Two Simple Mistakes That Are Causing Your Pickleball Pop-Ups

I had a student a few weeks back — I won’t use her real name, let’s just call her a very determined beginner — who kept apologizing to me every time her dink turned into a pop-up her opponent could slam. “Sorry, sorry, I don’t know what’s happening,” she kept saying. And I told her what I’m about to tell you: it’s not bad luck, and it’s not bad hands. Most pickleball popups come down to one of two things. Once you see them, you can’t unsee them.

If your dinks keep floating up into easy putaways for the other team, I want to walk you through the two mistakes I see most at the non-volley zone — and how to fix both of them.

Why Pickleball Pop-Ups Really Happen

Here’s the thing about a pop-up: it doesn’t happen because you swung too hard. Instead, it happens because your paddle gives the ball a little extra push it didn’t need. That extra oomph has to go somewhere. Most of the time, it sends the ball too deep into the kitchen. This puts the ball right into slam range. So instead of thinking about “hitting softer,” I want you to think about where that extra push is sneaking in from. There are two usual suspects.

Mistake #1: Short Hopping the Ball

The first mistake is what I call the short hop — taking the ball before it reaches the apex of its bounce.

Let’s talk about the apex for a second, because it matters more than people think. When the ball hits the court and comes back up, there’s a moment at the very top of that bounce where it’s basically standing still — that’s the apex. A short hop is anything you hit before that point. This happens while the ball still has a lot of its own bounce left in it.

Here’s why that trips people up: if you hit your normal dink stroke on a ball that still has bounce left in it, you’re adding your own push on top of the ball’s push. That combination is what sends the ball sailing deeper than you meant it to.

When I take the ball on the short hop, you can actually hear it — there’s a sharper, livelier sound off the paddle. When I wait and take it right at the apex instead, the sound changes completely. It’s quieter, more controlled. At that split second, the ball has basically nothing left in it before gravity starts pulling it back down.

Now, I’m not telling you to never short hop the ball — sometimes you won’t have a choice, and that’s fine. What I am telling you is to make the apex your default. Short hop only when you have to. That one shift alone will give you noticeably more control.

Mistake #2: Popping the Paddle

The second mistake is what I call popping the dink — a little extra jab or snap that sneaks into the shot and adds a push you didn’t intend.

Here’s how I want you to think about a dink instead: take your paddle to where you expect the ball to be. Then push the paddle through the ball using your shoulder. Your shoulder should be doing the driving — not just on your dinks, but on your groundstrokes too. As a tip, I like to picture it as if I’m gently tossing the ball to my partner across the net, rather than hitting it at all.

When you pop the paddle, the ball still goes over the net, but the trajectory is choppier and harder to predict. However, when you drive through with your shoulder instead, you’ll notice the paddle simply follows the ball through the shot. The motion becomes smooth, controlled, and intentional.

Put the two fixes together — waiting for the apex, and driving through with your shoulder instead of popping — and you’ll find yourself hitting far fewer pop-ups at the non-volley zone. As a result, your opponents will have a lot less to work with. Your dinks will start to feel like something you’re in charge of, instead of something you’re just hoping works out.

If you’re the kind of player who’s serious about tightening up your game this season — maybe even thinking about a pickleball camp — we’ve got some free resources over on betterpickleball.com that can help you get the most out of your training time.

You’ve got this. Small adjustments like these are exactly how good players become great ones — and I’d love to help you keep building on it.

If you’re heading into a pickleball camp this season, don’t walk in still fighting your pop-ups. Grab our free guide on the 3 biggest mistakes players make when choosing a pickleball camp — it’ll help you get the most out of every rep.