Dinking is one of the cornerstones of the sport of pickleball, and a dink is one of the most important shots in pickleball, outside of the key third shot in any point. So, what is a dink? A dink is a pickleball shot that you want to hit into the Non-Volley Zone or Kitchen on your opponents’ side of the court. All four players in pickleball doubles will generally be at the Non-Volley Zone or Kitchen Line when you are hitting a dink.

A good dink is one that is unattackable. It 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 court. The dink 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. In other words, think of the trajectory of a dink like going over a bridge. The top of the bridge is the apex, which should be on your side of the pickleball court and about one to two feet over the top of the net. The bottom of the bridge should be within the two-thirds portion of your opponents’ Non-Volley Zone or Kitchen that is closest to the net.

The height of the apex of the dink is important. Give yourself some margin of error over the top of the pickleball net—one to two feet over the top of the net. If you hit the pickleball too low, you will hit your dink straight into the net and take yourself out of the point.

Before you are ready to hit a dink, make sure you are in the proper ready position—Pickleball Ready. When hitting the pickleball for a dink, compress your body, softly strike the pickleball with your paddle and lift up with your paddle in a controlled manner. Again, the goal of a dink is to hit an unattackable shot by (1) staying compressed in Pickleball Ready; and (2) having an apex of the dink that (a) is on your side of the pickleball court; (b) is one to two feet over the top of the net; and (c) falls into 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.

Key Takeaways:

1. The goal is to hit unattackable dinks. Unattackable dinks have an apex on your side of the pickleball court and land in your opponents’ side of the Non-Volley Zone or Kitchen, so that your opponents cannot volley the pickleball, but rather must let the pickleball bounce.
2. Respect the net, and give yourself some margin of error over the top of the net when dinking.