How to Anticipate Where the Ball will Be

Hey there my dear pickleballer,

In my last article I told you about Hyperbolic Stretching to help with back, hip, hamstring, calf, achilles pain and more and I had a number of people sign up for the program. ☺️

It's not too late to check it out if you're still dealing with pain, stiffness or tightness in your lower body.

But today I want to talk about anticipation.

When I play with or against players beginner to intermediate players (in the 3.75 level or below) they are often amazed at my ability to anticipate when the ball is coming to me.

How do I know where it's going to go?

Well it's NOT because I'm a mind reader...

I get it.

When you're just starting out in pickleball, it can seem like the ball could go ANYWHERE on the whole entire court-- high or low, shallow or deep, fast or slow--so how could you possibly anticipate it, right?

Technically, that might be true.

But, luckily, we've got two things going for us:

1) We can intentionally position ourselves AT THE NET, 2" BEHIND THE NO-VOLLEY LINE so as to DRASTICALLY limit the number of places our opponent can hit to.

2) We can MAKE PREDICTIONS to help us figure out where the ball is most LIKELY to go.

And when you combine these two things, it turns out that there are actually a very limited number of places that the ball will probably go.

In fact, there are pretty much only 4 places that the ball will ever go and you never need to worry about more than 2 of them at a time.

Seriously.

Just 2.

Doesn't it seem a LOT easier to be prepared for the ball to come one of TWO places rather than one of a zillion places??

I thought so. 😉

Okay, are you ready to hear what they are?

Great. 🤗

🥁🥁🥁

When You're at the Net, the Ball is Always Only Going to Go to One of These 4 Places:

Left.

Right.

Center.

or, Up.

I mean, think about it...

Where else would it go?

oNo

or when.

Now, let's talk about which one you need to be ready for when

.

LEFT or RIGHT are pretty self explanatory, but we'll talk more about those in a minute.

If the ball is coming to the CENTER it means a body shot, coming directly toward you.

You can probably return a slow body shot pretty reflexively--after all, you don't have far to reach. At the 3.5 and below levels, a fast body shot is pretty uncommon. At the higher levels, it is definitely a skill worth practicing, but it is still pretty rare (I wish more people WOULD hit them to me so I'd get more practice).

But it really doesn't happen often enough to worry about.

In the rare case it's coming right at you, either you'll have no problem getting it, or it will be a very tough shot, and you can just congratulate your opponent.

So let's focus on the shots that are MORE common and where your anticipation is really going to make a difference.

If the ball is going UP it means a lob that is way out of your reach.

Depending on your level of mobility, either try to run for it, or let your partner run for it.

Generally, whoever's paddle hand is toward the inside of the court is the person who should run for it.

So if you are two RIGHT's, then the person on the LEFT side of the court should turn around and run for it because their paddle hand is toward the inside (middle) of the court.

If you are two LEFTY's, then the person on the RIGHT side of the court should turn around and run for it because their paddle hand is toward the inside (middle) of the court.

If you are a LEFTY playing with a RIGHTY, then it depends which sides of the court you are on.

When your forehands are in the middle, either of you have a good chance at running for it. When your backhands are in the middle, it will probably be difficult for either of you to get it.

But most shots aren't going to be body shots or lobs.

They're going to be dinks, drop shots or drives.

And for those, (especially the drives) you need to be able to predict whether the ball is going to come to your LEFT or RIGHT.

So how do you know when to cover which?

Well it depends which of your opponents is hitting the ball.

If the opponent on your RIGHT is hitting the ball, you and your partner both need to be ready for the ball to come to each of your RIGHT sides.

If the opponent on your LEFT is hitting the ball, you and your partner both need to be ready for the ball to come to each of your LEFT sides.

In our book, Smart Pickleball, we refered to this as "Cover the Line" or "Cover the Middle" but I think this left-right concept is even easier to understand.

When the person on the right is hitting, prepare to cover right, no matter which position you're in.

When the person on the left is hitting, prepare to cover left, no matter which position you're in.