If you watch a professional match on television, you may hear the commentators refer to someone who “likes to play on the right” or is a “right-sided specialist.” Even if you understand what this means, it might not be clear what skills you need to develop to play the right side effectively.
Note that these suggestions assume a right-handed player who is playing on the right or even side of the court. You would not want to follow this advice if you are a lefty who stacks on this side to get your forehand in the middle.
These suggestions are a starting point for developing skills needed to play the right side effectively at the 3.5 and 4.0 tournament levels. They are most applicable to mixed doubles, where it is common for a team to stack the female player on the right side and the male player on the left, but they are also useful for gender doubles as well (regardless of whether you stack every point).
Backhand Punch Volley
The backhand punch volley is a fundamental shot regardless of your preferred side of play. If you use a continental grip, then approximately 3/4 of your volleys will be on your backhand side. But there are two reasons that it is even more essential to have a solid backhand punch volley if you are playing the right side of the court.
First, if you are stacking to get your partner on the left, it is because you want that player to take extra balls on their forehand. To facilitate this, the right sided player sets up a step or two closer to the sideline. This sliding action means that almost all hard hit balls will be to the backhand, as anything hard to the forehand is likely out and you want to let it fly.
Second, teams will often test the player on the right early in a match. If they find success attacking the backhand volley, then the player on the right becomes a target and that player’s partner has less opportunity to step in and provide some help. If you can display a solid backhand punch volley, then the other team will move away from that strategy and look elsewhere.
Key technique points for your backhand punch volley:
- Contact in front of body
- Stable wrist
- No backswing or overswinging
- Rotate knuckles to get flatter paddle
Resources for working on your backhand punch volley:
Forehand Dink
The player on the right needs to be able to reliably hit forehand dinks cross-court, both out wide and to the opponent’s inside foot. Ideally the ball would be in the perfect spot (horizontal location) at the perfect height (vertical location). But pickleball is a game of imperfection because you hit a whiffle ball with a plastic paddle. Aim for the right spot and err on the side of being too high.
When you play on the right side, horizontal location is more important than vertical location. You have to get the ball to the intended spot on the court, even if it is a little higher than you would like. If the ball is in the right place, but a little high, your partner will still have a good chance to counter or block the attack. If the ball does not go to the right place, your partner will not be in a good position to respond, and the attack may come back on you. And if you hit the ball into the net, your partner has no chance to help you out.
Key technique points for your forehand cross-court dink:
- Turn your body toward the target
- Keep your arm tucked in
- Contact point in front
- Stable wrist
- Give yourself some margin for error
- Recover to correct spot in ready position
Resources for working on your forehand cross-court dink:
Offense Down the Line
The final basic thing you need is some kind of offense down the line. There are several options here, but the common thread is that you have to keep the opponent in front of you honest with the threat of something other than a cross-court dink.
Misdirection attack: you can wait to hit the ball until you see the person in front of you leaning (or moving) towards the middle of the court and hit it behind them. You don’t want to hit the ball hard – it does you no good if the ball goes out. Instead, you just need to keep it low enough that if they recover and get to it, you either get a popup or a defensive shot from them.
Chicken-wing attack: you can wait to freeze the player in front of you and then you hit a modified groundstroke (50% power) aiming for the space next to that person’s right hip to rib cage. If they let the ball through, it should be low and soft enough to start that it lands in. And if they try to play the ball, it is often an awkward volley in the “chicken wing” position and you can hit down on your next shot. The cardinal sins with this shot are (1) hitting it long and (2) hitting it too close to the person’s body where they can counter with a backhand punch.
Offensive lob: if you have a decent lob, then it can be very effective to mix in a lob with your cross-court dinks. If you can hit a volley lob (meaning that you don’t let the ball bounce) down the line, then your opponent will have less time to react, especially if that person has been pinching middle to try to poach your cross-court dinks. Very few people have a powerful backhand overhead so err on the side of keeping the ball in even if you don’t get it fully over the player’s head. If you can’t consistently hit the down-the-line lob, you can also lob cross court, which gives you more margin for error.
Key technique points for Offense Down the Line:
- Keep the ball in play – no out balls!
- You are looking to set up a better shot, not to hit a winner
- Dinks and offense should look the same to the opponent
Resources for working on your offense from the right side: