Pickleball Techniques: The Core Skills Explained

Quick Answer: Pickleball runs on about seven techniques: the serve, the return, the drive, the drop, the dink, the volley and the reset. Two more, the ATP and the Erne, are advanced additions. Each exists to solve one specific situation, and knowing which situation is what makes them useful.

Technique in pickleball is less about elegance than about having a shot for each position on the court. A player with seven reliable shots beats a player with two beautiful ones.

What are the foundation techniques?

Four shots cover the opening of every rally.

The serve. Underhand, struck below the waist, landing diagonally in the opposite service court. It starts the point rather than winning it, and consistency matters far more than pace. Our guide to improving your serve covers the mechanics.

The return. Deep, safe, with margin over the net, followed immediately by moving to the kitchen line. It is the most undervalued shot in the sport, and our guide to returning serve explains why depth beats pace here.

The drive. Hard, low and flat with topspin, used when the ball sits up or opponents are not yet set. Covered in our guide to the drive.

The drop. Soft and arcing into the kitchen, hit when the ball is low and opponents are already at the net. It is the shot that buys you the trip forward, and our guide to the third shot drop covers it in full.

The rulebook shapes this sequence. The two-bounce rule requires the serve and the return each to bounce before anyone volleys, which is exactly why the drop and drive exist as third-shot options at all.

What are the kitchen-line techniques?

Three, and they decide most points above beginner level.

The dink. Soft, short, landing in the kitchen and staying below net height at the opponent’s contact point. The default shot once both teams reach the line, covered in our guide to dinking.

The volley. Struck out of the air, compact, with the paddle held in front rather than swung. The volley is where hand speed matters and where the non-volley zone rules bite, since volleying while touching the kitchen is a fault regardless of where the ball went.

The reset. Absorbing pace and dropping the ball short when you are under pressure, usually in the transition zone. It is the shot that stops a losing rally from becoming a lost point, and our guide to the reset covers the soft hands it requires.

The common thread is that all three ask you to take pace off rather than add it. That is the hardest technical adjustment in the sport, because every instinct from other racquet sports runs the other way.

What are the advanced techniques?

Two shots worth knowing about long before you can hit them.

The ATP, or around the post, is a ball struck outside the sideline that travels around the net post rather than over the net. It is entirely legal, there is no height requirement, and it looks impossible until you have seen one. Our guide to the ATP covers when the angle is actually available.

The Erne is a play where a player jumps or steps around the outside of the kitchen to volley near the sideline, legally, by not touching the non-volley zone. Our guide to the Erne covers the footwork and the legality.

Both reward a specific situation rather than general skill. Attempting either at the wrong moment costs more than the occasional success is worth.

Which techniques should you learn first?

Serve, return, dink, drop, in that order.

The serve and return are compulsory: every rally uses both, and errors there give away points with no rally at all. The dink comes next because it is the shot the game settles into, and because learning to hit softly early prevents the habit that later has to be unlearned.

The drop is fourth and hardest. It requires touch from a deep position under time pressure, which is why it takes months rather than weeks and why it marks the boundary between recreational levels.

The volley and reset follow naturally from the dink, since all three share the same compact, quiet-handed motion. The ATP and Erne come last, and are best treated as a reward for having the rest rather than a shortcut past them.

Wall practice accelerates the compact shots specifically, and our guide to practising against a wall covers which drills transfer.

What technical habits cause the most trouble?

Three, and all of them are imports from other sports.

Too much swing. Pickleball rewards a short motion. Full backswings arrive late at the kitchen line and produce pop-ups from balls that needed a block.

An open paddle face. The most common cause of the ball floating up when it was meant to stay low. Keeping the face closed and contacting the ball in front fixes more errors than any change in grip.

Standing still. Reaching with the paddle instead of moving the feet is what turns a routine ball into an awkward one. Most technical faults at the kitchen line are footwork faults wearing a disguise.

The broader decision framework, which shot to hit and when, lives in our guide to shot selection, and the fundamentals underneath all of it are in our guide to the five basic rules of pickleball.

FAQ

What are the basic pickleball techniques? The serve, return, drive, drop, dink, volley and reset. Two advanced additions, the ATP and the Erne, come later.

Which technique should a beginner learn first? The serve and the return, since every rally requires both. The dink follows, because it is the shot the game settles into.

What is the hardest pickleball technique? The third shot drop. It asks for touch from a deep position under time pressure, which is why it takes months rather than weeks.

What is the difference between a dink and a drop? A dink is hit from the kitchen line to the opponent’s kitchen. A drop is hit from deeper in the court, usually as a third shot, to land soft in the kitchen so you can advance.

Do I need topspin? It helps on drives and returns, where it adds net clearance while still dipping the ball in. The soft game needs touch rather than spin.

What is an ATP? A shot struck outside the sideline that travels around the net post instead of over the net. It is legal and has no height requirement.

Why do my shots keep popping up? Usually an open paddle face or contact made beside the body rather than in front. Both send the ball upward regardless of how softly you hit it.

How long does it take to build these? The serve and return come quickly. The soft game takes months of regular play, and the drop is the one that takes longest.

Want technique checked rather than guessed at? The coaches in our directory diagnose faults far faster than trial and error does, and the camps and clinics in our listings run skill-specific sessions.

Written by the Pickler Junction Team.