When you’re a beginner playing pickleball singles, your goal is to be more consistent than your opponent. You normally make your opponent make more mistakes than putting away winners. However, at intermediate to advanced levels, you will have to be a lot more analytical of your opponent. Here is some pickleball singles strategy to add to your game as an intermediate to advanced player.
Pickleball Singles Strategy For Intermediate To Advanced Players
In addition to being consistent, you will have to be a lot more strategic about constructing the point. You do this by applying pressure on your opponent with every shot and using these tips.
Weaponize Your Serve
You already know that a deep serve and a deep return are crucial in pickleball singles. But at intermediate and advanced levels, the service should be more than just a way to start the point. Your goal for your pickleball singles strategy should be to apply pressure on every single shot. That includes the service.
You can hit your serves hard with a lot of spin or angles to make it harder for your opponent to hit a good return. If they don’t have any issue with your service, you can mix it up with a lob serve or a service without any power or pace to throw them off.
How you serve and your opponent’s return can construct the whole point. Give yourself a head start by making the most out of your very first shot in the point.
Don’t Give Your Opponent Angles
At intermediate to advanced levels, many players are good at making passing shots. Especially when you return a shot to their forehand. While you do want to make your opponents move by placing your returns in each side corner, this is not always the case.
If your opponent is good with angled shots and they keep making those shots to pass you or force you out of position, don’t continue to return to the court corners. It may seem counterintuitive to what you knew or learned in the past but you actually want to hit the ball to them in the middle to cut off their angles.
Then you will want to make your way to the net so that you will have more angles to put the ball away from the non-volley zone.
Build Your Shot Arsenal
If you’re looking to level up in pickleball, it helps when you have a variety of shots in your arsenal. That means being hit with topspin, slice, lob, and taking pace off of the ball for dropping, dinking, and resets.
While you may already know how to do most of these shots playing doubles, it is harder to execute when you’re playing singles. You may be running towards the ball when you have to make these shots and there is no one to cover you while you adjust to get back to your ready position.
When you have different shots to choose from and you’re able to make those shots, it can buy you time when you need them or give you an opportunity to hit a winner.
For example, lobbing the ball over your opponent buys you a lot of time and recovery when you’re pulled out wide. Dropping the ball well in the kitchen corner forces your opponent to bounce the ball instead of attacking. Hitting the ball down the line moves your opponent waiting for a crosscourt return if they placed the ball in the corner of your backhand.
Having different shots and touch for the ball allows you to be in control of the point. Rather than react to what your opponent is making you have to do.
Prioritize Placement
You may have heard the saying “Placement Over Power”. This is even more true when it comes to playing singles. Your placement of the ball dictates where your opponent will go and narrows down the type of shots they can make.
The safest placements are usually at either corner of the kitchen or the baseline with your opponent’s backhand side as the best choice. To be able to execute these shots in a game or a tournament match, place targets in a drilling session to have the touch and muscle memory.
Be Efficient With Your Footwork
What can separate a winning and losing point can be something as small as good footwork. You already know how important footwork is when you’re playing any racquet sport. Pickleball is no different. You want to always be ready after each shot that you make.
Recover to your ready position and split step when your opponent is about to take their shot. This is especially important if you just hit a backhand shot or are pulled out wide from the center of the court. You don’t want to leave a whole side of the court for your opponent. You will want to return to the center of the court with a split step.
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