing!!! You're breakdown and explanations are spot on. Thanks.
Thanks Jay! 😊
I like your clear concise speaking and facts
Thank you! I appreciate the kind feedback.
Thanks! Brilliant, I've always been bewildered whensome shots go astray! Can you recommend drills that help with timing/placement? Thanks for great content!
Thanks so much for this! I have a video coming out soon on drills with the slinger ball machine that will help with this. Alternatively, just hit down the line groundstrokes from baseline to baseline with a partner... straight ahead as well as cross court. Forehands only and then backhands only. Get the ball as deep as you can and aim it right for them. Try to keep your strokes very similar with only minor adjustments. Get your contact in the same zone as much as possible.
Thanks for a great video on the subject that is rarely discussed in such a clear way. I was under the impression to hit inline or cross court, I need to have different swing paths. That was wrong and I end up having hard time to control the direction of the ball. From this video, it is shown that the actual difference is in timing and contact point.
Yup! A lot of people think they have to do something drastically different. Not so at all.
You made another amazing video, so helpful and informative and detailed. Good job.
Thanks so much!
Thanks Nicole! Great breakdown. My dream is to get in person coaching from you.
Glad you liked it! Awww...I hope to get out on the court one day again for coaching. Still injured so not sure when that might be.
This was very helpful, Explained it very well. Thanks, want to check out more videos!
Awesome, thank you!
A drone/overhead looking down view would be helpful here.
Yeah, I can see that.
If where the ball goes is all about timing, and the ball is coming so fast, how do you get the timing down to produce the two different shots?
Lots of reps! Start with a slower incoming ball. Get good there and then increase the speed a little bit at a time. Don’t move up to a higher speeds until you have control at slower speeds.
@@primetimepickleball maybe a video on what that practice would look like. How do I actually get the paddle to contact the ball slightly earlier or later to control where the ball goes? Is this in your Prime Time pickleball course?
To me this makes sense and just like hitting in baseball, where you place the ball in the field is on timing and have to start with slower balls before moving on to faster balls
@@margaretdunbar6642 The course is all about strategy so it does not cover that as that is technique related. As I mention in the video...you leave just a little bit earlier for your swing so that by the time you get to the ball, your paddle is facing cross court. And you leave a bit later for the down the line. It's such a nuanced difference that you can only figure out how it should feel to you by doing LOTS and LOTS of repetitions. Start on a slow ball to and pick one target (let's say crosscourt) until your solid on hitting that target. Then hit down the line until your're awesome at that. Then alternate between down the line and crosscourt and you'll train yourself to learn what it will take to change between the two targets. You can do this by drop feeding out of your hand. I have a video coming out soon on how to train to hit forehands and backhands using a ball machine from all locations and too all locations. Hope this helps!
@@primetimepickleball thank you!
Excellent breakdown. Thank you.
Awesome! Glad you liked it.
As I get into more top spin serves my accuracy is suffering? Does length of my backswing effect timing and accuracy? How do I time brushing up on the ball in relation to hitting forward towards the target?
You don't want to reach back, you want to turn back. My backswing "looks' big but it isn't really. It's because I turn and coil up my body a lot and then can release very relaxed. You swing low to high for topspin as you go forward. Film yourself and compare to my forehands/serve or a pro and see the differences. That should help you quite a bit.
Really, very good. You really analyze it nicely.
Thank you very much!
Another great video. Well explained.
Thx!
Great info will start working on that tomorrow!
Awesome!
Great explanation (as always). Very helpful information! Thanks!
My pleasure!
Thanks!
You’re welcome!
Great camera instruction
Thanks!
Very helpful and thank you very much
you're welcome! I'm glad you found it helpful!
Love! now I know what’s going on with my shots being so inconsistent!
Awesome! Let's get those reps and dial it in :)
Thank you!
❤️
Wow great information here, thanks.
Thanks!
"Strong and consistent shots." Do you have any input on consistency when the ball is hit? I'm struggling because I'm occasionally hitting close to the end of the paddle or close to the edge. Any drills to improve hitting the center of the paddle?
Try using something like this. spot-on-pickleball.com/. It will help you be more consistently in the sweet spot.
Thank you
You're welcome and thanks for watching 😊
Very good thanks!
You're welcome! Happy to help 😊
Great tips!
Cheers!
i play with hard fast hitters how do i aim while still in motion. and all different positions
This requires a bigger answer but essentially, the concept is the same as far as the motion, but your footwork will be different. Slow mo advanced players and check out their footwork patterns while on the move. I'll see about making a video on this.
What ball machine do you use?. It seems pretty consistent compared to the one I have seen at our local club.
The Slinger bag. I did a review here: th-cam.com/video/Lu3pswJmoF4/w-d-xo.htmlsi=D650or-KXumNp9WA
Thanks for your reply, I heard some good things about it.
When I attempt a down-the-line passing shot from a position near the sideline, (usually, when the pace of the ball being hit to me is not at full speed), I attempt to align my body perpendicular to the line and focus most of my swing to be parallel to the sideline. This seems to enable me to be more consistent than only relying on the timing and paddle angle at point of contact. While, I agree, that timing and paddle angle is the most critical component, if you and your swing are well aligned, the timing will be less of a factor and you'll be more effective at hitting the target. When the pace is too fast to get this alignment, I don't attempt this risky of a shot and stay down the middle. Nicole, what are your thoughts on this strategy?
Yea i like the way you think about it. That's a great way to get the timing right by placing your attention on something else (alignment) that get's the timing done as a happy bi-product.
Do you find yourself looking at the ball when hit or your target??? still learning... Vince
As much as possible… ball
How does lead affct these two things you mentioned?
You mean lead tape? I’m not sure I understand the question. Whatever changes you make to your paddle or if you change paddles you have to get used to that paddle so that you produce the same motion you did only recalibrated (timing wise) for the change in weight. If you have your timing down. A change in paddle shouldn’t be much of an issue for you.
Yes the Lead tape. Lots of people add lead tapes without realizing that there are no direct benefits.@@primetimepickleball
That was fantastic!
Glad you enjoyed it!
It appears you take a much bigger backswing than other pros that recommend a short backswing to improve consistency
I turn my core and shoulders. I don’t reach back with the paddle. This is how you want to do it. Look at pro players. My backswing is very similar in size.
Very good video.
Thank you!
Thank you for this video. I've asked this question to a few players and they didn't know how to answer it. Ha
you're welcome! i'm glad you enjoyed the video 😊
I learn more from TH-cam than in-person lessons
😁 Glad you enjoy the videos.
The way I got it correct was where the body faced. If you watched the cross court swing, her body is facing more to the left.
Nice! Yeah, I would be since I’m later in the rotation. Whatever cue works for you is great.
It looks to me like in your cross court shot your wrist is a bit straighter which would help the shot go cross court. Is that coincidence or do you think you use your wrist a bit to help compensate for small last minute errors in timing and possibly to help with aim? For me personally, while I'm not certain, I believe that I use my wrist for last millisecond compensation for timing, aim, bounce height, weird bounces, etc. Since you come from a tennis background, that might sound like a terrible idea to you, but I am also a ping pong player where wrist motion is essential to making shots and pickleball shots sometimes feel more like ping pong than tennis. Before I started playing pickleball, one person described the game as "just like ping pong but you're standing on the table!"
Also, for me, I want to hit most balls in the portion of the swing where you hit the down the line shot. That's the portion of my swing where I'm most consistent and accurate (where my "kinetic chain" still has consistent loading). By the time my stroke gets to where you hit the cross court shot, it's starting to degrade and lose consistency. In fact, I do slightly better (on the forehand) with a slightly more open stance and striking the ball even earlier in the swing (just a little bit).
My wrist is a tad bit straighter on the crosscourt shot. Since I'm hitting everything just a tad bit later in the motion as compared to the DTL shot, it does make sense that my wrist is a tad bit more released by this point in the swing since it is "later" in the swing and therefore a tad bit "later" in the release of the kinetic chain. But it's so small and I've done it so much that I feel good on both and feel I have control in a "strike zone" that is not limited to exactly one spot or exactly one part of my kinetic chain. You have to get comfortable in a "zone" since each incoming ball is different. The bigger the zone that you're comfortable in, the better of a player you will be. That said I am sure I do minor last second compensation in all kinds of ways including with the wrist. This is all part art and part science and although there are important similarities between shots on two players with a great forehand (or backhand or any shot) there are also many stylistic differences. Also when we're talking about minor differences in timing at a high level of skill, a lot of that is not taught, it just comes down to reps and reps and reps and how you synthesize it between your brain and your body in a way that makes optimal use of your body given the situation.
@@primetimepickleball I definitely agree with all that. Coincidentally, I've been moving my focus to trying to extend my strike zone. When I hit the ball within my admittedly minuscule comfortable strike zone, my shots are 2nd to none. Well, ok, maybe still 2nd to Ben Johns. 🙂 Any good drills for extending my strike zone other than purposely doing less good footwork and less good timing and trying to hit good shots nonetheless while a bit out of position, somewhat off balance and/or swinging a bit too early or too late?
Looks like you are watching the ball into your paddle. So I have assume you made up your mind to ggo cross court or down lane begoe you hit. Thus, you have a vision in your mind of your target, is that correct?
The target is not moving, the ball is so look at the ball. Yes, you should hold the target in your mind's eye but you don't need to look at it. You know where it is based on where you are in the court.
6:14
👍
I push my shots where I want them and I'm an all control player
That's one way to play.
Thanks!
Thanks so much Bob! Really appreciate it.