You know exactly what you did wrong on that bad shot you just hit. You think it to yourself immediately after you hit it. You tell yourself the right thing to do the next time the same ball is hit to you.
Then you make the same exact mistake several more times that day.
You’re a 3.5 pickleball player or thereabouts and you’re frustrated about those repeated mistakes. You are far from alone. Pickleball instructors estimate that 75 percent to 80 percent of all recreational players are at the 3.5 level. I asked a dozen 3.5 players to list their five most common mistakes. Then we asked three top instructors for their advice on ways to fix them.
Pickleball Hall of Famer Seymour “Rif” Rikind says hitting the ball too late and close to the body is a common cause of pop-ups.
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Our team of experts consists of Pickleball Hall of Fame members and certified instructors Steve Paranto and Seymour “Rif” Rifkind, who have won dozens of major national and regional tournaments. Our third instructor is the legendary Richard Movsessian. Widely known in the pickleball community as “Coach Mo,” Movsessian has conducted thousands of clinics in over 20 states and overseas over the past 20 years.
In no particular order, here are the five most common mistakes 3.5 players said they make, and the instructors' advice on how to fix them.
Mistake #1 “I don’t remember or just fail to get up to the non-volley line quickly, if at all.”
Ways to fix it
Paranto: “Remember the mantra ‘Return and go’ in your head. Don’t stay back and admire your shot.”
Rif: “Begin stepping forward to the NVZ after you strike your third and get ready to do a split step [feet parallel to each other] when you see your opponent getting ready to strike the ball.”
Coach Mo: “You should get to within one inch of the non-volley zone as quickly and efficiently as possible. Playing from there gives you the highest percentage shot.”
Mistake #2 “I creep up past the baseline after I serve or my partner serves, the return lands at my feet and I hit the ball into the ground or net because it’s too close to me.”
Ways to fix it
Paranto: “Remember the mantra for the serving team is ‘Serve and Stay.’”
Rif: “Avoid creeping up by doing a split step after your serve which could actually be a slight hop back behind the baseline.”
Coach Mo: “Stay at least a foot behind the baseline after your team serves. Do not step into the court until you are sure you know where your opponents return will bounce.”
Mistake #3 “I hit too many pop-ups.”
Ways to fix it
Paranto: “A lot of pop-ups are caused by grip pressure that is too tight. Remember to relax your grip between shots.”
Rif: “Hitting the ball too late and close to the body is a common cause of a pop-up. Using too much wrist, rushing the shot, and lifting your head too early are common errors when dinking, which causes pop-ups. Make sure you use the continental grip as it accommodates for both a forehand and backhand volley and avoid trying to switch grips.”
Coach Mo: “Do not hit the ball on the run. Be in a set position, with your feet shoulder width apart.”
Mistake #4 “I hit too many balls that are going out deep or wide.”
Ways to fix it
Paranto: “Do a drill in which your partner purposely hits balls that are going out. Practice letting them go out.
Rif: “I think this is one of the most difficult things to learn in pickleball, not only for intermediate players but even advanced players. A common theme used to be ‘above the chest let it fly,’ but with today’s new carbon fiber paddles, players are able to get more topspin on balls that just a few years ago would go out and now stay in. Have a coach hit balls at you while you’re at the non-volley zone and purposely hit balls that would be in or out. Practice looking at the player’s paddle angle when striking the ball. An open face will at least give you an initial indicator, but experience and deliberate practice is necessary to get better at recognizing out balls.”
Coach Mo: “There are things you can watch for to see if a ball might go out. If your opponents’ contact point is below the net, it is usually going out. If your opponent is running to the ball and is halfway to the net, it is usually going out. Also know which way the wind is blowing.”
Mistake #5 “I hit too many easy put-aways out deep or wide or into the net.”
Ways to fix it:
Paranta: “Quit hitting ‘hero shots.” By going for lines you hit many easy winners out and bail out your opponents. Most of the time I see players going for lines when they have a high ball and then they miss it wide. This is a high risk shot. The better shot would be to hit the high balls down at the feet or between the opponents. Don’t take high risk, low reward shots.”
Rif: “The most common reason for this is over-swinging and trying to hit the ball too hard for a winner. Placement over power is always key in pickleball. Try shortening the stroke and practice putaways with cones two feet inside the baselines and sidelines.”
Coach Mo: “You should not be running at the point of contact of your opponents shot. You will make more unforced errors if you do not split step. Only hit the ball as fast as you can be accurate and consistent. Have someone feed balls to you and hit to their feet.”
Some instructors advise 3.5 players who have a seemingly easy put-away to imagine that the court is two feet shorter and two feet narrower, thus giving themselves room for error.
In recreational games between 3.5 players and below, Coach Mo says you should try to hit 80 percent of your shots down the middle and 20 percent angle shots. The best shot, of course, is at your opponents' feet. Coach Mo goes a step further, saying it’s even better if you can hit it at their backhand heel. If your opponent is a right-handed player, try to hit your shot at his or her’s left heel.
Coach Mo, now 84, knows something about placement over power. In the 2010 Nationals, he was twice as old as most of the other players in the 35+ men’s doubles competition. His young opponents targeted him. “I hit every ball to their toes,” Coach Mo said. “I hit high percentage shots, down the middle to their backhands, and made very few unforced errors.”
Out of 32 teams in the 35+ division, the 70-year-old guy with gray hair took home silver.
(Note: I wrote a similar version of this article for Pickleball Magazine’s November/December 2024 issue. Hopefully, you are still not making the same mistakes.)
Thoughts of the week, not all pickleball
· Hard to believe it’s been 45 years since John Lennon’s passing. America found out that Lennon had been shot to death when it was announced by Howard Cosell during a Monday Night Football game on December 8, 1980. Cosell correctly called it “an unspeakable tragedy.” I loved Cosell, thought he was brilliant doing boxing, his “Speaking of Sports” radio commentaries and voicing over NFL highlights (without a verbatim script). He wasn’t a kiss-ass and told his audience when a player screwed-up. Yes, he could be verbose and arrogant. But to me he made any event he was calling more interesting. It was sad, however, that late in life Cosell became bitter and lashed out at fellow broadcasters and many aspects of sports. He was never the same after his wife of 46 years, Emmy, died in 1990. Cosell died five years later.
· A great new invention for pickleball players (and us paddle geeks) is the Slydr from Slyce Sport. The Slydr is a small, adjustable aluminum paddle tuning weight that you can easily put on your paddle’s edge guard. The Slydr fits14mm and 16mm paddles and comes in 5 grams and 7.5 grams. Company owner David Shano tells me a 3-gram Slydr goes on sale later this month. Slydrs come in seven colors and cost $29.95 a pair. They eliminate the need for tungsten or lead tape and of course don’t leave any adhesive residue, which makes the paddle easier to sell. And since you can move them from paddle to paddle you only have to buy one pair. I have no connection to the company; I just bought a few Slydrs and like them. Be aware that some tournaments may not allow them.
· A terrific documentary on Netflix called Sunday Best details how variety show host Ed Sullivan led the way in putting black performers on TV, especially musicians. Before The Ed Sullivan Show became a phenomenon, Sullivan was a sportswriter. In 1929, when Sullivan wrote for the New York Evening Graphic, there was a football game in New York between the University of Georgia and New York University. Georgia demanded that a black player on NYU not play. NYU caved in and benched the player. Sullivan then wrote the following: “What a shameful state of affairs this is — Myers risking his neck for a school that will turn around and bench him because the University of Georgia asks that the color line be drawn. If a New York university allows the Mason Dixon Line to be erected in the center of its playing field, then that university should disband its football season for all time." Sullivan said he received hate mail for writing that. He had courage to write it…remember this was in 1929.
· My Mets lost elite closer Edwin Diaz to the Dodgers on Tuesday. The rich get richer. A day later the Mets slugging first baseman Pete Alonso signed with the Orioles. Unless the Mets sign Kyle Tucker or Cody Bellinger and a quality starter (or two), 2026 could be a long season. Hopefully recently acquired Devin Williams can regain his old form and be a solid closer for the Metsies.
· I’m looking forward to the college football playoffs and don’t care much about Notre Dame and Alabama not making it. I do think both teams are better than James Madison and Tulane. But the dumb new rules guarantee spots for the five highest-ranked conference champions and JMU and Tulane were champs of their respective Group of Five conferences (Sun Belt and American). They should just take the top-ranked teams regardless of whether they win their conference. I also think the playoffs should be expanded to 14 or 16 teams.
Hudef’s Black Friday sale extends through December 31st. For any Hudef paddle that costs $169.99, the discount code MS30 knocks down the price by 30% and you can stack that by another 20%, making the final price $84.99. Any less expensive Hudef paddles, use code MS15 and you can stack with another code you may have to lower the price by another 20%.
