There are several types of dinks when you are at the Non-Volley Zone or Kitchen Line. You have non-purposeful dinks, which are simple dinks to get the pickleball back over the net. You also have purposeful dinks, where you are trying to be more aggressive and put pressure on your opponents. These aggressive dinks can be in the form of dinks with spin or dinks with strong placement.

Two types of aggressive dinks with spin are (1) the slice or backspin dink and (2) the top spin dink. The slice or backspin dink will have backspin on the pickleball, which tends to cause the pickleball to skid or skip upon contact with the court. On the other hand, the top spin dink will have spin toward your opponents, which will cause the pickleball to generate some pace and take a bigger bounce off of the court.

To hit a slice or backspin dink:

1. Perform your usual dink preparation with your paddle face slightly open;

2. Consider taking a slightly bigger backswing;

3. Strike the underside of the pickleball with your open paddle face and a little extra paddle speed;

4. Lengthen your swing through the pickleball and forward toward your target, as you try to maximize the underspin on the pickleball; and

5. Finish your paddle swing up and through the pickleball.

Again, the key to the slice or backspin dink is to lengthen your follow through toward your target.

There are a few different ways to generate top spin on your dink. To generate top spin on a backhand dink, you may either:

1. Pronate at your forearm to your paddle side with an open paddle face; or

2. Use a slightly closed paddle face and brush the backside of the pickleball from low to high with your paddle as if you are sanding the backside of the pickleball with sandpaper. Be sure to engage your legs on this shot and finish your paddle swing forward and much higher above the pickleball.

On either of these backhand top spin dinks, be sure to have a firm wrist.

A backhand top spin dink may be easier than a forehand top spin dink. However, to hit a forehand top spin dink:

1. Prepare your shot with a slightly open paddle face and your paddle laid back with the paddle head down toward the ground;

2. Hit the outside of the pickleball and roll your paddle up and around the pickleball; and

3. Finish your paddle swing above the pickleball.

Again, be sure to keep your wrist relatively firm on this shot, and hit the pickleball out in front of your body.

Key Takeaways:

1. If you have mastered your basic dink, try more aggressive, purposeful dinks to put more pressure on your opponents.

2. Two types of aggressive dinks are the slice or backspin dink and the top spin dink.

3. To hit the slice or backspin dink, focus on lengthening your paddle swing forward and toward your target. You will take a slightly bigger backswing and have a bit more paddle speed on this shot.

4. There are a few ways to generate top spin on your dink, which include:

a. For a backhand dink:

i. Use a slightly open paddle face and pronate your forearm toward your paddle side; or

ii. Use a slightly closed paddle face and brush the backside of the pickleball from low to high with your paddle; and

b. For a forehand dink, use a slightly open paddle face with the paddle laid back and down, and roll your paddle up and around the pickleball.