Third Shot DROP or DRIVE
Which One Wins in 2025?
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I chose 3rd drive 5th drop as my answer in today’s game style. It seems easier to execute, permits a potential for easier 5th shot drop or shake and bake.
I cannot envision a pickleball world where dinks become obsolete, or unimportant. The rising popularity of drives is fine, but those who rely on them solely will never be complete players.
agreed!
I think Drive 3rd and Drop/drive 5th, My reasoning is you will get more OFFENSIVE opportunities and some free points from the first drive and if they don’t beat the return deep, free cake walk into the NVZ area. Just my opinion. Dink will never go away best weapon to control possessions.
I think it depends on who you are playing and what abilities they have. You have to suss them out and figure out what works best during the match instead of committing to a fixed game plan.
We are seeing much younger players playing these days and along with the more powerful and grippier paddle technology available now, they usually also come with experience from tennis or ping pong where they learned great skills and have the ability to shape the ball better than most 1st time PB players. I see them creating shots from below the net on what used to be great dinks and hitting them with such power and top spin that they actually stay inbounds when we would usually just move out of the way and let them go long in the past.
I believe a 3rd shot drop is the best to play and the reasoning for this is the total number of failures of 3rd shot drives, for me, compared to drops for winners in my playing experience. And I am a total amateur who understands that unforced errors are the result of more game losses than all other causes.
Drive to keep the opponents deep but once they both get to the net, drop. That can be third , fifth or seventh shot etc.
I like a 3rd shot cross corner drop. We all know the nets lower on each side. Being a senior player drives can be blocked easier by oposing players. Dinks can keep players off balance more often and going cross corner gives the serving team more time to get to the net.
You need to know your opponents’ style and level of play. If you know that, you can make a wiser choice. Everyone and every game is so different.
I think it all depends on the situation you have , both can work for you. I personally like a third shot drive with a lot of spin
Wether you are bevthesenior or tonytheteen, it all depends on your skill level, the opponent’s skill level, where you are positioned on the court, where your opponents are positioned AS WELL AS THE TYPE OF SHOT (low, high, fast, or slow) you are returning. There is only one shot that is almost guaranteed to be identical and that is the serve.