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How to Swing a Pickleball Paddle: 2 Best Techniques

Posted onJanuary 25, 2023January 25, 2023

Pickleball is a game that can be played by anyone, regardless of how old they are. It’s challenging and fun, but how do you start?

To get started with Pickleball, it is important to learn how to swing a pickleball paddle correctly. There are many different types of paddles on the market today- how do you know which one will work best for you? We’ve compiled some tips and tricks for beginners as well in this article!

In This Post

  • Important Things To Remember Before Learning How To Swing Pickleball Paddle
  • Hitting Techniques To Swing a Pickleball
    • Basic Hitting Technique:
    • Advanced Players Technique:
  • Important Tips and Tricks
  • My Recommendations
  • Conclusion

Important Things To Remember Before Learning How To Swing Pickleball Paddle

Here are some key points to remember when learning how to swing a pickleball paddle. Keep these in mind, and you will be on the right track for mastering this sport! 

  1. It is important that your grip on the handle of the paddle is loose enough so that it can rotate around without too much resistance, but not too loose, or else there won’t be any power behind your swings. 
  2. When swinging, start with an uppercut motion from a low position before following through at shoulder height with a flick of wrists as if throwing something overhand. 
  3. As you follow through after each swing, keep your wrist straight and snap them towards one side while pulling back just slightly (but only enough to stop).

Hitting Techniques To Swing a Pickleball

In Pickleball, players use their paddle to hit a ball over the net in order to win points. Many different hitting techniques can be used, from quick drop shots and lobs for beginners or advanced spin serves with heavy backspin on both sides of the body and power drives using all arm strength and speed.

Hitting Techniques To Swing A Pickleball

Basic Hitting Technique:

The most basic hitting technique for swinging a pickleball paddle is the “tip-to-top” hit which involves striking a ball with your paddle in an upward motion, just how you would slice bread. This approach provides more control over how hard the ball will be struck and where it will go flying off after being hit due to its horizontal momentum (slicing or chopping).

Advanced Players Technique:

More advanced players utilize different techniques that allow them more speed when playing while still retaining some level of accuracy. These include the smash, in which one side of their body takes on all the force from their swing as they try for powerful shots; counter hitters, who take half-power swings back across their bodies before using full-strength forward strokes; and drop shots with high topspin.

YouTube video

Take your time learning how to play Pickleball and try experimenting with how different types of shots feel. It can be a lot of fun just to mess around, but you will also find some tricks that work for you in competitive matches as well!

Important Tips and Tricks

  1. The first thing to keep in mind is that it’s best not to invest too much money into your paddle as a beginner. You’ll find out how you like the game and what type of paddles work for you, so investing too much right away can be risky.
  2. Pickleball games are played with two or four players on each side. When choosing how many Pickleball to buy, a good rule of thumb is one ball per player plus an extra ball if there will be more than three people playing at once. If you have children who want to play, make sure you get them their own set! Also, remember that they’re either yellow (slow) or green (faster).
  3. It’s important to wear shoes with good traction because Pickleball can be a speedy game.
  4. You may hear people talking about how to swing a paddle and how important it is in the game of Pickleball. If you are a beginner, don’t overthink how your backswing should look like for now – there will come a time when you learn how to use different types of techniques!
  5. If you want to be a good pickleball player, your grip on the paddle must be strong and secure.

My Recommendations

I recommend most using what’s called an attacking forehand shot, which involves hitting straight into the opposing player on their weak area. This means swinging upward so that instead of bouncing off their paddle as if they were slicing bread, it goes over them while going straight.

YouTube video

I also recommend using a two-handed grip which means holding the paddle in both hands to have an advantage over one-handed grips. This is because, with two hands, you can easily control how much power and spin go into your shot. You also won’t risk dropping it when going for a hard swing or trying to block their shots.

To get better at playing Pickleball, I recommend practicing how to make quick switches between forehand and backhands and how to change from attacking forehands (hitting straight) to drop shots (high topspin). These skills will come more naturally if you have played tennis before, but all players need these basic moves. 

Conclusion

As you can see, there are many ways to swing using a pickleball paddle. We hope we’ve given you enough information about how to swing a pickleball paddle so that now it’s up to you! 

If anything still feels unclear or if you need more help learning the proper techniques of playing this sport, reach out – we’re happy to share any final insights or answer any questions that come your way. Remember, as always: keep swinging!

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Avatar Of Kevin K. Shaw
Kevin K. Shaw

Kevin is a pickleball coach and former professional player. He’s been playing pickleball for over 10 years and has won multiple championships. He’s also the founder of PickleballSpots.com

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