5 Pickleball Drills to SAVE YOUR GAME

If you're new to Pickleball, it's possible that the way you're playing is slowing down your progress. I've got 5 pickleball drills that you need to start doing now to get better much, much faster.
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It's for the pickleball nerds obsessed with the game ▶ www.thatpickleballguy.com

[@lorikarriker6960]

You are a great teacher. Just started pickle ball and you are by far the easiest to understand and the most interesting. Thanks for all you do.🎉

[@thatpickleballguy]

Glad it's been helpful! And thanks for the encouragement :)

[@PickleballStudio]

I won’t be a 3.5 after these. World ain’t ready for a 4.0 Pickleball Studio

[@thatpickleballguy]

No chance. Keep working hard my friend. You can do it. hahah

[@everbard3071]

"You're practicing for who you want to become." Thank you! I keep telling my dad he needs to practice his soft game, but he won't because hitting it really hard works so well at the 3.5 level. I've now surpassed him and am onto 4.0 in much less time and without the tennis background he has because I adopted a soft game. I always told him, "I want to learn how to beat anybody, not just 3.0s and 3.5s."

[@thatpickleballguy]

I like it!’ Keep working!

[@jessicapaquelier7334]

This is a perfect solution! Drilling but making it a game! Big fan. Thank You. ❤❤❤

[@RRXY775]

Oh my god! Kyle, thank you for sharing these with us! 🔥 Can’t wait to try and practice!! 💪

[@thatpickleballguy]

Let's go!!

[@robertwray6004]

Great drills video. And very entertaining too! Keep up the fantastic work.

[@thatpickleballguy]

Thank you! Glad it helped!

[@kevinmyoung13]

totally love your style, Kyle. Good stuff. Thanks!

[@thatpickleballguy]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@tonycannon3497]

Thank you for this video I've been improving real fast but I hit a plateau need to go back to the basics and drill drill drill drell

[@thatpickleballguy]

Absolutely! Glad it's helpful!

[@alidarias5947]

your videos are so helpful, i have passed it on to other beginners.

[@thatpickleballguy]

Great to hear! Thanks for passing them along!

[@marianettekauahikaua7987]

You’re great - tanks from Hawaii!! Thursdays is drill day with my partner-2-3 hours. We’ll do this. Love how u put at altogether with skinny game.

[@thatpickleballguy]

Thanks! Glad it helpedb

[@marilyngates2144]

Thanks! I host a ladies beginner group and I try to start with a couple of drills. We try these but nobody can purposely do drop shots from the baseline. More practice is needed!

[@thatpickleballguy]

Definitely keep practicing! Like anything, it'll get better with time.

[@tybutson5277]

Love you Kyle! Great teacher! I will use all of these!

[@thatpickleballguy]

Thanks so much!

[@zachchats100]

Thanks for showing me some drills to practice! I started playing almost two years ago and my wife just started playing so we will for sure try the cross court dink game!

[@thatpickleballguy]

Love it! Hope you enjoy playing together!

[@jeffreinardy7570]

3 weeks into playing pickleball and last night I thought I was making up new aspects of the game in doing basically what you show here. II guess I am not as creative as I thought! 🙂Your videos are perfect. To the point, showing the how's and whys. Keep it up!

[@thatpickleballguy]

Thanks Jeff! Glad they're helpful!

[@andrewgedman1214]

Wait, if you thought of these prior to knowing of this drill, I credit you for thinking about the basics and breaking it down in your own mind. Good job there.

[@ernieoo]

One thing to add to your skinny singles. Actually, we call it Advance Skinny Singles since you’re moving based on your score. We allow for the ATP if the ball goes out far enough to make the shot. As we are always trying to make this as a real good game as possible. Excellent video, love watching your stuff, humor is great. I wish I could find some craigslist players as good as you find all the time.

[@thatpickleballguy]

I like that a lot. Good add.

[@JFox4587]

There’s no way that’s his first time playing pickleball…

[@thatpickleballguy]

Just having some fun!

[@andrewgedman1214]

Solid content. What draws me to you is the levity and silliness. It keeps it fresh and light. Too many dense videos on the same things that i watch but don't want to

[@thatpickleballguy]

Thanks for the kind words! Really appreciate it :)

[@W33ND3X_W1LCOX]

Dude fully. I'm gonna go out and practice w/ a buddy and I really wasn't feelin' it. Watchin' this guy for 5 min and I'm hella hyped to get out there 😅

[@peteherrera1502]

Drills are awesome. Just like working on your strokes with a ball machine. Everything is about form and technique.

[@thatpickleballguy]

Absolutely!

[@collegepros]

Just discovered your channel! Great content! Thanks!

[@thatpickleballguy]

Thank you!!

[@CryptoCPA]

Super helpful video. Thank you.

[@thatpickleballguy]

Absolutely!

[@nosneb1963]

Thanks, Kyle. Good stuff.

[@thatpickleballguy]

Glad it helped! Thanks for watching!

[@normkicks7181]

You’re a good teacher. Thanks!

[@thatpickleballguy]

Thank you!

[@anthonycialdella5021]

These are some great drills thanks a million.

[@thatpickleballguy]

Absolutely! Glad they're helpful!

[@jinghuihu7037]

Great lesson! Thanks!

[@thatpickleballguy]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching!

[@debrahaydel9633]

Good info on drills.thx.

[@thatpickleballguy]

Thanks!

[@old_man_with_cane3407]

Great vid. Thanks

[@thatpickleballguy]

Thank you! Glad it's helpful!

[@RCodyWanner]

OH SNAP! Loved the cut in of the game example!!

[@thatpickleballguy]

Fantastic! Glad it helped!

[@donnadelcore1976]

Good teaching!

[@thatpickleballguy]

Thank yoU!

[@PoppaDocRocks]

Do you have a video for solo practice drills or training? Can’t always have a partner when I want to practice. It be great to see some solo drills. Thanks for the videos.

[@thatpickleballguy]

Hey there, I don't have one, but my friend Shea Underwood did one here - kzbin.info/www/bejne/mXu8lmmphJx1n8U

[@neilsorokin7141]

I agree, great videos that have helped me already. If you want to see a doppelganger, look up videos of Daniel Riccardo from F-1 racing. Same looks AND mannerisms! 😂

[@thatpickleballguy]

Thank you!! And i could see it

[@wanjiruwarama2016]

Great drills.

[@thatpickleballguy]

Glad you enjoy them!

[@ginjaninja3627]

Great drills! Btw, i'd love a video tutorial on the different ways to dink. 1) My default is usually a soft backspin hit, but that gives the opponent a lot of time to think and adjust. Is there a way to dink with more velocity and maybe non-backspin and still keep it in the court? 2) when dinking on the backhand side, should I always hit a backhand or should I turn my body and hit the dink as a forehand?

[@thatpickleballguy]

I like to do both. I would start with flat dinks before adding spin. Ill add this to my list of videos to make!

[@karenk5472]

You probably won't ever have time to move your feet to hit with forehand. Stick with backhand. I actually have a weird habit of quickly tossing my paddle to my left hand then hitting a forehand with left hand instead of backhand 🙈. It works sometimes!!

[@s3loma]

Nicely done vid!

[@thatpickleballguy]

Thank you. Glad it helped!

[@kimleith1378]

Started "drilling" with a ball machine from the start. (no partner) I still do 5yrs later. Hundreds and hundreds of balls. Differnt shots, speeds, styles of swings. Mostly for fun now listening to music while drilling. I'm lucky, machine and courts at my house/community. Thanks for putting in all the work you do for these tutorials.

[@thatpickleballguy]

Awesome! Thanks for watching!

[@hurricanecat1]

Which machine?

[@kimleith1378]

@@hurricanecat1 I have a Tutor. It's 6 yrs old. Battery only with oscillator feature that I don't use. Seems to drain the battery a lot faster than just shooting balls. I'd buy a Slinger if I every needed to replace my Tutor.

[@bodyelitegym5010]

Great tips well done....Is that a Pickleroll Installation?

[@thatpickleballguy]

No, that is concrete! Pickleroll is good though.

[@mpeezy358]

Fantastic video bro!

[@thatpickleballguy]

Thank you!

[@TheSourcingSamurai]

100% on the drills vs. Rec Play the reps you can accumulate on one specific shot drilling. I believe.

[@thatpickleballguy]

It's true. Can get a lot more reps!

[@brenstar76]

Zach is out there killing it 😂

[@thatpickleballguy]

Dudes a beast!

[@kimleith1378]

@@thatpickleballguy "FIRST TIME" Kid's natural!!!

Liked skinny singles simple explanation useful - Have you got any drills you can do on your own inside the house?

[@thatpickleballguy]

Glad it was helpful! Unfortunately I don't have any drills for inside the house currently!

[@TheTennisCompany]

Paddle position at the net can be a personal preference. In the drill session, Kyle has the paddle in a straight up and down position above the net at near mid-chest height. But if you watch the play example he provides the paddle is much closer to net height and is in the natural horizontal position. I prefer more of a JW Johnson paddle position, more relaxed in a horizontal position just above the waist( net height). If you play at the 4.5 level and above 80% of the balls are coming back in this 12" range up or down. If someone is driving a ball and I need to hit it near the upper chest level it's most likely going long. A huge majority of attackable balls are played off the backhand paddle position. There is so much wasted time and effort moving your paddle from the upright position back down to net level. Know one is hitting the ball with their paddle in the upright position except out of panic. I would say the paddle position is also dependent on the court position. With two right-handers at the net, the ball position on the court will determine my paddle position. If my left-side partner is engaged head to head I'm covering the middle with my paddle completely in the back-hand horizontal position. If I'm on the right side engage head to head my paddle is definitely more neutral but still favoring a back handle position. If I'm on the left side covering the hole my paddle is no higher than net level and is closer to the neutral/forehand position. IMO as you get better a "ready" position is super important but it needs to be semi-flexible based on court positioning,

[@thatpickleballguy]

Thanks for the input!

[@yassirr8538]

That example using Kobe's practice ethic, Phenomenal! 👏👏👏👏 Very few, VERY few want to put in the time to drill. "It's Boring. Waaah! I just wanna hit the ball!"

[@thatpickleballguy]

Thanks! glad it helped!

[@leblunt27]

Yo, how much should someone spend on a paddle? What do you suggest is the sweet spot? Like $100? Cheap paddles are dead when you don’t hit them in the center. Maybe many paddles are?

[@thatpickleballguy]

Yeah I think if you're a beginner, a $100 is prob max spend i would do. If you're playing a crap ton and obsessed. Maybe look toward the $180 cap range. If you buy anything from Selkirk.com or selkirklabs.com , feel free to use my code ADV-thatpickleballguy to get a digital gift card!

[@Jack96993]

I've just started to play pickleball as I'm too old to play squash anymore But when l did play squash l did drills all the time and it really helped my game I'm sure it would really help your pickleball game Problem is finding someone that will do drills and not just want to play!

[@thatpickleballguy]

It's true. That's definitely a challenge! Keep talking to people, asking around, and when you find that one good person, lock them up!! I totally get it though.

[@old_man_with_cane3407]

Hey Jack, I am in the same delimma. Nobody who wants to drill. I have been playing for 7 months, and folks only want to play. Drilling on a wall works, but another person is a good variation.

[@thatpickleballguy]

@@old_man_with_cane3407 I am curious (for my own learning.) What approach have you taken to find a drilling partner?

[@old_man_with_cane3407]

@ThatPickleballGuy - Kyle Koszuta I belong to two different clubs in a retirement community. Yes, I am actually old( retired). The only time I can get somebody to drill is if we have less than 4 and an open court while waiting for others to arrive. Since drilling by myself on a wall and working on serves in an empty court(100 serves per session), I have increased my ability to play the game. I am competitive and have been my entire life and want to do more than just play a game. I played in my first local tourney as a 2.5 and beat many 3.0s to win 1st based on a round Robin approach. It could be the case that many simply want to play for exercise and fun instead of getting better or competition. Thanks for the question.

[@thatpickleballguy]

@@old_man_with_cane3407 Thanks for sharing! It's definitely common around the country. It can be really hard to drill on public courts because it's not easy to drill two people when you have 20 waiting on the side to play. And another good point you made. A lot of people are just playing to have fun, not trying to improve as much as maybe you are. One thing you might do is invite one of the 4 who you're going to play the game with that day to come 20 minutes early and get 20 minutes of drilling in before the game starts. I do that with friends all the time! Can be a useful Strategy!

[@helicoptersinvolcano]

Great vid! Is it just me or was your camera's auto white balance going back and forth between warm and cool like crazy?

[@thatpickleballguy]

I think it was!! Still shooting in iPhone. On a budget! Lol

[@bhavpat514]

Kobe! Legend!

[@thatpickleballguy]

Amen!

[@IamRami]

"His job is to rip balls in my face" - Great videos though! I will definitely incorporate some of these drills!

[@thatpickleballguy]

Hahahahh that was a fun sequence.

[@walibashir102]

I love the dink drills especially when there's four & we cross dink with two balls going in opposite directions. Two people dink forehand while two people dink backhand.

[@thatpickleballguy]

Yes definitely, love that!

[@NBHSzebra08]

This was good.

[@thatpickleballguy]

Thanks for watching

[@michaelmcmullen6544]

Can you explain the rules of serving. I was told my serve is illegal. The paddle was above my wrist. Very confused

[@thatpickleballguy]

Check out this video here kzbin.info/www/bejne/eJ7Hn32EeKqqrqs

[@lengross4126]

Drilling always worked well for me in tennis. The problem is it's rare there is is an open Pickelball court by me as the game is getting so damm popular. Maybe on a 42 degree january day it would work. Great lesson!

[@thatpickleballguy]

It's true. And it's definitely one of the biggest problems around the country! One thing to do is to try to know the off hours of play at the places closest to you. But I get it. It's not always perfect, and sometimes with work and off hours, it doesn't always work out! I see this changing in the next couple years with so many courts being built.

[@valeriepaul6348]

Agree! Ihavedrilled outside in 30 degree weather- wear layers and thin gloves - and keep moving-but trying to book an indoor court- nearly impossible unless you do7:30AM

[@Liliinvests]

Haven't picked up my pickleball racket yet...but when I do...watch out world....

[@thatpickleballguy]

Go do it!

[@snazzletruthtooth]

Paddle

[@Liliinvests]

@@snazzletruthtooth 😂😂 good point

[@richardwatterson5449]

One problem with these drills is that you are always hitting the ball more or less straight back from the direction it came. In my drop drills I will sometimes have the person that is up send the ball then immediately move laterally to the other side and that is where the dropper puts it and then that drop gets sent back diagonally etc so both dropper and the person at the kitchen are taking straight on balls and returning them diagonally. This can be done on skinny singles as well so the server as part of their serve call says the score followed by “switch “ which means they will serve and move laterally to the other side so the return takes a straight on ball and sends it back diagonally then the point continues with each shot going to the opposite court from which the ball came from

[@thatpickleballguy]

Yep love these ideas!

[@s3loma]

great tip!

[@RCodyWanner]

your wide shot at the back of the court, is that a gopro?

[@thatpickleballguy]

Nah, just an iphone!

[@RCodyWanner]

@@thatpickleballguy so crisp!!

[@brittneylaterphotography7060]

Do you have any drills to do on your own? I don’t have a lot of options immediately near me when I get the time to drill.

[@thatpickleballguy]

I like this video from my friend Shea on some wall drills! kzbin.info/www/bejne/mXu8lmmphJx1n8U

[@alexandercochran806]

Craigslist Zach was definitely better than 3.5 at best! Haha

[@thatpickleballguy]

Everyone loves Craiglist Zach!

[@williamhilchey9065]

In drill #4 you refer to 'blocking' a shot and then proceed to demonstrate 'punch volleys'. What's up with that? I learned that a block absorbs the pace and drops the ball into the kitchen while the punch uses pace to punch it back to the back half of the court.

[@thatpickleballguy]

Oo different language! Good catch. Sounds like you got it down though!!

[@JamesVestal-dz5qm]

I was taught flick the wrist instead of tight compact punches.

[@thatpickleballguy]

Depends on the situation

[@Antonio-gr3wj]

Just found this guy...love his stuff!

[@thatpickleballguy]

Thank you for the kind words!

[@40mmmikemike]

Pro dart players are able to hit the bullseye almost every time and make it look easy, but it takes years to get that good.

[@kalamazooracing]

Craigs list new player? Lol rightttt

[@thatpickleballguy]

Haha jokes!!

[@JamesVestal-dz5qm]

I get confused by their lingo. My students found me confusing because I don't have any filter and I have no idea what they were taught in high school.

[@gilmour93woo]

Dude can you hook us up with a coupon for a Selkirk? Love these videos been playing for 6 weeks and I am completely addicted. All the guys I play with love these videos as well.

[@thatpickleballguy]

Yes for sure! So, The way Selkirk does it, you don't get a discount on the current purchase, but after the purchase, you get a gift card toward a future purchase. Works if you go to selkirk.com or selkirklabs.com My code is "ADV-thatpickleballguy"

[@brucewilliam4305]

Kyle. If u r ever in Seattle, I’ll drill with u for $10.50.. 😂

[@thatpickleballguy]

You have yourself a deal!! Hahah

[@jorowi]

This is how I warm up before I play (except for the skinnies).

[@thatpickleballguy]

that's fantastic!

[@Robert-mc9os]

Here's a fun and great way to improve your hand-eye coordination when you are by yourself and not at a pickleball court... kzbin.infoor3HrL-KQQc

[@shaffronj]

great demos- strong opponent. distracting music.

[@thatpickleballguy]

Good to know! Thanks for feedback. Always trying to master the right type of music and volume! I find that hard. Will work to improve!

[@W33ND3X_W1LCOX]

Dude your homeboy looks so uncomfortable 😅

[@RiomaWF]

I can't tell if it's a meme that he got a guy from craiglist or not

[@thatpickleballguy]

It is :)

[@duncabahug4110]

Zach isn't comfortable ripping balls in your face ... great video

[@thatpickleballguy]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@ShinyTurd1]

When did Danny Ric leave F1 and take up pickle ball.

[@thatpickleballguy]

right now

[@neilsorokin7141]

OMG, I just said the same thing in another comment b4 I saw yours!

[@jonathanparone-vo2uh]

Who is Kobe Bryant'?

[@longtimelo]

I don't like the drop game. The guy at the net could just dink everything back short. You need the ball hit back to you to drill drops from the baseline.

[@thatpickleballguy]

Yes, have your partner try to keep you back.

[@peteherrera1502]

That is ridiculous that you have to pay someone to play in order to video your drills. That person should be grateful to work on His game

[@thatpickleballguy]

It was a joke :)

[@JamesVestal-dz5qm]

Master the boring

[@JamesVestal-dz5qm]

21 dollars the other youtuber paid 100

[@jordannathaniel7604]

This helper is not new 😂

[@johnsanders3501]

Stop giving away all the drilling secrets! As a small editing note, the scoring graphic is off when you decided to pretend you started on serve. It’s sometimes tough to teach the skinny so it might be helpful to edit that if you can. You do get back on score eventually so not a big deal at least for us who have played this game way too much. :)

[@thatpickleballguy]

Thanks for letting me know!!

[@joeinge4808]

That music in the background is too annoying to watch this video

[@thatpickleballguy]

oops! Thanks for the feedback!

[@keithchapman8380]

Drills dont suk...you suk at drilling!!

[@thapickleball7739]

This is a solid collection of drills that I'll share with those folks looking to make that jump from just banging the third as they're now encountering players who can block... and of course that's the level at which hitting the third hard all the time stops workin. :-)

[@thatpickleballguy]

Absolutely!