Episode 3 - The Slow Down

This is episode 3 of our podcast for those who love pickleball but life be crazy!! So Abs, how’s the crazy?

• Organizing play struggles–turned out for the best as we made trip to Indy Sunday

• Tires at Costco

• Celebrated my birthday this week

How about you Matt… crazy week for you?

Matt:

• Colts game- surprised my daughter

• Our play update- haven’t played much together

• Making more tiktoks videos- fun for family but some not that into it- covid memories

Today our focus is going to be on the dink game… We’ve covered in the past 2 episodes the first two phases of a pickleball point: First the serve and return, and then last week we talked about the struggle to the line–the second phase. Now we are going to transition to that third phase: THE DINK GAME–where everything slows down a bit…

We will get into that soon but first we wanted to continue to share a bit more about our story… so we are calling this episode the Slow Down since that’s not only what’s happening in pickleball when you get into the dink game, but thats also what happened in our lives when we started the whole adoption process… or at least that’s what we were told… So Abs, walk us through our journey to adoption

• It was 2008

• As mentioned-Struggled with infertility for several years

• Considered invitro but felt called to adopt

• International vs domestic

• Abby did most of the research and work

• Non profit agency is where we landed-

• Home study

• Cliffhanger.......“it was late January 2009 and we were told it would be a waiting game at least 6 months but average is more like 2+ years”

• In future episodes we’ll tell you the story of how that wasn’t the case at all… the speed up was coming–

So as mentioned earlier our PB focus today is on the DINK GAME The third of 4 stages of a pickleball point as defined by Joe Baker.

So Abby, the DINK GAME is really what its all about and what separates the good players from the great players. What do we start with as we talk about Dinking…

• The Why?

  • When played “the right way” it will happen after the 3rd Shot Drop

  • A Good Dink makes it hard or impossible for your opponent to attack

    • Takes advantage of the kitchen rule–use those 7 feet to your advantage!

  • Chess match- why I love the dink game– moving people around to make

  • Stay Patient- who is going to blink first and speed it up?

• Technique

  • Beginners

    • Make it bounce

    • Tip down

    • Low to High (similar to 3rd shot drop) bend your knees

    • Use shoulder- no wrist

    • Contact point out in front

    • Shot swing - ball under armpit drill

    • Paddle should be on-line to target

    • Give margin for error over the net but still bouncing in kitchen

    • Not Vegan Feet haha- old lady on tiktok

  • More Advanced

    • Still low to high but not as much tip down

    • Keep it flat and close to the net

    • Top spin and Backhand slice

    • Knees bent still- pros do

    • Careful not to dink too wide to set up the ATP

    • Don’t cross your feet– some divergent thought on this…

    • Movement more advanced depending on court position and where your partner is

Lets transition into different types of dinks:

• Different Types of Dinks

  • Offensive Dinks- Push dinks– wait for right time–dial in your rhythm

  • Dead Dinks

  • Reset Dinks

  • Positional Dinks

    • Crosscourt Dinks (most common/forgiving)

    • Down the line dinks (good to mix up or catch cheaters)

    • Middle Dinks (catch them not communicating)

• Strategy

  • Abby like to crosscourt dink against a girl

  • Looking to set up an Erne

  • ID the better dinking team…

  • Never push a push- don’t be afraid to reset

  • Positioning your dink- towards backhand–and into their body–mix it up!

  • Middle can cause issues–especially deep

    • Communicate!!

    • Good tip when 2 right-handed right side players r dinking back & forth is to aim for their inside (left) foot

  • Court position is important (staying on a string 6-8 feet apart)

  • Person on the left should take more dinks if it’s their forehand

Ok, we are going to try something new this week and end with something we are loving…

Abby: Jeans from stitch fix

Matt: warm and cozy fall clothes- Vineyard vines and Wearable blanket

Well that will do it for this week… join us next week as we get into the fourth and final stage of a pickleball point- the speed up!