Dinks – The What, Why, How, and When

What exactly is a Dink? - A shot that is hit with an upward trajectory, that lands just over the net in your opponent’s NVZ (or kitchen). It’s a finesse shot – not easy to do. It’s what is called “the soft game”. Dinking sets up winning shots.

Why do you think we would want to dink?

• Slow the game down – take away a high-powered or hard hitting game from your opponents.

• Take away a player’s ability to drive the ball

• Levels the playing field

• Dinking sets up point

• If your opponent is tall – dinking will force them to have to bend low

– takes away the smash out of their game.

• Almost every player can hit the ball hard, but not every player can hit

the ball soft with precision and purpose. It takes a lot of practice and

patience

• Dinking is an excellent tactic which can help you become a complete

player.

• 85% of all points in Pickleball are won at the NVZ – so learn how to

be a master dinker!

The How –

• Knees bent, feet should width apart in an athletic stance

Consider going on an evening out with a chance to see fellow PB club members show off their other talents

Fellow pickle ball addicts, did you know some of the players you see on the court (Tom Lee, Bill "GQ Bill" Henggeler, and Vic DeBlasio)) are also appearing in the Performing Arts Club production of If These Walls . . . .? It's a Dramedy with music that promises an entertaining time for all of you. So please come out and support our fellow pickle-addicted members by buying your tickets for either the April 28th or April 29th performance. 

Essential Shots of Pickleball 

 – Beginner Week 1 – Serve and Return of Serve

Serve – Develop good mechanics so later you can add spin and pace to your serve

• Transfer your weight from your back foot to your front foot is KEY to getting maximum power

• Serve and rotate hips and shoulders for maximum efficiency and power

• Stance – start with a closed or semi-open stance. This will help with the

rotation and swing path of low to high.

• During serve, have a full, relaxed swing throughout your entire serve

motion – don’t muscle the ball.

• Watch your grip pressure – should be loose and relaxed (3-4 pressure on a

scale of 1-10)

• When serving, swing with a relaxed motion, starting with a loose/relaxed

grip

• Swing path – (right-handed players) Start at right knee, ending by left

shoulder (opposite for left-handed players)

• When working on your serve mechanics, make sure to start off with a slow

swing (about 25% of max power).

• Backswing – start with a small to medium backswing for a more efficient

serve (by hip or knee)

Pickleball Warm-up & Post-Stretches

Common Injuries: Ankle sprain; Achille’s tendonitis; Hamstring/Quadricep strain; Shoulder & wrist strains.☹

*Other typical discomforts include Knee & Back pain;Hip pain

* Injuries due to falling (fractures)

Before Playing: We know that WARM muscles are less prone to injury so ideally, try a Few minutes of “Dynamic Warm-ups” before getting on the courts.

Examples: For Large Muscle Groups: Jog in place; Jumping Jacks; Jump Rope; High Knees; Butt kicks; side steps; “knee-to-chest/Quad stretch”

For back: “cat/cow” stretch (hands & knees, alternate arching and rounding back)

Additional Movements: *Trunk rotations *Arm rotations (small to large)