If you’re playing pickleball, you will find that dinking is an important shot to know. In fact, dinking is one of the fundamental strategies when it comes to playing pickleball. You will often see the pros play out long dink battles in tournaments. But why is dinking so important in pickleball? Let’s break down the reasons.
What Is Dinking In Pickleball?
Dinking in pickleball is softly hitting the ball to your opponent’s non-volley zone so that the ball clears the net but bounces low.
Why Do You Dink In Pickleball?
There are lots of reasons that you would want to dink in pickleball. Many players from other racket sports backgrounds may not find dinking to be enjoyable. However, dinking is a crucial part of playing pickleball. Here are the reasons why.
Dinking Makes The Ball Unattackable
One of the biggest reasons that dinking can be so effective is that it makes the ball unattackable. A good dink will allow the ball to go over the net with very little bounce. If the opponent tries to attack the ball when the height of the bounce is below the net, it will go straight into the net.
Dinking Creates Gaps
Dinking is a great doubles strategy to create gaps when all four players are up the non-volley zone. At the kitchen line, dinking can create gaps when a player is stretched to the far left or the far right of the court to return the ball. If the player’s partner does not move with the ball, it can create a wide gap in the middle for their opponent to easily attack the ball.
Dinking Forces Your Opponents To Move
At lower level to intermediate rec play, many players are not used to moving with the ball. Especially once they’re at their stable position on the kitchen line. Dinking cross-court can create gaps between partners as mentioned before. Gaps occur when the player that is not returning the ball stays in their position rather than moving with the ball and their partner.
Dinking also forces your opponents to move in ways beyond their normal, balanced stance. If a player is not used to moving their feet to return a wide ball, they may overstretch, causing a weak or bad return.
Dinking Forces Unforced Errors
In order to win a game of pickleball, one has to reduce unforced errors. You may be surprised (or not) to find how a simple motion of dinking can cause a player to hit into the net. You may find yourself doing the same thing during a game!
While dinking can create an unattackable ball, it can be a great way to cause your opponent unforced errors. Unforced errors can occur when players are not patient enough to wait for a weak dink that is attackable. And then return a dink that is too high for their opponents to attack.
Dinking should be purposeful and part of the strategy to win. In order to win at a dink battle, varying the placement of dinks from crosscourt, middle, and straight can be a great strategy. Similarly, varying the pace and spin can make the dinks harder for a return.
Dinking Creates Opportunities For Attacks
While dinking can create an unattackable ball, it can be used offensively to bait an attackable ball. This happens with a more aggressive dink that targets the opponent’s feet. This can either end the point if the ball hits the feet. Or cause the player to dig the ball up and cause it to become attackable.
The added pressure of a faster dink challenges the opponent to return the dink without it becoming attackable. Returning a push-dink back as a perfectly non-attackable ball every time is a hard task for most people.
Dinking can test a lot of patience for many players. After a long rally of dinking, a player may lose patience and prop the ball up, attack the ball into the net, or start a hand-volley battle. All of these scenarios can create an opportunity for you and your partner to either win the point or to attack the ball.
More Pickleball Tips And Strategies
To improve your overall pickleball game, incorporate dinking to your strategy. Many rec players like pickleball for the game but get frustrated when they’re making unforced errors, such as dinking into the net. The solution is to drill and to make sure dinking is part of the routine. All you need is a partner and a basket of balls.
Read Also: Pickleball Strategy For Doubles