Dinking is the soft game of pickleball. It is a gentle shot that arcs just over the net and lands in the opponents kitchen, forcing them to hit up. It looks easy until you try it. Here is how to make your dinks a weapon instead of a liability.
Why dinking matters
The kitchen line is the most valuable real estate in pickleball. The team that controls it usually wins the point. Dinking is how you fight for that control. A good dink keeps the ball low and unattackable, which forces your opponent to either dink back or take a risky shot. A bad dink pops up, and a popped up ball gets smashed.
The mechanics of a good dink
Stand at the kitchen line with your knees bent and your paddle out in front of you. Keep the paddle face open and your wrist locked. The motion is a small push forward from the shoulder, not a flick of the wrist. The two most common faults are accelerating into the ball, which pops it up, and using the wrist, which does the same thing. Slow your swing down. The ball should barely clear the net and drop into the kitchen on the other side.
Where to aim your dinks
Aim at your opponents feet or just inside the kitchen line near their sideline. Dinking to the middle of the kitchen is the safest option when you are under pressure, because it takes away angles and forces a flat, neutral reply. Avoid dinking the same spot twice in a row. Move the ball around the kitchen and wait for the pop up you can attack.
The reset: your best defensive tool
When an opponent speeds the ball up at you, do not try to counter hit it. Absorb it. Soften your grip, take no backswing, and let the ball come to your paddle in front of your body. Redirect it softly back into the kitchen. This is called a reset, and it is the fastest way to take the pace off a rally. One clean reset turns an opponents attack into another dinking exchange, which is exactly where you want to be.
Drill it in five minutes
Stand at the kitchen line with a partner and dink cross court. Count how many dinks you can hit in a row without one popping up above the net. Try to beat your number each session. Then have your partner randomly speed one up at you and practice the reset. Ten clean resets in a row is a great goal.
Keep your mind on the dinks, not the score
Long dink rallies are where score arguments start, because nobody remembers the number after a 20 shot exchange. Rally Tally is a mechanical score keeper that sticks on the end of your paddle handle so you always know the score. $10 each or 2 for $20 with free shipping at rallytallypickleball.com.