3 Pickleball Drills for Fast Hands

The Kitchen Team

Team The Kitchen

Last Edited

Jul 10 2024

Not Your Average Wall Drill

There are plenty of variations on the pickleball wall drill (and if you buy a Dink Pad, you'll receive a whole drill catalog).

But training for fast hands can be even more simplistic and effective without a paddle.

Coach and pro player Dayne Gingrich, featured in the video above, says this is still his favorite fast hands drill because it involves peripheral vision and the ability to trust our minds can calculate what needs to be done.

"I’m not a fan of tracking the ball from opponents to partner, so this also GREATLY HELPS train us to remain focused on the straight ahead opponent while still being able to quickly respond to his / her shot back from our partner," he says.

Start slow and far back from the wall. As your brain calibrates and gets used to it, take a step closer. Rinse-n-repeat until you’re a foot from the wall, then slowly back away to your original starting position.

Cooperative Hands

Pro James Ignatowich says it's important to focus some of your drilling on meeting the ball out in front.

So in this simple drill, hit balls back and forth at the kitchen line with your partner on the opposite side of the court.

You want to extend your arm through contact each time, but don't keep your arm straight in between shots.

Hit 70% backhands, but try to focus on seeing forehands as early as possible. Really focus on keeping your swings short for power and stay loose with the arm.

The Speed Up Drill

Find a partner and have them feed a high dink. Then, simply speed it up.

Your partner will try to return it. Switch off every 15 or so speedups who feeds and who returns, ensuring both of you get some practice speeding up and attacking poor dinks.

Make sure the feed/return side player switches up dink placement for an extra challenge.