1. Ready Position

Mastering your ready position is your secret weapon. if you have a solid ready position it takes less time to react on ball which gives high chance to collect well.

• Paddle Up High: Keep your paddle close to your chest, imagine it’s a fly swatter ready to strike. This lets you react like lightning, especially when you’re battling at the net.
• Low and Ready to Leap: A slight crouch with your feet shoulder-width apart, or even a little wider, creates a stable base, letting you chase down those tricky dinks and dig deep for tough shots. Don’t go full-on crouch, just ditch the stiff stance. .
• Closer to ball :
• Consistency: is your key to victory. Skilled players never let their focus waver. Between shots at the net, keep your paddle up and alert. The moment you relax, your opponent pounces with a speed-up, and that’s a point gone.

2. Foot Work

To move like a pickleball pro, here’s the secret: Be light on your feet! Stay low and spread your legs a bit for stability I would say shoulder width apart.

Keep your upper body calm and collected. Let your legs do the work, keeping your head and torso steady. Think smooth and controlled, not flailing and frantic. That way, you’ll be balanced and ready to smash the next shot (or anything your opponent throws your way!).

Return to position after shot : Soon you return to ready position, will give higher chance to hit next shot, most of the time players keep feet wide and they are locked, DO NOT LOCK FEET instead keep it ready to move left and right direction.

Finally, ditch the giant swings! When you’re close to the net, use short, powerful strokes. This keeps you in a ready position for whatever comes next. No more getting caught off guard!

3. Don’t take shot If ball is going Out

This is very common scenario which almost everyone does, I would say this is the biggest part in ladder to go from 3.0 to 4.0.

• Take your time:  It will take some time for trial and error to realize which shot is probably going out, few key component which play for this is Speed and height and angle of the ball.
• Keep Idea about side lines in mind” :  when I play, I keep some idea about the distance I am having from side line and if shot is coming toward that direction with high angle and speed, I would leave it, it might be hard to figure out in starting but if you don’t leave those shots, you will never find where its going to land as I said for this rule it take some time and trial and error.
• Overhead Lobs: This could be very tricky sometimes, since we don’t know where its going to land, if I see ball is very slow in speed but high, I would go back and let it drop, since its slow and we have time to let it drop
• Fast Drives and Volley: I usually let go shots which is really hard and above my chest or shoulder in high at volley zone.

4. Don’t Swing paddle hard at Net

I see a lot of folks at the court swinging their paddles real hard, especially near the net. But here’s the thing: swinging hard often just sends the ball flying out of bounds!

Instead, imagine you’re playing catch. When someone throws a ball at you, you don’t swat it away with all your might, right? You hold your glove out to stop it gently. That’s kind of what we want to do in pickleball at the net – we want to block the ball.

Think of your paddle like a wall. When the ball comes your way, hold your paddle steady in front of you, almost like you’re saying “stop right there!” This will help you:

• Keep the ball in play: By blocking, you’re more likely to send the ball back over the net and keep the rally going.
• Make it tricky for your opponent: That hard-hit ball they sent? Blocking it makes them work a little harder for their next shot. The ball might even drop softly on their side of the court, making it tough for them to return.