Blog: Order On The Court — Positioning builds consistency
Kim Brent's Skills and Drills 4.0-4.5 training mixes strategy with skill development
I've been using the term, "Bringing order to the chaos on the court" to describe the style of pickleball play required to transform the often chaotic style of play in both recreational and competitive play, into a more structured game with sound fundamentals. In this week's Blog, I delve deeper into what I mean, starting by describing my own challenge in improving my court game and building consistency. I credit my coach, Kim Brent, (I've included a photo from her current Level 3 Skills and Drills at the Nepean Sports Complex, for advanced players, 4.0-4.5. I'm middle row, beside Kim's Mom, Barb Kerr. Kim is front row, white Selkirk top) with identifying and addressing a bad habit I developed early on, likely a carryover from my tennis mid-court play. I like to hang out in the transition zone, between the baseline, and the Non Volley Line at the Kitchen, way too much. Instead of following a well-hit Drop Shot to the line, and taking up a more advantageous position at the NVL, I sometimes dawdle, with predictable results. Good players can exploit this indecision with sharply hit drives, ankle high returns, that force me to popup. With my coach's unrelenting commands, I now always follow a deep service return to the line, using the Open Stance, ready position, for the Punch Volley back to the opponent's feet, the Block Volley into the kitchen, or a short, top spin Speedup that is challenging to return depending on the height of the ball, relative to the net cord.I’m good at it, and my invariably aggressive attack on the return of serve is often rewarded in an opponent's mis-hit because of added pressure.But I still don't always follow a good Drop to the line, waiting a split second too long to determine its effectiveness, and to confirm my partner's positioning. It's something I'm working on. The specific NCCP skill for this is Recovery from the Drop Shot. I use a Green Light, Red Light analogy, with Red light being a high, attackable Drop Shop (shoulder height and above), for which the player moves back to the Baseline and assumes the ready position -- Open Stance -- for the next return. Or, if it's a well hit soft Drop, chest height, and below, Green Light, moving quickly to the NVL.It’s a simple and effective analogy. Green light, Go!, Red Light, Stop!, Return to base.I have posted a Lesson Video with my student, Peter, (Lesson Home) on this technique. Check it out.
Midcourt hesitation results in another problem. Because I'm left-handed, I will sometimes wait midcoast for a ball to drop from its highest trajectory on the bounce, so I can hit the Drop into the Kitchen with more control. Conversely, balls should be hit at their highest point, for Top Spin Drives.This is a sensible approach; you want to hit Drops from balls that have lost their upward momentum and and dropping, but there is a problem with this hesitation. This helps simplify your shot selection: Move in to hit high, rising balls using Top Spin Drive, hit low balls falling with Drop, either from the Open Stance, feet apart, or Closed Stance, body sideways, contact point at a comfortable distance in front of body.My partner mistakes this short delay with indecision on my part, and being right handed, has what they believe is forehand advantage for the centre line hit. They will step in, in front of me, and quick hit the ball, which sometimes hits the net cord. Good intentions, but often with a predictably poor result.Moving strategically to the net and north/south court positioning (lengthwise) are skills I'm still working on in my game, and I find using drills an excellent way to help developing players address hesitation.One area I’ve really improved my court positioning are the one or two steps needed to cover the middle part of the court, left open when a player moves wide to hit the ball. I've focused on anticipating this, and moving together with my partner to close the gap. It's been working well in tight games, and has become an important component of my defensive team play.I’ll provide more examples of good court fundamentals in future blogs, highlighted with instructional videos. Let me know what you think.Remember to be careful out there; it’s chaos on the courts. See you next week.