Pickleball Drills to Get Better

Practice is where you actually get better, not games. Games hide your weak shots because you avoid them. Drills force you to hit the same shot over and over until it holds up under pressure. All you need is a partner, a bucket of balls, and a court. Here are the drills I run with a friend to sharpen the shots that decide points.

Cross-Court Dinking

Stand at the kitchen line, cross-court from each other, and dink diagonally back and forth. Aim for soft shots that land inside the 7-foot kitchen so your partner cannot attack them. Count how many you can string together without an error, then try to beat that number.

Cross-court gives you more room because the diagonal is longer than a straight line. Once you can rally 20 in a row, start moving the ball around: one to the sideline, one to the middle, one at your partner’s feet. This drill builds the touch and patience that win kitchen battles.

Third Shot Drops

One player feeds from the baseline while the other sits at the kitchen line. The baseline player hits a soft arc that lands in the kitchen, then the feeder resets and does it again. The goal is a ball that drops in low so the net player cannot volley it hard.

The third shot drop is the hardest shot in pickleball and the one that lets you get to the net. Hit 10, then switch roles. Track your makes out of 10 so you can see progress week to week.

Resets Under Pressure

Have your partner stand at the kitchen and hit firm volleys at your body while you stand mid-court. Your job is to absorb the pace and drop the ball softly back into the kitchen. Soft hands and a still paddle do the work, not a swing.

This teaches you to survive the moment when you are stuck in no man’s land, that awkward zone between the baseline and the kitchen. Learn to reset and you stop giving away free points when you get pushed back.

Serve and Return Depth

Serve deep, aiming for the back 3 feet of the service box, then have your partner return deep to your baseline. Both of you are training the same thing: keep the ball deep so the other side cannot attack the return or rush the net easily.

A deep return buys you time to get to the kitchen line. Put a towel or a cone in the back third of the court as a target and score a point every time you land the ball behind it. Games go to 11, win by 2, and depth is what keeps you from losing cheap points early in the rally.

Footwork and Split Steps

Have your partner feed balls to random spots near the kitchen while you shuffle to each one and reset back to ready position. Do a small split step, a little hop that lands as your partner strikes the ball, so you are balanced and ready to move either direction.

Good footwork means you get to the ball set and square instead of reaching and lunging. Reaching leads to weak, floaty shots that get put away.

A Simple Weekly Plan

Rotate the drills so you touch every skill without burning out on one. Here is a 60-minute session for two players.

Drill	Time	What it builds
Cross-court dinking	10 min	Soft touch, patience
Third shot drops	10 min	Getting to the net
Resets	10 min	Surviving pressure
Serve and return depth	10 min	Court control
Footwork and split steps	10 min	Balance, quick recovery
Free rally	10 min	Putting it together

Keep a number for every drill: dinks in a row, drops made out of 10, deep returns out of 10. Numbers keep you honest and show you exactly which shot to fix next.