5 things every amateur pickleball player can learn from the pros

The Kitchen Team

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Last Edited

Mar 16 2026

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This won't surprise you: There's a huge difference in how pro pickleball players approach and execute the strategy of the game compared to amateurs.

But while there are certain skill and physical limitations that hold amateur players back, a lot of what the pros do successfully has little to do with raw skill and physical abilities. And the strategies they use can actually be replicated across a broad range of skill levels.

Coach Tony Roig, a certified pickleball coach and senior pro player, recently broke down some pro match footage to show you exactly what the best players in the world do differently, and how you can apply it to your own game today.

AMATEUR MISTAKE #1: Rushing to the kitchen line. Pro players routinely use two, three, four and sometimes even more shots to make their way to the kitchen line when they are the serving team. They're not afraid of the transition zone and they patiently wait for the right opportunity to advance.

AMATEUR MISTAKE #2: Trying to do too much with your serve. You don't need a super hard serve or something that spins like crazy in order to be successful. Many pros simply use a reliable, deep serve in doubles. They are able to make their opponents' route to the kitchen line a little more difficult without taking on unnecessary risk. Where you see most of the hard serves is in singles.

AMATEUR MISTAKE #3: Not enough net clearance. The pros rarely hit a ball into the net -- and when they do, they are usually pretty upset. They don't try to hit the perfect shot every time and give themselves plenty of clearance, trusting their defense and trusting their partner to get them out of trouble if they leave one a little too high. Hitting it into the net is the only surefire way to lose a point -- whereas a high ball just means you might have to play a little defense (or, if you're lucky, you opponent can make an error).

AMATEUR MISTAKE #4: Not using the non-volley zone properly. Pro players use the non-volley zone to their advantage, not just as a rule. This one is somewhat related to the previous point -- by understanding what shots their opponents can and can't attack out of the air, they are comfortable floating a dink or a third-shot drop over the non-volley zone. They also use it as a way to move their opponents around, knowing that they will have to take certain shots off the bounce.

AMATEUR MISTAKE #5: Being afraid of the "dead dink." You might have heard somewhere along the way that your dinks need to be more aggressive in order to earn more pop-ups that you can attack. There's certainly some truth to that, but that doesn't mean "dead dinks" don't have their place in the game. The pros use "dead dinks" all the time when they are off balance or are just looking to extend the rally. These are simply instances where they don't have what they're looking for and are patient enough to keep looking.

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