Why Your Backhand Dink Keeps Going Into The Net

I was working with a student at camp a few years ago — I’ll call her Karen — and she was at her wit’s end with her backhand dink. Every time the ball came out wide to her backhand, she’d reach for it and dump it straight into the net. Every single time. She’d shake her head, reset, and do it again. By the third day she pulled me aside during a water break and said, “CJ, I don’t understand. I’m getting to the ball. I’m making contact. Why does it keep going into the net?”

I watched her for a few more rallies and spotted it immediately. It wasn’t her grip. It wasn’t her swing. It wasn’t even her backhand dink, really. It was one step — the cross-step she was taking every time that wide ball came at her. Once I pointed it out and gave her one simple adjustment to try, her backhand dink changed within about fifteen minutes. She was so relieved she actually laughed out loud.

If your backhand dink keeps finding the net when the ball pulls you wide, there’s a very good chance you’re dealing with the same thing Karen was. Here’s what’s happening and how to fix it.

The real reason your backhand dink hits the net

Most players assume the problem lives somewhere in their arm or their paddle. Maybe their swing is off. Maybe they need more wrist. But when I watch someone dump a wide backhand dink into the net, I’m almost never looking at the hand. I’m watching the shoulder.

Here’s what happens. The ball comes out wide to your backhand, and your instinct is to cross-step toward it. That feels like good footwork. But the moment you cross-step, your lead shoulder drops. Your body closes toward the net, and that dropping shoulder pulls your whole paddle arc downward with it. You make contact, but the trajectory is already too low. The net wins.

It doesn’t feel like you did anything wrong. You moved to the ball. You swung. But the cross-step is what set the whole thing up to fail.

How to fix your backhand dink with an open stance

The fix is to stay open. Instead of cross-stepping to reach that wide ball, keep your body facing the net as you move toward it. Think less “step across” and more “slide out.” It’s a subtle shift, but it changes everything.

When you move with an open stance, your shoulder stays level. It stays up, which means your paddle arc stays up, which means the ball has a real chance of clearing the net and landing where you want it. You’re no longer fighting your own mechanics.

There’s a bonus here too. The cross-step closes your body, and a closed body is an invitation. It opens up angles for your opponent to attack. Staying open keeps you in a neutral position, ready to reset or redirect. You’re not just fixing the backhand dink. You’re staying in the point.

Controlling your dink trajectory: the Mechanical Pillar of Pickleball

I want to take a second on the shoulder, because I think it gets skipped over. Players spend a lot of time thinking about the paddle, the grip, the wrist. All of that matters. But the shoulder is the engine. It sets the angle of the arm. The arm sets the angle of the paddle face. The paddle face determines where the ball goes.

For your backhand dink, a low shoulder means a low shot. You can have everything else dialed in and still dump the ball into the net if your shoulder drops on the way there. Once you start paying attention to this, you’ll notice it come up everywhere in your game, not just on the wide backhand. Any time you’re moving and hitting at the same time, the shoulder is the thing to watch.

The open stance keeps your shoulder honest. It’s one of the smallest adjustments with one of the biggest payoffs.

Try this today

Grab a partner and head to the kitchen line. Have them feed you balls out wide to your backhand. Don’t worry about where your shot lands at first. Just focus on one thing: staying open as you move. No cross-step. Slide out, keep your chest facing the net, keep that shoulder level.

It might feel strange at first. The cross-step is what your body has been doing, and it takes a few repetitions to replace a habit. But most players feel the difference quickly. The ball starts clearing the net. The contact feels more solid. You feel more balanced after the shot, which means you’re ready for whatever comes next.

Give it ten minutes. Just ten minutes, with your attention on staying open. That’s enough to start building a backhand dink you can actually trust.  If you find this helpful, join me at one of my camps!

I’d love to hear how it goes for you. Drop a comment below and let me know what you notice when you try the open stance.