The 5 Biggest Lies Your Pickleball Coach Has Taught You!

[@ZaneNavratilPickleball]

I wouldn’t trust me either

[@americanhero6965]

That voice…

[@VisibleMRJ]

😂

[@gabeanderson8816]

@@ZaneNavratilPickleball hilarious 😆

[@ugoogleme5]

😂

[@65atBestPB]

Definitely not with that “your slice return is your opponent’s topspin multiplier” clickbait. 🤣🤣🤣 The problem is I find myself enjoying your bs … well played.

[@figlermaert]

#1 has gotten me to pop up shots for the other side to put away easily. I stopped doing that after getting burned on over extending. Glad you called this out. Thought I was crazy.

[@vincenelissen7733]

I always watch these videos before pickleball and I have so much to think about haha, I’ve just decided to focus on one improvement per session. I thinks it’s important to not get overwhelmed by coaches too. Today I worked on my positioning and it went great. Loved this video, and especially you showing the examples with other players. I’ll be trying the move - don’t move drill 👍 good luck in 2025!

[@sylvierossignol9757]

I have had to do the same thing as I was getting serious information overload. Focussing on one thing at a time allows me to play a decent game otherwise, my brain is in overdrive. Glad to see someone else is doing the same.

[@vincenelissen7733]

@ exactly! When too much is on my mind I go to default 😂 good luck 💪

[@robbydridesemtb4428]

One of the biggest lies (for 60+) is "don't hit the dead volley drop" when the opponents are at baseline. Although I regularly see this shot at pro levels, it's rarely a winning shot, therefore inviting opponents to the kitchen, but more often sets up a winning shot. At my age group 65+ and level 3.5-4.0 it's often a winner.

[@tkr212]

What is a dead volley drop?

[@tientran9475]

​@@tkr212drop super close to the net while opponents are at their baseline

[@26realmc]

I'm a 4.5 and play with others up to 5.0. I'm seeing the drop shot used more and more often as players get better at it.

[@anger7556]

Yeah, I think this one is actually really valid. Especially if you are playing someone who is really good at dropping from the baseline. They are going to hit a good drop and get up there anyway, so if you can make them sprint forward and hit up, there is a good chance for a pop up.

[@kabob21]

The reason they don’t recommend attempting it is that it’s difficult to hit a good drop with spin from the baseline as it is and a bad one is easy to put away. A bad dead drop is even easier to put away. It’s a low percentage shot.

[@afterthesmash]

Tyson McGuffin has described reaching in low to take bad volleys in the kitchen as "fishing for trash" for a long time now. Many other coaches explain that taking the ball higher off the bounce is often better than lower off the volley. Coaches mention this exception less often when the meat of the video is how to prevail in a crosscourt dink rally, because you can't step backwards off a crosscourt dink to begin with. Based on my exposure, it's 50% pure myth that this myth exists in the first place.

[@Daimodess]

This is misleading. The coaches you reference teach the same things you’re teaching, and some of them teach better than here. No need to disparage them for clicks.

[@thatpickleballguy]

😂😂

[@TracyJordan2122]

^ lol Kyle Kozuta commenting on this makes me think the intro is just a big troll move. Connor seems pretty humble with a good sense of humor.

[@thatpickleballguy]

@@TracyJordan2122that was uncomfortable laughter from me. 👀

[@thomasrutledge587]

Great video Connor! Everyone brings different skills to the court. Do what works best for you.

[@redkim713]

Great video Connor!

[@2be1withU]

The worst advice is run up to the kitchen as fast as you can after the 3rd shot. I wouldn't call these lies. The problem is that word that some coaches use "ALWAYS" . Everything is situational.

[@zaf7819]

Thanks Connor for dispelling these myths. I have specifically asked top pros if it isn't better to let low dinks bounce sometimes rather than hit a soft lift volley because I could hit a more aggressive return dink off the bounce and been told no. I figured I must be missing something so its really helpful to hear your take. Always enjoy watching you play and hope to see you get your power serve mojo back, especially in singles, as the rest of your game is stellar.

[@jeetkuneball9580]

"Myth" is probably a better word than "lie" 😁

[@valeriepaul6348]

just went over the step back shot with my coach, I am only 5ft tall - so taking balls out of the air is not the best option for me. It just results in a weak shot. But that step back- need to really take a good step back so as to not get crowded

[@KTCHNPickleball]

Thanks for sharing!

[@MrPanthers23]

Great video

[@GautamKraman]

Great video! Thanks Connor 👍

[@blackcayman64]

Picklr Kaysville!!! That’s my Club… Mary is Headed for the Pros! She is Fierce with a PB Paddle

[@joshc.6706]

Honestly, I have never been told to exclusively go down the line on the return. Also for an amateur player, why would they return down the line? Is it because it gives a team less angles for the 3rd? Just another amateur player here, but I feel like down the middle or cross court is the better option. More margin of error for a deeper return down the middle or cross court. Also it gives the returning player more time to get the kitchen line if they're not the fastest. If going cross court the ball is travelling a longer distance, all of which would give the returning player more time

[@alexW-z8u]

taking the ball out of air is still good advice IF you do it through dinking(usually the ball bounces low during dink, if bounce high, attack).. all advices work for some cases, not all cases..

[@dalevoigt8612]

The rule for always and the x pattern is for defense. Those are the shot you cover when your opponents are hitting the ball. The are not necessarily the shots you are to hit on offence. Try that cross court speed up against someone who is not over committed middle, and that cross court speed up would be counter attacked.

[@Itsezpickleball]

I think there are just different styles and types of play there is no wrong or right teaching, just do what works for you and master your playstyle and you’ll be fine, be consistent don’t start switching up because one person said something

[@clintroberts1]

I somewhat agree there are different play styles as we have seen the top team drop down due to more aggressive play (even breaking up a partnership) but there are some definite DON'Ts in pickleball and some definitely bad instruction. And example: Many old coaches teaching slice returns when most all pros arent using it anymore. Drop shots on the 4th in doubles against young agile players is not good either (free ride to the kitchen). Many others too like hitting down the line on a cross court dink (He specifically mentioned this as good) which would set up the Ernie. He really misrepresented other excellent KZbin instructors with this video.

[@rickhalle-podell169]

Great video. Excellent teaching

[@JDr-o5o]

There is a typo on the description that says towny instead of *twoey. Great video and your an awesome player!

[@jolewis140]

You are purposefully misrepresenting statements. Why do you have to disrespect others to make your point? It's the cheapest shot to disparage others to make yourself look better.

[@firedog1003]

I wish there was better consistency in the coaching world. There are too many 'certified' coaches that have no business coaching but I think the bigger problem is all the rec players out there that think their a coach. When I first started playing 5 years ago, I was getting advice from all the 'veteran' players that were all just parroting the same bad advice that they had received....and they still do.

[@anger7556]

You aren't wrong that some certified coaches are getting certs too easily, but please don't confuse a real coach with veteran players that offer advice. They are not at all the same.

[@gabeanderson8816]

As a veteran player, here are my two comments: 1) The game is still evolving. Some coaches are dishing out old advice. Sometimes really old advice. And sometimes two opposing ideas can both be correct and “it depends” applies more often than one would think 2) I despise getting “advice” from new-ish players that don’t understand some ideas about court positioning and shot selection. Dunning-Kruger syndrome abounds

[@nathanmaxwell2188]

I definitely agree there's quite a few "coaches" out there who are certified and not good. They are average players at best. How can an average player give lessons to average players? As a pickleball instructor myself, I tell people to really do their research. First make sure the person is a legit certified instructor, as they're many know it alls who shouldn't be telling anyone how to play. Make sure you find a legit professional in the Industry who is at least a 4.0 level player, preferably 4.5. Certification agencies are handing out certifications way too easily. This is not only a slap in the face to good instructors, but also the entire industry. It really delgitimizes the entire process. It should not be that easy to get certified. Also, watch the instructor play. They should stand out and be better than 95% of the players. You can tell right away who the advanced to elite players are. There's not that many, contrary to people's opinions of themselves.

[@ThanhTran-oz4qk]

Connor is the one who lies. It's all situational!!!

[@faf1967]

This is the dumbest comment of read on pickleball. I'll explain it to you what he's talking about is these are the things that are told to people in general

[@anger7556]

@@faf1967 But Connor is taking good instruction and twisting it to make a catchy YT video. All of this is not "Myth" it is the base of the game and should be taught to everyone as simple basics. Maybe instead of trying to discredit legit instruction, he should have said this is how to deviate from solid play.

[@anger7556]

@thanhtran-oz4qk 100000% agree with you

[@clintroberts1]

@@anger7556 In addition he put people on the start of the video with an X on top of them. Kinda disrespectful. In addition, I've never heard anyone coach return line in two years of playing. I have heard middle is safest and adding depth. He also said in the video to go down line on the cross court dink which easily sets up an Ernie whereas one of the coaches he pictured would have told them to go to middle or to the players foot (especially if in trouble from an aggressive cross dink). Then he took one of the other coaches "suggestions" for taking balls out of the air which was for dinking at the kitchen and transferred that to the 4th shot (coming from a 3rd shot deep court drop or drip).

[@MCZ70890]

@@clintroberts1lol you’re right but it’s kind of funny.. mb stirring the pot a little bit

[@65atBestPB]

One thing: With rec players “volley dink first” thought. I think it could help the dinking learning curve, and improve “dink” tolerance faster even if later you bounce more for offense. I came from tennis, and to me 90% of learning curve (doubles) was kitchen. Players with non-existent strokes or overheads, gave this tennis player beat downs with 3rd shot drops and watched my crap dink tolerance, particularly stepping back. I was tennis s&v, the volley dink memo would have been very useful. Even now, 2 years into pickleball … it’s hard to think volley dink first. Another benefit of volley dinks is uses less energy … instead of hopping around like a chicken (unfair to chickens) … just extend arm and done. 🤣 Second thing: it is amazing what passes for good two handed backhand instruction in the land of the wiffle. 😛We were so foolish in tennis with all “that stuff” and 1000s of reps. Just do “x” on Monday, and by Friday you are a Twoey (sad … twoey … really?) king … or queen … or whatever.

[@BeretGussie]

Thanks for sharing such valuable information! Just a quick off-topic question: My OKX wallet holds some USDT, and I have the seed phrase. (alarm fetch churn bridge exercise tape speak race clerk couch crater letter). How can I transfer them to Binance?

[@VanAllenVlogs]

Let’s see you get more gold this year!

[@afterthesmash]

The main channel that hugely emphasizes working from the legs is Cincola, and I've never seen him yammer on about using legs for a long drop. His actual position is that you should try to limit yourself to one primary hinge for each shot, to reduce complexity. Quite a few channels state that larger muscles are more consistent that smaller muscles. If you have the fitness to use your legs, such as for dinking, it would likely lead to consistent play. At 6'5", I have to save my legs for deep knee bends at the NVL so that I can obtain a more horizontal sight line to better track fast hands exchanges, so I mainly use my hips and shoulder for my backhand dinks from out wide. All the more recent content on the 3rd shot drop is more about organizing yourself to flow through the shot to make faster tracks forward after you hit a good one, or about how to replace the old style drops with the newer drips. I really don't agree with this idea that the coaching out there is steering people wrong. The older stuff teaches an older view of the game. In all of this material, some of the corners are rounded off. But mainly the caliber of the best channels is pretty good.

[@LUUWILL]

Great video I subbed right away. Quick question what shoes are u wearing? super nice

[@BoostITFORward]

Lovely! Keep them coming, and best of luck to you in 2025!

[@sweetnsavory6204]

How's about showing the whole court when you hit the ball so we can see if your advice is actually working!!!

[@terichampion1165]

I feel like the drop would be more compared to a chip around the green than a putt?

[@ugoogleme5]

Ok. Different style of coaching is now a lie? 😂. Great coaching! I hear you loud and clear but maybe too “loud”. Feedback: Your tone or maybe it’s a combination of tone and speed but your delivery sounds like you are yelling at your audience. Anyone great tips. I watched you in person during one of your PPA tours. You are an amazing player!

[@65atBestPB]

Connor … #6 … the bs Zane started about “slice returns” 😛 We all come equipped with eyes and a brain (some barely functioning), and we have this fancy tech called video and slow motion. We don’t need an “expert” to verify stuff, we can use our own eyes. For example, hypothetically we could go watch the MLP finals. We could watch slice-return-all-day Mari Humberg … youtube video frame by frame against both pro dudes and pro dudetts. We could use our own eyes to watch for this assured beat down from opponents topspin++, that never came. While watching a big wave of irony might slap you in the face when you see who she is playing with. She wins slicing returns all match with no-pro-slices-returns-anymore Zane the mischievous bs artist. Next level irony … couldn’t write this stuff. 🤣🥰

[@deant6724]

“ never move back from the kitchen line” not sure I believe this. I understand the importance of getting to the kitchen but I don’t see pros staying there all the time

[@clintroberts1]

Only move back if you need more time due to a misplaced (mostly high) dink to give you more time to react to the speed up you know is coming. Girls tend to play a little more off the line than the guys. Have some ideas why this happens but not really sure

[@anger7556]

The 5 biggest lies in this video: 1) You are taking volleying in the kitchen out of context. Step back when you can attack after the bounce. Otherwise you are constantly giving up position at the kitchen if you ALWAYS back up 2) You make it so that the middle shift player just stands in the middle after shifting. She should have shifted back once she saw a good crosscourt dink. Of course the line was open. She just stood still in the middle. 3) I haven't heard anyone preach using your legs and upper body to lift for drops. Weird take. 4)Again, you are taking it out of context. The left hand is connected to the left side. When you say to use the hips to create the chain, the left hand is just a more simpler way of putting the emphasis on the left side. And you aren't always driving with two hands on the backhand. Having the left hand be the consistent thought applies to all two handed backhand shots, not just drives. 5) And one more out of context. Of course you should change it up, but using the X to set up any changes is the base of it. The line and middle speed ups are the base, and then you change to angles when they start covering. This whole video sums up KZbin instruction in a nutshell. Make a catchy title, and get views. Who cares if the content is accurate or not.

[@26realmc]

Don't see the point in trashing other pro's and content creators who put out great content.

[@jolewis140]

Why is every ball being attacked in #1.

[@aj_medias]

Let’s go!!!

[@dalevoigt8612]

You are not practicing what you preach hence it is false. You are dinking and starting to slide before the ball crosses the net. It makes absolutely no sense to wait for a ball to cross the net before moving. If you wait for a dink that will fall close to the net, to cross the net before you step in and get it; you are likely to be late getting to it and lose the point. The best approach that I have heard is to take away your opponent's down the line and through the middle shots. Read the shot off their paddle face and react from there. If you wait till the ball is crossing the net you will be too late.

[@robbydridesemtb4428]

😂 Your awesome Connor. Calling out all these lies 😂, from my favorite core of YT instructors. You earned a sub and a thumbs up. Mary and Jackson have excellent form and power. Are you their coach?

[@cqlealpha]

More than half things in this clip is good but the general cancellation of other pro players' instructions are disrespectful and not accurate, cherry picked. Besides, some are situational like other coaches instructions, like the shadow move in dinking. Some are really covered already by other coaches before this clip. This is really low.

[@dalevoigt8612]

I have never heard a coach say lift with your chest and demonstrate it like you did. The way they demonstrate it is push up and though is at a forward angle. Not unlike your correct demonstratio.

[@frankfurter7260]

I don’t think you know what the word lie means.