THE SOFT AND HARD SIDE OF PICKLEBALL

This series of lesson plans deal with handling balls at two ends of the spectrum. On the one hand, players need to be able to manage to play against Bangers — those power players who look to speed things up from anywhere.

On the other side of things, players must learn to be comfortable sending and receiving dinks. We’ve even got a lesson plan of some of our favourite miscellaneous drills and games!

We wrote clear descriptions of each of the activities. But for even more fun, we added a few examples below as GIFs. Enjoy!

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PLAN #1: How to Beat Bangers. The focus here is about handling speed — whether it’s coming from the baseline or up near the kitchen. Intermediate players love this straightforward, practical approach to playing against the power game!

Two pickleball players at the net practicing a dink-and-flick drill on an indoor court

How to Beat Bangers: Dink and Flick
Two pickleball players on an indoor court, front player hitting a low drive while opponent prepares at the net

How to Beat Bangers: Drive and Low Volley

PLAN #2: Dynamic Dinking. When opponents play soft and low balls up near the net, your players better be able to handle them without popping up the ball. This series of teaching points, games and drills will help your players keep the ball low and slow.

Two players trading low dinks at an indoor pickleball court near the net, one in a gray shirt and blue shorts and the other in a red jersey

Dynamic Dinking: Sending Low Dinks
Pickleball player dinking crosscourt and recovering toward the kitchen on an indoor court

Dynamic Dinking: Crosscourt Dinks with Recovery
Pickleball player practicing paddle-free dinking near the net on an indoor court

Dynamic Dinking: Paddle-Free Dinking

PLAN #3: Mixed Bag Drills. Enjoy this smorgasbord of fun and fast-paced drills and games. Use these in a single lesson or work them into any on-court session you choose! Players will get to work on their serves and returns, drops, drives, soft game and more!

Two players practicing a pyramid-style pickleball drill on an indoor court with cones marking drill positions

Mixed Bag Drills: Exploding Pyramids
Player in blue shorts serving while partner at the baseline prepares to return on an indoor pickleball court

Mixed Bag Drills: Serve, Return Plus 1
Two pickleball players practicing a pressure drill, one at the baseline and one at the net on an indoor indoor court

Mixed Bag Drills: Under Pressure
Two pickleball players practicing a drill: foreground player prepares to hit while opponent waits near the net on an indoor court

Mixed Bag Drills: The Unfair Game

WARM-UP MENU

In each lesson plan, we allocated time for the warm-up. We created a “warm-up menu” and recommend choosing a sample from it to start off each of your lessons.