Does this ever happen to you?
You're consistently hitting your drop shots into the net,
or perhaps they're so high, they're coming back fast and at your feet?
Then it's time to develop some touch on your drop shots.
Hey everybody, it's CJ Johnson.
There is no doubt that the drop shot is a tough shot to hit.
In fact, it's one of the most difficult shots in pickleball.
It can drive even the top players crazy.
Today we're going to start the first in a four part series to help you get some
consistency and touch on your drop shots.
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It's hard to develop consistency if you don't have good shot mechanics and
that's what we're going to focus on in this video. First,
let's define a drop shot.
A good drop shot would be a shot that is hit softly.
Even though it may be attackable,
you don't hit it into the net and commit a fault.
A better drop shot is one that lands at or near the kitchen.
A great drop shot is one that lands in the kitchen and the apex of the bounce is
below the net. When the ball bounces below the net,
your opponents must hit up on the ball to get it over.
It makes it much less likely that it is an attackable shot and it allows you and
your partner to move closer to the non-volley zone.
A drop shot uses mechanics that are similar to a dink.
The very first thing is the paddle face is open.
That helps to lift the ball up and over the net.
In addition to an open paddle face, the paddle face is tilted to the side.
It's not straight below you.
When it's straight below you it's extremely difficult to control the trajectory.
Number three,
the paddle swing is short and the contact happens out in front of the body.
The longer the swing is,
the more difficult it is to control the speed and the trajectory of the ball.
Number four,
the sensation is that we're pushing the ball off the paddle.
Number five is grip pressure. When we're trying to hit a soft shot,
we need to have a soft grip and I don't hear this fundamental talked about
enough. We're going to use a scale of one to ten,
one being the least amount of pressure and 10 being the most.
For a one hold the pressure so that if I walked by I could grab it right out of
your hand.
Number 10,
squeeze so tightly as tight as you possibly can that it almost hurts.
Those are your two extremes, 1 and 10.
Now readjust your hand and select a grip pressure right in the middle.
That's number five.
To hit this shot,
you want to have a grip pressure somewhere between three and five.
That's going to help to give you control,
consistency and feel.
Consistent footwork is essential to the shot.
Helle Sparre uses an analogy that I just love and she says,
picture a box and that you're hitting the shot from the top corner of the box.
I just put out these four cones and when I hit a forehand,
I want to bend down and feel like I'm pushing the ball off my paddle from the
top corner of the box.
I go back to my split step and I'm going to do the same thing on the backhand side.
Push the ball off the top corner of the box.
A great way to practice this, grab some balls, stand at the baseline.
You can do this all by yourself. Don't even need to have a practice partner.
Drop the ball out in front of you and work your way through one fundamental at a time.
Whoops!
Next week I'll start sharing my three favorite drop shot drills. In the meantime,
check out this video, which will help you to develop some footwork, consistency.
If you got value from watching today,
give it a thumbs up or share this video with your pickleball playing friends
because. Together we can Train Smart, Live Bold, and AGE-WELL.