Pickleball Tips from Other Sports

Simple tips that translate...

Author

Shea Underwood
December 06, 2024

WEEK 42 ANSWERS

Welcome back to the Road to Pro!

Earlier this week I asked you the question, “If you have a background in another sport, how has it affected your pickleball game? Does it affect your style of play, how you learn, or the way you hit certain shots?” Out of 21 responses you submitted, it’s time to reveal the top three! You can vote for your favorite response using the poll at the bottom of the issue.

Last week’s winner was Noah, and as promised, he’s getting a new Selkirk paddle for submitting the best response. Thank you all for participating!

Now, let's get to it!

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John’s Response

I am a 28yo 3.5-4.0 player. I played tackle football through pee wee and into high school. I picked up tennis and have been playing the past few years in a 3.5 singles league. I started pickleball a year and a half ago and now it is my favorite sport! I will share one good thing and one hard thing about how football and tennis impact my pickleball play.

A great mindset for my game comes from football. Not every play needs to be a touchdown. You can win the game by getting 3 yards every play. In pickleball I think about making the right move little by little until we take control of the point. My drives are not meant to be winners. My speed-ups are set ups. It is okay to play 4 or 5 shots to get up to the kitchen. The hard part about coming from field sports is that my footwork struggles, and I still find myself chopping my feet in ready position instead of split stepping.

My tennis ground strokes made the pickleball transition very easy. I can generate great topspin on my serve and forehand with a semi-western grip. The strange thing is I have a 1-handed backhand drive in tennis, but have developed the 2-hander for pickleball. Going back and forth between the two sports throws off my timing and drives me absolutely nuts!

Mike’s Response

I played racquetball for 40+ years, and now I have switched full time to pickleball, mostly because pickleball is easier on my old body than racquetball is. Ironically, there is not a lot of carry-over from racquetball to pickleball, even though they are both racquet sports.

Pros:

  • The biggest pro I carried over from racquetball is that the contact point of the ball and my paddle is about the same distance as the contact point of the ball to my racquetball racquet.

  • The second advantage is that you have to hit backhands in racquetball. You are required to place the wrist tether on your hand in racquetball to avoid having the racquet slip from your hand and hit somebody (even yourself). This could cause serious injury. What it means is you cannot swap hands in racquetball, so you have to learn how to become comfortable with a backhand shot. This carries over to pickleball in that the plane of the swing is similar in both sports.

Cons:

There are quite a few cons switching from racquetball to pickleball (perhaps surprisingly).

  • The biggest con is that just about every swing in racquetball involves heavy wrist cock and follow-thru during contact with the ball. Pickleball shots almost always require a stationary wrist when making contact with the ball. This has been a hard transition, to say the least.

  • In racquetball, it is nearly impossible to impart spin on a rubber ball, and it is not smart to even try to do so. But imparting spin can be an advantageous weapon in pickleball. This is a whole new topic to learn for former racquetball players, and it is especially important to learn how to put topspin on a pickleball. I have been playing pickleball for about a year and a half, and I am still learning how to impart topspin on my pickleball shots effectively.

  • In racquetball, it is always best to try to contact the ball between your knee and ankle (the closer to the ankle the better), but this is not an advantageous contact point in pickleball. In pickleball, your contact point can be at various places - ankle, knee, waist, shoulder, overhead, etc. I am having to learn how to effectively hit shots from all of these contact points, and make sure my paddle angle is correct in each spot.

  • In racquetball, touch shots are much more rare than hitting the ball with power. In pickleball, I am having to learn a lot of touch shots (dinking, drops, resets, etc.), and I am learning that great placement is almost always better than hitting with power.

  • In racquetball, it is quite uncommon to volley balls. It is really only done when your opponent is out of position. It is much better to wait until the ball falls between your knee and ankle before striking it. But volleys are very common in pickleball, and it is a must to learn how to stand your ground at the kitchen. I am comfortable at the kitchen line now, but it was tough to learn at the beginning of my pickleball journey.

  • The final con is that the time between your opponent hitting the racquetball and you hitting the racquetball is usually 1 or more seconds (sometimes it bounces off of a couple of walls before being struck). But you quickly learn in pickleball that almost every ball is struck in less than a second (even from baseline to baseline), and in way less time during hands battles. I have had to do hands battle drills a lot to be able to react to these quickly hit shots.

Final thoughts:

It has been an interesting transition moving from racquetball to pickleball, but it has been a lot of fun. I have met a lot of really nice people, and I am very glad I made the change.

Timothy’s Response

1. Basketball Background

As someone with a basketball background, I’ve noticed that my court awareness and quick decision-making have significantly helped my pickleball game. In basketball, you’re constantly reading your opponents and anticipating their next move, which is a huge advantage in pickleball, especially in doubles. My footwork is another strength—basketball teaches you how to stay light on your feet and shift directions quickly, which helps me cover the court and position myself at the kitchen line effectively.

The one thing that’s been a bit of an adjustment is learning to focus on finesse over power. In basketball, I’m used to explosive movements, but in pickleball, you often need a softer touch, especially for dinks and drop shots. Once I embraced that balance, my game really started to improve.

2. Volleyball Background

Coming from volleyball, I feel right at home at the net in pickleball. The quick reflexes I developed for digging and blocking translate perfectly to handling volleys and fast exchanges. I also think my timing for overhead smashes is spot on because it’s so similar to spiking in volleyball.

One thing I’ve had to work on is slowing down my game. Volleyball is all about power and intensity, but pickleball often rewards patience and precision. Learning to control my shots, especially dinks and lobs, has been a challenge, but it’s made me a more well-rounded player. I also find that my experience with teamwork in volleyball helps me communicate better with my doubles partner, which is crucial in pickleball.

_______________________________

Both sports have given me a competitive edge, but they’ve also taught me the importance of adaptability and strategy, which are key to succeeding in pickleball.

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