thanks for your content. not sure if this has been covered already but could you talk about who should cover the down the middle passing shots? I feel like my partner and I are confused about who should cover the speedup down the middle (I think usually it is a diagonal shot from the opponent either from the back or from the nvz line but typically crossing over the center line and landing towards the back of the court or transition zone). most people who I've talked with say the person on the diagonal should take the ball but I feel it's not always the case, like maybe the ball is high and poachable or maybe the ball is medium high and kind of looping. if you know a speedup is probably coming (like maybe I left a dink kind of high/dead during a crosscourt dink exchange) then I assume one person should maybe cover the middle more?
Your tip from the other day on forehand dinks really helped me today on dinks and drops. It was the use of torso rotation instead of all arm. I knew I was doing something wrong and now I know, when I don’t have any torso rotation, it’s hard for me to control the swing speed, and I can also bend my elbow during the swing.
Slice drop OK? Or should I learn topspin drop? @ 5.0+ level I have many other parts of the game to work on... Just wondering if I should prioritize this.
Question: when dinking cross court, how far are you shading toward the middle after your dink? What factors are you looking for to tell you if you should slide over a lot or slide toward the middle a little? Thanks!
@@JamesIgnatowich quick followup (and thank you for the response!): so, the wider/farther you dink cross court, the more you are shading toward the middle? But if they have a speedup threat (assuming this speedup is coming from near the sideline on their side), you shade even more? If you shade middle after a wide dink, can't they just dink it even wider back to you, which could potentially get past you and cause lots of problems? Thanks again J!
Would you modify your swing when hitting a drop off a return that's coming at you at a high rate of speed (eg. a "banger" return)? Sometimes it feels like a reset shot from the baseline, which probably isn't good.
Jesse Irvine is another pro that hits incredibly slow drops. I think another benefit of slow drops is they tend not to bounce as high as a fast high arcing drop.
Ben consistently has his left foot on his toes right before hitting his topspin drop. Doesn’t Anna do this as well? And then they seem to “hop” up with the right foot slightly upon contact. Assume this helps with lifting the ball?
That’s how some players do it, I don’t necessarily teach it that way. Collin Johns is maybe even more consistent than Ben is, and both of his feet are planted on the ground. To each their own!
@@JamesIgnatowich sorry, disregard this comment. Somehow this got moved from another video I asked this question to someone else. That being said, I appreciate your content.
Low and linear instead of high and loopy. It may look like pro’s hit high, loopy drops. But if you watch in person you’ll see that the best drops are quite linear
Good advice James. As an instructor, I might suggest also: pretend to catch the ball with the paddle and pretend you are tossing the ball to a 2 year old (the kitchen)
Liked. Selkirk can provide John with a better video cam and perhaps background. Doesn't objectively change the content, but it does reduce the sense of professionalism and excellence.
Watch Carlos Alcarez or Rafa Nadal hit their drops. Follow EXACTY what they do... I teach my students that they are a "dink from distance"... It takes TONS of practice...
Love the advice about aiming for above the center of the net on a 3rd shot drop, great perspective!
Yes you make sense. All good 👍
Thanks. I almost always tried to drop to the corner - for consistency I’ll go middle. 👍
Thanks for watching. Same with resets
Swing speed and lifting/ looking up or not keeping my head down through contact are my main issues. Thanks for the info.
No problem! My new channel has more content also with visual representations
Thanks for your great advice as always
Thank you for watching!
thanks for your content. not sure if this has been covered already but could you talk about who should cover the down the middle passing shots? I feel like my partner and I are confused about who should cover the speedup down the middle (I think usually it is a diagonal shot from the opponent either from the back or from the nvz line but typically crossing over the center line and landing towards the back of the court or transition zone). most people who I've talked with say the person on the diagonal should take the ball but I feel it's not always the case, like maybe the ball is high and poachable or maybe the ball is medium high and kind of looping. if you know a speedup is probably coming (like maybe I left a dink kind of high/dead during a crosscourt dink exchange) then I assume one person should maybe cover the middle more?
Your tip from the other day on forehand dinks really helped me today on dinks and drops. It was the use of torso rotation instead of all arm.
I knew I was doing something wrong and now I know, when I don’t have any torso rotation, it’s hard for me to control the swing speed, and I can also bend my elbow during the swing.
Awesome! That tip helped me a lot also
Thanks!
Looking forward to the clinic next week.
See you there!
Slice drop OK? Or should I learn topspin drop? @ 5.0+ level
I have many other parts of the game to work on... Just wondering if I should prioritize this.
Question: when dinking cross court, how far are you shading toward the middle after your dink? What factors are you looking for to tell you if you should slide over a lot or slide toward the middle a little? Thanks!
The farther I dink cross court the more I’ll shade middle, but if the person is more of a speed up threat I’ll shade middle more
@@JamesIgnatowich quick followup (and thank you for the response!): so, the wider/farther you dink cross court, the more you are shading toward the middle? But if they have a speedup threat (assuming this speedup is coming from near the sideline on their side), you shade even more? If you shade middle after a wide dink, can't they just dink it even wider back to you, which could potentially get past you and cause lots of problems? Thanks again J!
Is there a time for the windshield wiper motion on a 3rd?
I don’t think so, I don’t see any pros so that. But I like to keep an open mind
17 min pod, making progress
I’m busy 😂
Would you say part of having a slow, steady swing is making sure not to have a backswing? Keeping it out front ?
For sure! Definitley don’t want too much of a backswing on drops
Would you modify your swing when hitting a drop off a return that's coming at you at a high rate of speed (eg. a "banger" return)? Sometimes it feels like a reset shot from the baseline, which probably isn't good.
Definitely. The harder the shot that is hit at me; the smaller my swing will be
Jesse Irvine is another pro that hits incredibly slow drops. I think another benefit of slow drops is they tend not to bounce as high as a fast high arcing drop.
For sure! Thanks for watching
Ben consistently has his left foot on his toes right before hitting his topspin drop. Doesn’t Anna do this as well? And then they seem to “hop” up with the right foot slightly upon contact. Assume this helps with lifting the ball?
That’s how some players do it, I don’t necessarily teach it that way. Collin Johns is maybe even more consistent than Ben is, and both of his feet are planted on the ground. To each their own!
Fully support you bro. Could you clarify the values you don’t align with?
Thank you! Meaning lines of thinking and general pickleball advice that I disagree with?
@@JamesIgnatowich sorry, disregard this comment. Somehow this got moved from another video I asked this question to someone else. That being said, I appreciate your content.
Are you still heavy third shot drive first, over third shot drop? What determines this decision?
I’m doing a video soon on that from this channel here that I’m commenting from!
Has your mixed doubles partner upgraded to Daescu permanently?
James: Can you talk about “out balls” and how to gauge them?
For sure! I’ll be releasing a video on it soon in my coaching newsletter and on this TH-cam channel that I’m commenting from
Can you explain "keeping it low/linear”. That doesn't appear to be what the best pro droppers are doing.
Low and linear instead of high and loopy. It may look like pro’s hit high, loopy drops. But if you watch in person you’ll see that the best drops are quite linear
😳big pappa, will you play some pickleball with me in St George when you are at Red Rock?
So you pros ever hit an aggressive 3rd shot drop?
Good advice James. As an instructor, I might suggest also: pretend to catch the ball with the paddle and pretend you are tossing the ball to a 2 year old (the kitchen)
Totally agree!
Liked. Selkirk can provide John with a better video cam and perhaps background. Doesn't objectively change the content, but it does reduce the sense of professionalism and excellence.
Thank you. On my new channel here I have a better camera haha
Watch Carlos Alcarez or Rafa Nadal hit their drops. Follow EXACTY what they do...
I teach my students that they are a "dink from distance"...
It takes TONS of practice...
James couldn't win a game off those guys playing tennis.
Please share video
Videos are on this channel that I’m commenting from. Thanks for watching
You talk tooooo much -- do it in 1/3 of the time.
More compact videos on this channel I’m commenting from!