Each pickleball point generally follows a particular sequence, which goes as follows: (1) a player serves the pickleball for the first shot; (2) an opponent returns the serve for the second shot; and (3) the serving team either drives the pickleball (to be discussed later in this e-book) or drops the pickleball for the third shot.

A third shot drop (or any other drop in a sequence of a point—i.e. a fifth shot drop, seventh shot drop, ninth shot drop, and so on) is similar to a long dink. Like a dink, a drop is a soft shot where the apex (or highest point on the arc of a shot) is on your side of the pickleball court and is one to two feet over the top of the net, which allows the pickleball to be falling at a downward trajectory into the Non-Volley Zone or Kitchen on your opponents’ side of the pickleball court. The drop should land in the two-thirds portion of the Non-Volley Zone or Kitchen on your opponents’ side of the pickleball court that is closest to the net.

A quality drop is one that neutralizes your opponents as your opponents are moving from the baseline to the Non-Volley Zone or Kitchen Line. In other words, like a quality dink, it is a shot that is unattackable. Although a drop shot can be used at times other than the third shot, a drop shot is commonly used for the critical third shot drop just for this reason: to neutralize your opponents and to give you and your partner time to get from the baseline to the Non-Volley Zone or Kitchen Line and to get into the critical dinking game.

Key Takeaways:

1. A drop is commonly used as the third shot of any point to neutralize your opponents and to give you and your partner time to get from the baseline to the Non-Volley Zone or Kitchen Line and to get into the critical dinking game.
2. Think of the drop like a long dink—the apex is on your side of the net and the pickleball should land in the two-thirds portion of the Non-Volley Zone or Kitchen on your opponents’ side of the pickleball court that is closest to the net.