When you are dinking at the Non-Volley Zone or Kitchen Line, you may feel the pressure. Take deep breath. Dinking often comes down to how you can handle the pressure. Remember the following tips to try to relieve some of the pressure of the dink:

1. Dink with a Purpose – Use the dink to make your opponents move. When your opponents are moving, they may be more inclined to make an unforced error or pop the pickleball up for an easy put away shot. Also, consider targeting your opponents’ backhands and your opponents’ feet, which will generally make for tougher shots for your opponents.

2. Be Patient – If you come out of the dink too early and get too aggressive, you will likely lose the point. Be patient and wait for the right opportunity.

3. Take Advantage of Your Opportunities – When your opponents pop up the pickleball, do not reset the point. Take advantage of your opportunities, put the pickleball away, and win the point.

4. Keep the Pickleball Above the Net – One of the worst mistakes you can make in pickleball is hitting the pickleball into the net. If you hit the pickleball into the net, you immediately take yourself out of the point. Make your opponents at least hit one more shot. So, when dinking, make sure you are dinking above the net and avoiding unnecessary unforced errors into the net.

5. Consider Going Crosscourt, But Play to Your Strengths – There are a lot of strategies that tend to work. However, one strategy when dinking that is particularly useful is dinking crosscourt. This is because crosscourt dinks will lead your shot over the lowest part of the net (i.e. the middle of the net) and to the area of the court with the highest margin of error. Also, crosscourt dinks are generally more difficult for your opponents to attack. With that said, mix it up and stay unpredictable. Also, play to your strengths, which may be crosscourt or may even be straight-on dinking with a few Ernes!

Key Takeaways:

1. Dink with a purpose!

2. Be patient, and take advantage of your opportunities to put the pickleball away!

3. Keep the pickleball in play and above the net.

4. Consider going crosscourt, but play to your strengths. Be unpredictable!