Common Mistakes 3.0 Pickleball Players Make! Learn from Watching!

In this video I go over a game played by players at the 3.0 level. They make common mistakes a lot of 3.0 players make. Watch this video and learn what the mistakes are so you don't make them.

[@jimstaub2308]

Well done Rory. This video reinforces the importance of playing the fundamentals. Looking forward to your next vid.

[@pickleballpick-apart9787]

Thanks. That's a nice compliment. I appreciate it.

[@robdubois3795]

Rory, I have to disagree with your assertion that a lob should not be part of a player's arsenal. As Grant5864 commented, in this video, there was a surprise and very effective offensive lob from the NVZ which took the opponents away from the kitchen area. And you really poo-pooed that shot!! As it turned out for that point, the team that was forced back by the offensive log wound up losing the point. You've made a major point in your other videos that the team who controls the net wins the vast majority of the points. And finding a way to make your opponents retreat from the NVZ put your team at an advantage. Yes, not all lobs work, but sometimes a well-placed, well-timed lob can be an effective weapon and shouldn't be discounted. So, I would hope you would commend a player who does execute a good lob.

[@pickleballpick-apart9787]

Good point about using a lob to get an opponent away from the NVZ. I'll have to pay more attention to that and see how effective it is. Thanks for your comment.

[@zcrich01]

I came to say exactly this. The lob at the 17 min mark or so served to take the male player on the far end of the court off the NVZ line and it was then followed up with volleys that forced him to stay deep. It can be an effective shot. It’s just not particularly effective unless all parties are at the nvz

[@MustangGT715]

A lob is definitely an effective shot at the kitchen line. I've seen Ana Leigh Waters use it too. Just don't use it a lot. 😂

[@konnmehameha]

A successful lob gives a huge benefit. However pickleball is a game of errors. Are you going to land 1/3 lobs where you would get 9/10 dinks. Personally I see people lob 3 or 4 not high enough or sail long way too often. Just because the pros can consistently land maybe 2/3 lobs doesn't mean the average person should.

[@user-zp6nv2jv8q]

Excellent review of the players. Very helpful for us as students of the game.

[@pickleballpick-apart9787]

Thanks for watching. Thanks for your compliment and you're welcome.

[@ralphparker]

I agree with you that a lob is a poor choice of a shot. But an effective lob either ends in a fault on the opponent or resets the opponent to the baseline. Susan's team wasn't able to take advantage of their effective lobs. The problem with lobs are that they are high risk for either going out of bounds or going short and coming back fast to you.

[@pickleballpick-apart9787]

Thanks for watching and thanks for your comment. Yes, that is what I was trying to point out. I played six games today. There were 10 lots attempted in those games. Not by me, but my opponents. Not one of them scored a point. Most war not defensive, but, offensive. I just kind of laughed.

[@johncraig7548]

Rory. I can't thank you enough. Your videos are what I really needed to see where I was going wrong. I am now getting to the kitchen a lot quicker, serving deeper and returning the serves deeper too. My third shot drops are getting there about 70% of the time. I noticed that my partners get a bit annoyed when I miss one and think I should "just hit it over." Well I want to advance my game not stay stuck at a 3.0. Once again can't thank you enough. One last thing, I am ambidextrous and use both hands effectively. I rarely attempt any backhand because if this. So far so good but will this type of playing hinder my ability to advance?

[@pickleballpick-apart9787]

Thanks for the nice comments. There are a couple of players where I play who use two hands. I do not think they are ambidextrous and I don't think it's a good think for them to do. It may be good for you because you truly are ambidextrous. Personally, I wouldn't do it. Here's why. It takes time to switch from one hand to the other. Sometimes the decision to switch hands is made at the very last second. Because of that, the player doesn't get the paddle in the position it needs to be in to hit an effective shot. My best advice, work on your backhand, or, when you are in the backhand court, let your partner take those shots with his or her forehand. But...if you're really good at it, go for it.

[@stewiegriffin3627]

If you're good at hitting the lob shot, it's actually a great weapon to get opponents out of position and scrambling. I think a lot of people discourage that shot cause they are the ones that hate defending against it. Now Yes it can give opponents and easy shot if you hit a bad one but you can say that about any shot attempt. If you make a poor drive shot, a poor drop shot, a poor speed up, really anything can casue an easy shot for your opponent.

[@pickleballpick-apart9787]

Thanks for watching. You're right about creating easy shots for your opponent. You can do it hitting many different shots.

[@davidbray4380]

I agree! It's important for serious Pickleball players to have an offensive lob in their arsenal. Lobs that don't work are from people who don't hit them with enough topspin, hit them too high/hard or try them against opponents who are 6-foot-plus and move well on the court, or hit them at the wrong time, like outdoors when it's too windy. As always, it's about knowing your opponent (are they short, is their mobility sub-par?), knowing your skillset (do you have a decent success percentage for executing topspin lobs?) and knowing the situation (are they glued to the NVZ line, can you catch them by surprise, is the wind/sun in your favour?). I know Rory has made it clear he isn't a fan of the lob ... many times when his commentating highlights "yet another lob attempt gone wrong", I see it as actually just a player hitting an errant pop-up (due to lack of skill, time or positioning), and NOT necessarily an overt attempt to lob - NOT always, but a high proportion of the time (confirmation bias, perhaps). That said, I do applaud Rory's work overall and I've only *newly* discovered his videos; finding them useful enough, I've subscribed!

[@pickleballpick-apart9787]

@@davidbray4380 Thanks so much for taking the time to comment and to subscribe. You make some very valid points. I actually am trying to learn Mark Napartovich's top spin lob. It's difficult, but, I'm getting there.

[@bobjacobs9521]

Rory, you are a great teacher. I have a little trouble seeing your mouse arrow. Would you go into settings and change it to a large arrow. Thanks

[@pickleballpick-apart9787]

Thanks. I appreciate the nice comment. I did do that previously and viewers complained it was too big. I'll try again.

[@rhd5622]

Thanks for the videos.

[@pickleballpick-apart9787]

Thanks for watching.

[@miverson4]

Tep keeps stepping in to the kitchen on her volleys.

[@pickleballpick-apart9787]

Thanks for pointing that out.

[@Peaceseeker917]

Love your videos and how you break the games down. I've learned alot from you. However, I believe the lob is underrated bc the lob can be the best shot in the game if it was executed strategically. The best time would be when all players are dinking, when you see both opponents lean over -into the moment of dinking- then you executed the lob up the middle, medium high and close to back line. Works everytime.

[@pickleballpick-apart9787]

Good point. But, that is a different kind of lob. Most of the lobs that do not work are hit from the middle of the court or from the service line. Thanks for watching and thanks for your comment.

[@929mmr]

I just don't agree with you on the lob. Saying it doesn't work just because it didn't immediately get a point is like saying 3rd shot drops don't work because they don't result in immediate winners most of the time either. At 5:11 and again at 16:50 mark she had a nice lob that resulted in her team staying at the NV zone and forcing the other team back to the baseline. That is a great result even though the shot itself wasn't the winner. That is a positional and strategic success. If the lob lands in anywhere close to the baseline it has worked. I saw your video focused on lobs and it was a video of people overusing it and doing it very poorly in the wrong situations. I get that it is very often a bad idea outdoors but I have seen skilled players using it very effectively indoors and on calm days. If the lob falls within a couple feet of the baseline and it is returned you are calling it a failure. I call it a success if it gets the other team moving, switching sides or just getting them off the NV zone. I don't use it a whole lot but there is definitely a place for it. It is a skill to do it well. You are mostly focused on those that do it poorly.

[@pickleballpick-apart9787]

Thanks for watching and thanks for writing. I totally get what you are saying. I can tell you from playing 3 to 4 hours a day, for the most part, lobs are not effective. Every lob that was tried against me today did not produce a positive result.

[@pickleballpick-apart9787]

I would focus on a video where the players actually do lobs time and time again that get positive results. I just can't find them.

[@Vanessa-pe2xs]

I think offensive lobs can be effective...defensive lobs (especially lobs from the baseline) mostly have poor outcomes. Depending on your opponents, lobs can be very risky business for sure. I absolutely love smashing them at my bewildered opponents. Haha 😄

[@pickleballpick-apart9787]

@@Vanessa-pe2xs I love making opponents bewildered. Thanks for watching.

[@929mmr]

@@Vanessa-pe2xs Defensive from the baseline is probably the turning point for defensive lobs. If I am at the baseline or in I will hit drives or drops. If a return of serve comes at me hot and deep where I am behind the baseline my outcomes are pretty low no matter what shot I use against good players so just saying they are successful 20% of the time should only be compared to trying to drive or drop a shot from the same position. . If I get a lob high enough and deep enough I don't fear your smash. I can usually guess where you are going to put it and can work my way in. Again, it is a low percentage option among other low percentage options.

[@casperthegm741]

At 18:55 Jackson actually hits a pretty solid 3rd shot drop. The real problem here is he and his partner were spectators of their own drop shot, waiting much too long to move toward the kitchen line. That's another key for 3.0 players; recognize and respond accordingly (move forward or back quickly, in unison, and set your feet in time) as soon as you see whether the drop shot is an effective one.

[@pickleballpick-apart9787]

That is 100% correct. Once a player hits a third shot drop and knows it's going to be in the kitchen, they need to move forward. Not doing so is a huge mistake. Thanks for watching.

[@WayneSnow]

Footwork seems to be a problem here on many failed attempts on drops and rests. Another characteristic of 3.0 players

[@pickleballpick-apart9787]

Good point. Thanks for watching.

[@eddiethomas7948]

Rory - No chance Mike (in the far side blue shirt in the video) is a 3.0 player. He hits a high quality 2 handed drive backhand and shows his hand skills and point awareness at the 15:21 mark. His return of serve often has angle and a lot of nasty spin on it. Where I live, he would be right in the 3.5 mix and, as you say, that backhand volley drop at 15:21 is 4.0+ quality. Another great video. I love how you introduced yourself right at the beginning of the video. Great personal touch - and quality analysis once again.

[@pickleballpick-apart9787]

Thanks for your comments and thanks for watching as always.

[@Jack-yx2zh]

His serve is 3.5 level also.

[@danpiedra3910]

Ratings are completely subjective even when one assesses the ability to hit a specific shot. Do we look for 100% effectiveness or 75% or what exactly. To add to the confusion, many players who play tournaments play down to their level which is never fair to those players that are true to their ranking. For example, in my region, there are several 4.5 players who play at that level at the club, but when they go into tournaments at the regional level play at 4.0. If you look at their overall rating based on tournament play it is 3.7-4.2. As a result they continue to play at 4.0 levels. I think your assessment of these players is quite accurate though. Well done!

[@pickleballpick-apart9787]

Thanks for watching and commenting. I get the "playing down at tournaments". I had that conversion today with a player. He is playing in a tournament in two months. I asked, "you're playing 3.5" He said, "No, 3.0." I replied, "Why, you're 3.5 here." He said, "because players play down in tournaments. So, if I play 3.5, I'll get crushed." So, I think the rating system and enforcement of it is flawed.

[@brianbanks3044]

i have found at lower levels, 90% of points are won on unforced errors...my "mantra" is to keep the ball in play and let the other team make the mistake...as players get better, they start getting more winners on good shots instead of relying on the other team to make mistakes

[@pickleballpick-apart9787]

Yes, at that level most points are won by making an unforced error. I'm not quite sure it's 90%, but, more points are won that way than by hitting winners or good shots.

[@OldSchoolPrepper]

Newer player here...what does "reset the ball into the kitchen mean?" I know what the kitchen is and I know a 3rd shot drop...is a rese the ball into the kitchen just mean to drop a ball into the no volley zone for those players at the kitchen line have a harder time hitting deep? so many terms to learn. Thanks a bunch.

[@pickleballpick-apart9787]

Yes! You are correct. Let's say you try to hit a third shot drop and it is not a good one and you cannot move forward. The next ball hit to you is the fifth ball. If you hit that ball into the kitchen, that is a reset and it should allow you to move forward. Thanks for asking and thanks for watching.

[@CWK090]

A reset is exactly the same thing as a third shot drop and done for the same reason. If both of your opponents are in ready position at the non-volley zone and you and/or your partner are in the transition zone, off the court chasing a wide ball, off balance etc, your opponents have the advantage and you and/or your partner have the disadvantage. Your opponents can attack and you can only defend which is hard to do since you are off balance and/or out of position. A slow, arcing, unattackable ball in the kitchen gives you TIME to get back in balance and/or back in position at the NVZ (or at least closer to it). Your opponents are now disarmed and forced to hit up on the ball. They can no longer attack. Once all 4 players are at the NVZ neither team has the advantage and the dinking begins. It continues until someone hits the ball too high then the other team attacks with a "speed up". Since the other team is in position and ready, a "firefight" often begins with a rapid back and forth until one team wins the rally or one player "resets" and slows things down again.

[@tomwharton9800]

I’ve read the comments and watched your other video on lobs and I too disagree with you on this. I have also heard about the 20% success rate with lobs but I do not think this is any longer the case - if it ever was. It’s not only me that thinks that lobs played at the right time both defensively and as an offensive shot are worth being part of ones shot selection, but Collin Johns in his "15 gems for amateur players" advises to “Lob and lob often” because most amateur players have a hard time putting an overhead away - yes, the lob does not always have to be a winning shot to be effective. Also, another respected pro, Simone Jardin has a KZbin short where one of her three tips for 2023 is the Lob - she too sees it as being an effective shot to be used more often. I doubt you are a coach and some of your advice is plainly incorrect... you really need to update your take on lobs and find some better examples than you have shown so far.

[@pickleballpick-apart9787]

I'm going to watch Simone's video. Then I am going to search the internet for examples of her using a lob.

[@ralphparker]

A few years ago I decided not to concentrate on skills that would not be a skill at the next level up. If a 3.0 does a great lob, then practice the drop shot from the baseline because that's the skill you'll need at the 4.0 level.

[@JDChan]

It is called an error, not an era.

[@pickleballpick-apart9787]

I do my best. Thanks for watching.

[@dc4931]

Great video: Bye the way you forgot to mention that A LOB IS NOT GOING TO WORK 🤩✌

[@pickleballpick-apart9787]

Oh, well. Probably should have. Thanks for watching.

[@grant5864]

17:03 While I am generally not a fan of lobs, I wouldn't say this was a failed lob attempt. It got the opponents away from the kitchen and allowed the black shirt team into the kitchen. Didn't end the point but it definitely worked out in their favor.

[@pickleballpick-apart9787]

Thanks for watching and commenting. I understand what you are saying. I played 9 games this morning. In one game a player kept hitting lobs and each one that failed, I sarcastically yelled out, "Lobs don't work." We're good friends and can rib one another. To prove me wrong, he attempted six more. Not one of them work. In 9 games, I hit one lob because it was defensive and it was the only option I had. I failed!

[@pickleballnorthwest6351]

I stopped counting the foot faults by the lady in the far court.

[@pickleballpick-apart9787]

Foot faults are hardly ever called. Thanks for pointing that out.

[@MrConte29]

This looks like a low 3.5 match

[@pickleballpick-apart9787]

Thanks for watching. It's not. It's a 3.0 match. I explained why.

[@pickleballpick-apart9787]

@Rodger Ricks I think that's 3.0. Thanks for watching. I really appreciate it.

[@bigoprotege]

Agreed these players are around 3.5. All their DUPRs are 3.99 or up though. I don't agree with that but they definitely are better than 3.0. Would love to see Rory play and self critique where you could improve and what you did wrong.

[@joepombo123]

If these people are 3.0, I'm definitely not going to their state to play. Might be tough to get there with the piles of sandbags!

[@pickleballpick-apart9787]

Good point. Thanks for watching.

[@PickleballJoy]

Rory, I think YOU must simply have a terrible lob; so you claim they don't work. 5:15 Susan's lob was excellent -- drove Mike & Tep back, putting them on defense. Susan & Jackson won that point BECAUSE of Susan's good lob. 10:26 I can't tell if Susan was lobbing, or trying to reset, and simply played it badly. But she was under pressure. 10:49 You say, of Jackson's lob, "Oh that's not gonna work." But it DID. Tep doesn't have a good overhead. Jackson and Susan won that point. 17:00 Susan lobs very well, driving Mike back. You call it a "failed lob attempt." Again, it worked; Susan and Jackson (eventually) won that point. 17:48 Jackson lobs. You call out "That's not gonna work!" Yet somehow(!) it helped Jackson & Susan win that point. 18:29 Jackson throws up a defensive lob (to Tep, who already demonstrated her overhead isn't that good.) You emphatically declare how bad Jackson's choice is ... yet Tep sails the overhead out. By my count both Susan and Jackson were better than 50% with their lobs being effective. (Susan's choice of situational lobbing was (mostly) good.) You opined that Tep must be a tennis player. I agree ... and I suspect she's a backcourt blaster in tennis. Tep needs to work on her volleys. There are many drills to help develop touch. If Susan and Jackson are regular partners, they should stack to protect Jackson's weak BH. He's a good Right Court player. Mike and Susan were the better two players in this match. I'd say they're each more like 3.5. Jackson and Tep strike me as 3.0 players.

[@pickleballpick-apart9787]

Thanks for watching and thanks for the time you put into your comment. You are correct. My lobs are not very good. That's because I may hit a lob once every five games or so. Here's why. For all skill levels 3.5 and above, when all four players have equal playing skills, lobs are, on average, a losing proposition. At the pro level, which I am not, lobs are used in only about 4% of all rallies. Pro pickleball data shows lobs more often cause the LOSS of a rally than a win. So, what's good for pros is good for me. Futhermore, at the pro level, lobs go out 20% of the time. They get smashed back for a winner about 30% of the time. Therefore, they cause an immediate rally loss about 50% of the time. The leaves 50% where lobs are effective, right? WRONG. 30% of all lobs have NO detectable consequence. That is, the team fielding the lob, does so effectively, getting back into forward play. So, 20% of lobs achieve the desired intent. 20% is a LOSING proposition. There are exceptions. Playing against a player with limited mobility, a player who's too lazy to go after it? Go ahead, use it. I normally don't play against players like this.

[@user-nf9fs1tt4d]

Totally disagree with the lob statements….it works for me ALOT!!! Against 3.0, 3.5 and 4.0 players. And I see the pros use this shot occasionally as well.

[@pickleballpick-apart9787]

It's okay to disagree. Thanks for watching.

[@larrytjoelker7003]

Did you happen to notice mis-calling 3 successful love in a row?😊

[@pickleballpick-apart9787]

Lobs? Not really.

[@user-mk3ks7sh1q]

Rory, you are an excellent stroke analyst but your player ratings are off. Susan and Mike are more like 3.5-3.75, Jackson is like a 3.4-3.5 and Tep is like a 3.25. You really need to see more than 1 game to be accurate, but these people make some quality shots and could be higher rated.

[@pickleballpick-apart9787]

Thanks for your post. You're right. It is a small sample size. Maybe they didn't have their A game. Thanks for watching.

[@Jack-yx2zh]

IMO, Mike and Susan are definitely better than 3.0 level.

[@pickleballpick-apart9787]

Thanks for watching and thanks for your comment.

[@kenruppert8825]

I don't think Susan was hitting lobs. She just mishit drop shots.

[@pickleballpick-apart9787]

A miss hit drop shot. That could be another word for it.

[@TheUsmarine101]

I’ve seen way worse 3.0 players.

[@pickleballpick-apart9787]

They are out there. Thanks for watching.