The player across the net from you isn't faster, stronger, or more talented. They just know something you don't — and it has nothing to do with their skills.
I recently became friends with a player who got good fast by drilling a ton and got obsessed with pickleball. When I first played games against him, I saw he would get good fast, but he had a way to go. The second time I got to play with him (only a number of months later) I realized not only did he improve incredibly fast (thanks to drilling and studying the game), but that he understood the game better than every 4.0 and most 4.5s in town. His Pickleball IQ – his understanding of various factors and how to respond to each scenario in any given shot was higher than most of my students and players I play against.
Here are 10 areas you need to be aware of and start implementing in your understanding of how to win pickleball games.
1. Court Awareness
- You need to know where you are, where your partner is, and where the opponents are at all times.
- You’ll need to understand spacing, covering gaps, and when you or your partner are out of position.
- Anticipating where the ball is going before it's hit, whether from your opponents, your own partner, or even yourself.
2. Pattern Recognition
- Identifying your opponent’s tendencies and capitalizing on them. This is something that would be important to discuss with your partner between points, assuming they are on the same page as you, because not all partners you may play with will prioritize understanding Pickleball IQ as a very important part of the game.
- Knowing and understanding which shot setups lead to which specific outcomes.
- Reading body language, paddle angle, and weight transfer to predict the next ball.
- Understanding which of your opponents is more aggressive versus who isn’t. Who may be more confident versus who may not be. Who is starting to spiral and miss versus who is more consistent.
3. Shot Selection
- Choosing the right shot over the impressive shot. A lot of people have an unhealthy attachment to hitting the shot of the century that may only go in 1 out of 20 times, versus making just one more ball in than their opponents. Whoever keeps the ball in play more times than the other team is who usually wins. Not the team that hits the most winners over the other team.
- Understanding when to attack, reset, or defend based on ball position and trajectory, court position, and ball pace.
- Creating effective pressure risks at the right moment, to the right targets, and being able to be ready to follow up that shot with more pressure or handling a good shot back with the next smart move.
4. Transition Management
- The game has changed and it may be controversial to say, but sometimes you’ve got to attack in the transition zone, but everything must lead you to getting to the kitchen.
- Knowing when to speed up vs. slow down during the transition zone.
- Managing the third shot drop, fourth shot, and fifth shot as a connected sequence, not isolated decisions.
5. Stacking and Positional Strategy
- Understanding why teams stack and when it creates advantage for your team.
- Knowing your dominant side and protecting it without being predictable.
- Reading opponent stacking to neutralize their positioning advantage.
6. Dinking Intelligence
- Understanding the purpose of the dink game — it's not passive, it's constructive and even best done when you keep putting the pressure in every shot you can (not be hitting fast all the time, but by smart placement.)
- Building the point through dink patterns to create an attackable ball.
- Knowing when the dink rally has set up the opportunity to speed up.
7. Speed Up and Reset Decisions
- Recognizing the right ball to attack vs. the ball that will come back harder
- Resetting under pressure without panicking or going for too much
- Understanding that a good reset is an offensive weapon, not a retreat
8. Serving and Return Strategy
- Using serve placement to set up your third shot
- Return placement that limits the server's transition and keeps them deep
- Understanding how the serve and return are the opening moves of a chess match
9. Communication and Partnership IQ (Doubles)
- Calling balls, covering poaches, and moving as a unit
- Knowing your partner's tendencies and compensating for their gaps
- Managing momentum together — not letting one partner's frustration affect the other
10. Momentum and Emotional Management
- Recognizing momentum shifts and knowing how to stop or accelerate them
- Understanding when to slow the game down vs. push the pace
- Using timeouts, between-point rituals, and energy management as strategic tools
If you are local to Las Vegas and you want to take group clinics with me at Vegas Indoor Pickleball, follow us on IG and FB to see the weekly schedule. Looking forward to working with you. Until next time.
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