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Welcome to The Pickleball Clinic Coaching Newsletter!

Are there other coaching newsletters out there? Yes. Are they anything like this one? No.

Created by coaches and pro players, contributed to by the biggest names in the sport, and designed to help YOU be the best pickleball player you can be.

Each week we’ll pick a focus (a shot, strategy, or concept important to becoming a strong player), and we decided to start things off with what we believe to be the most misused shot in pickleball: the speed-up.

Let’s dive in 👇

In all my years of coaching and playing pickleball, I’ve discovered that there is one shot in that is used incorrectly way more than it is used correctly: the speed-up.

📖 A speed-up is when you accelerate a dink or volley to attack your opponents rather than hitting it soft back into the kitchen.

This shot is a banger's best friend, and is especially common at lower levels where players aren’t proficient in dinking yet.

The most common misuse of the speed-up is speeding-up low dinks without an underlying strategy. Premature speed-ups usually come from a lack of confidence in dinking, where the offender will rush to finish the point because he/she does not believe that he/she can continue to dink without missing.

If you try to speed up a low dink there are 3 likely outcomes:

1. If you speed up a dink hard and straight it will land in the net.
2. If you speed up a dink hard and up to get it over the net, it will go out.
3. If you speed up a dink high but soft enough for it to land in, you'll set your opponent up for an easy slam.

That being said, speed-ups can be a lethal weapon if you are selective and use proper form/strategy. And they don’t even have to be perfect, you just need to play the percentages.

📊 For all you math people out there, if you play 20 points and win 55%, what would the outcome be?

💡 You would win 11 and lose 9. An 11-9 outcome in my favor sounds pretty good to me. So before you speed up, your goal should be to be in a position where you have at least a 55%-45% advantage over your opponent.

Here are some tips to consider that will give you that advantage:

1. First, and most importantly, only speed up the right ball: Keep in mind that most speedups are hit out of the air. You should only speed up off the bounce if you're in position, and your opponent hits you a dead dink. A dead dink is a dink that is high, flat, and bounces in the middle of the kitchen. Ideally, the peak of the bounce will be near the top of the net.

2. Second, make sure you pick a good target: On a basic level, there are two spots to aim for, and two spots to avoid. Aim to either stretch your opponent’s backhand or jam their forehand. Outstretched backhands and forehands from the dominant shoulder are uncomfortable for most players. Avoid stretching the forehand or hitting backhands in the body. These two spots make for easy counter attacks.

3. Finally, keep your back swing and follow through short: Large swings will not only telegraph your shot to your opponent, but they will lead to you either hitting the ball out, or not being ready for the counter attack.

Patience is key! Wait to strike until you have that upper hand. Do this, and I can guarantee that you’ll have more success with your speed-ups!

See you on the courts!

- Matt Slowinski (Co-Founder, Pro Player & Coach)

Patience is the name of the game, so notice how as this point progresses Will Howells pushes the pace with a speed-up on a ball that’s probably too low, but he’s still confident he can make JW Johnson uncomfortable with the change of pace.

Ultimately it backfires because Johnson and his partner Dylan Frazier are cool under pressure at the kitchen and they just wait patiently for Howells to speed up the tempo.

You Need Shoes You Can Trust in the Big Moments

You can’t be running through the bottoms of your shoes after just a few court sessions. That’s why you need a pickleball shoe specifically designed for when you’re sliding around the kitchen line… Meet the Diadem Court Bursts. They’re fast, comfortable, reliable — and let’s face it, they’re nice to look at. 😎 So the next time you’re at open play make sure you and your partner are rocking the freshest kicks in the game, and use code “clinic10” at checkout for 10% off.

Insights from Pickleball Pro, Coach, and Creator Tanner Tomassi

There are two types of speedups; off the bounce and out of the air. Attacking off the bounce is low percentage and risky. Your opponents have a chance to counter your shot. You are in control of the spin and location of the ball, but there’s too many variable that can go wrong!

We should only focus on attacking out of the air when the opponent pops up a dink. This is the highest percentage shot since your opponent has less time to react. You don’t have to worry as much about location and you can win by brute force by catching them off guard.

See you all for my next bulletin!

For more from Tanner, follow @tanner.pickleball on Instagram & YouTube!

If you truly want to improve your game, there’s only one way to do it… by DRILLING! Here’s a must-do drill to add to your routine that will put your speed-ups to the test. 👇

Half-Court Kitchen Game

Play half-court singles up at the kitchen line with a player directly across the net and start the point by dinking. Once the return lands in the kitchen, either player has the option to continue with the dink rally or look for an opportunity to speed the ball up.

A successful speedup is worth 2 points, while a dink winner awards the player with 1 point. Speedups can land anywhere in their opponents’ halfcourt, however, if your speedup misses into the net or lands off the court you’re deducted 1 point.

This aspect of the game should really emphasize the importance of only speeding the ball up in situations where you can be successful. The objective is to seek out good speedup opportunities and build up your patience until you spot one. Play the game out to 11 or 15 and repeat as many times as you’d like.

Lastly, you can check out our video on the speed-up here!

Use the Most Trusted Pickleball in the Game

What’s more annoying than cracked or deformed balls? It’s simple… nothing! Don’t be the person that shows up to open play with lousy balls and gets talked about behind their backs. You need a ball you can trust, and that’s why the Franklin X-40 is the official ball of The Pickleball Clinic. So the next time you’re hitting the courts make sure you’re using a ball you can trust, and don’t forget to use code “clinic15” to get 15% off your next purchase!

Well, that’s a wrap… so let’s recap what we learned this week about speedups.

• Prioritize placement over power

• Most players are weak when they stretch for a backhand or are jammed with a forehand to their dominant shoulder

• Utilize a minimal backswing to disguise the speedup

• Patience is key when looking for a ball to speed up… Don’t rush it!

Thanks for reading! We hope you can put these tips to good use the next time you’re out on the courts!

Reply to this email with anything you want to see in our future newsletters 😄 

- Your Friends at The Pickleball Clinic