The 4 Pickleball Shots That Decide 95% of Points (And How to Fix Each One)
Most pickleball players spend their practice time working on everything equally. A little dinking, a few drives, maybe some overhead work, and then they wonder why their game isn’t improving. The truth is, only four shots are responsible for ending the vast majority of rallies. If you’re not getting those four right, nothing else you practice is going to move the needle.
This breakdown is built around a framework from Cracked Pickleball on YouTube, and it’s one of the clearest, most practical ways to think about shot priority in pickleball. The shots are ranked from fourth to first based on how much they actually influence the outcome of points. None of them are flashy. All of them are fixable.
What This Means If You’re New to Pickleball
Pickleball is a paddle sport played on a smaller court than tennis, usually with two or four players. Points are won by making the ball land in bounds on your opponent’s side while they fail to return it, or by forcing them into an error. Every rally starts with a serve, and from there each team is trying to work their way to the kitchen line — the line closest to the net — because that’s where most points are won and lost.
What makes pickleball interesting is that it’s not really about power. It’s about consistency and positioning. The team that makes fewer mistakes and earns a strong position at the net usually wins. That’s exactly why these four shots matter so much. They’re the ones that happen most often, and they’re the ones where most mistakes occur. You don’t need a powerful smash to win points. You need a reliable serve, a smart return, a quality third shot, and the ability to reset when things go sideways. Master those four, and your game will improve faster than if you spent months working on trick shots.
Shot 4: The Reset
The reset is the shot that keeps you in the rally when your opponent takes control. It’s a short, soft, controlled shot that you hit from somewhere in the middle of the court — what’s called the transition zone — after your opponent has sped the ball up at you. The goal isn’t to win the point with a reset. It’s simply to survive the attack and keep the ball in play long enough to get yourself up to the kitchen line.
If you don’t have a reliable reset, the point ends the second anyone attacks. That’s a major problem because fast exchanges happen constantly, even at the recreational level. Every time someone speeds the ball up and you can’t reset it, you’re handing them a free point.
The reset is also the clearest dividing line between intermediate and advanced players. Intermediate players panic when the ball comes fast and try to match power with power. Advanced players absorb the pace, redirect the ball softly toward the kitchen, and calmly continue working toward the net. They’re comfortable in the transition zone because they trust their reset.
The Most Common Reset Mistake
Most people focus on the swing itself when their reset breaks down. But the real problem is almost always body position before the swing ever happens. You need to get low — genuinely low, with bent knees — and bring your paddle to roughly waist height before the ball gets to you. This protects the lower half of your body, which is exactly where smart opponents will target. If the ball is coming in above your belly button, there’s a good chance it’s going to sail long anyway, so don’t even worry about those.
Keep the motion short. A compact, half-swing volley that uses your opponent’s pace against them is all you need. No big backswing, no full cut at the ball. Your only job is to decide how much of that incoming pace to redirect, not how hard to swing.
One thing most players completely miss: you should expect to hit multiple resets in a row. Treat each reset the same way you’d treat a third shot drop. Give it height, give it margin, force your opponent to keep attacking, and reset again if you need to. After every reset, snap back to ready position immediately. Don’t stand there watching the ball float over the net.
Shot 3: The Third Shot
The third shot is the first shot the serving team hits after the return comes back. It either earns you a fair chance to compete at the kitchen or hands your opponents a free put-away before the rally ever really develops. That’s a lot of pressure on a single shot, and that pressure causes a lot of players to try too much.
There are two main options: the drop and the drive. The third shot drop is a soft, arcing shot that lands in your opponents’ kitchen and removes their ability to attack aggressively. The drive is a flat, fast shot aimed at your opponents’ bodies or feet. Both have their place, but players often pick the wrong one for the situation.
How to Decide Between the Drop and the Drive
Default to the drop. That’s the right starting mindset. The goal of the third shot is not to win the point from the baseline. It’s to get you to the kitchen line without giving your opponents an easy ball to put away. If the return bounces at or above your knees and your feet are at or in front of the baseline, that’s when a drive makes sense. If the ball is low and you’re being pushed back behind the baseline, don’t force a precision drop. You’re more likely to miss it or pop it up.
In those in-between situations, consider what’s sometimes called the drip — a shot that lives between a drive and a drop. It’s reliable, easy to get over the net, and doesn’t require perfect mechanics under pressure.
When you do drop, aim toward the middle of the court and bias toward your opponent’s backhand side. The net is lower in the middle, which gives you more margin. A ball aimed toward the center also removes your opponents’ ability to use aggressive crosscourt angles against you. Balls aimed too wide have a higher chance of going out and can open up easy attack opportunities for the other team.
Just like resets, plan to hit multiple third shots if needed. Give your drops height and margin, especially early in transition. Aim for a consistent landing zone rather than trying to hit one perfect shot that solves everything.
When you drive, target the opponent’s right hip or right shoulder. On most right-handed players, that’s the forehand side — but it’s an awkward spot that forces the wrist to bend unnaturally. The ball they send back from that position will be much easier for you to handle than a clean backhand punch return.
Shot 2: The Return of Serve
The return of serve happens on every single point, assuming the serve lands in bounds. That frequency alone makes it one of the highest-leverage shots in the entire game. It’s also one of the most commonly missed shots at every level below 5.0, which tells you that most people are not treating it with the seriousness it deserves.
The core problem is decision overload. Players are reading the serve, choosing a target, adjusting for depth, watching their opponents move — all at the same time the ball is in the air. That’s too much to process in real time, and something always breaks down.
How to Stop Overthinking the Return
Make the plan before the serve happens. Watch how your opponent has been serving throughout the match. Are they hitting deep consistently? Step back before they serve and commit to a deep, safe return. Are they consistently weak on a particular side? Decide to target their backhand and advance quickly after you hit. Whatever the plan is, lock it in before the rally starts. Then during the return itself, your only job is to execute — not to think.
Here are three specific habits that clean up the return fast. First, pre-plan your target based on the server’s patterns before each point, not after the ball leaves their paddle. Second, aim deep and crosscourt as your default. This gives you the highest probability of clearing the net, the most time to reach the kitchen line, and it limits your opponents’ ability to attack with their third shot. Third, get physically ready early — feet set, paddle up — before the serve even arrives.
The return of serve doesn’t need to be aggressive. A high, deep ball that lands near the baseline gives you more than enough time to reach the kitchen line and start competing from a strong position. Don’t go for lines. Don’t try to hit winners. Avoid the corners unless you’ve been consistently making that exact shot in warmups. The return’s only job is to set up the kitchen battle, not to win the point from the back of the court.
Readiness is the most underrated piece of this. It’s easy to zone out between points and then scramble to re-engage mid-serve. Instead, stay locked in. Set your feet, watch the server move through their routine, and be physically ready before the ball leaves their paddle. Small readiness adjustments produce immediate and noticeable consistency improvements.
Shot 1: The Serve
The serve gives away more free points than any other shot in pickleball. And here’s the thing that makes that so frustrating: it’s the one shot where you have full control. No opponent pressure, no reaction time required, 10 full seconds to set up and execute. It should be the most reliable shot in your game. For most recreational players, it isn’t — and the reason is almost always overthinking, not poor technique.
Players invent backswings they’ve never practiced, contort their body into awkward positions trying to add spin or power, and then wonder why they fault. The serve should be automatic. Instead, players make it the most complicated shot on the court.
Building a Consistent Serve Routine
Start by calling the score before you do anything else. This sounds minor but it’s a real mistake that costs people serves constantly. Players call the score mid-routine, lose focus mid-motion, and spray the ball. Call the score, confirm everyone agrees, and then begin.
A simple serve routine might look like this: set your feet in a stable, slightly open stance; bend your knees and keep your back upright; bounce the ball two or three times; glance up to see where your opponents are standing; bring ball to paddle, look down at the contact point, and execute. That’s it. No variation, no improvisation, no new mechanics added under pressure.
On aiming, don’t target the back line every time. That’s a recipe for long serves. Instead, aim for a zone about a foot inside the baseline. If you go slightly long from there, you’re still in bounds. If you go slightly short, it’s still deep enough to give your opponents a difficult return. Aim for your opponent’s backhand as a general default, but don’t chase corners. A zone with margin is always better than the most difficult spot on the court.
The biggest technical mistake most players make is using mechanics that are entirely foreign to them. Anna Leigh Waters, one of the best players in the world, has a serve that looks almost identical to her forehand. It’s a motion she already trusts completely, so it holds up under pressure. Your serve should look like your forehand too.
If your serve motion looks nothing like your groundstrokes, you’re adding unreliable mechanics to the one shot that should be completely automatic. The fix is simple: practice by feeding yourself forehands from a standing position. Toss the ball, hit a normal forehand, and repeat. Then replicate that exact motion on your serve. If you want to make it even easier to ingrain, use a drop serve. Drop the ball, let it bounce, and swing your forehand. The serve mistakes costing you points are almost always about added complexity, not about lack of power or spin.
How to Actually Use This Information
The practical takeaway here is about where you put your practice time and attention. Most players who plateau at a certain rating do so because they’re working on the wrong things. They drill Ernie attempts and overhead smashes while their serve is still inconsistent and their return is still reactive and panicked.
Flip that around. Spend the majority of your focused practice time on these four shots. Build a serve routine and stick to it. Pre-plan your returns before each point. Give your third shots more height and margin and be willing to hit more than one. And when someone speeds the ball up at you, stay low, stay compact, and reset until you earn a better position.
None of this is complicated. But it does require discipline, because the four shots that matter most are also the four that feel the least exciting to practice. The players who improve fastest are the ones willing to prioritize boring reliability over flashy technique — and the data backs that up. These four shots decide 95% of points. Everything else is detail.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the most important pickleball shots to practice first?
The most important pickleball shots in order of priority are the serve, return of serve, third shot, and reset. These four shots decide the outcome of the vast majority of rallies, which means improving them will raise your rating and win percentage faster than spending time on advanced techniques like the Erne, ATP, or overhead smash.
Why do I keep missing my third shot drop?
Most third shot drop errors come from two problems: aiming too close to the net without enough margin, or expecting a single perfect drop to get you all the way to the kitchen. Give your drops more height over the net and treat it as a multi-shot process rather than a single magic shot.
How do I stop double faulting on my serve in pickleball?
The fastest fix for serve consistency is building a repeatable pre-serve routine and making your serve motion match your forehand groundstroke. Call the score first, set your feet, bounce the ball, and then execute without improvising. Removing unnecessary movements and complexity stops double faults far more effectively than adding new technique.
What is a reset in pickleball and when should I use it?
A reset is a short, controlled shot hit from the transition zone or baseline that redirects a fast incoming ball back toward the kitchen with enough arc to land softly and take away your opponent’s attack angle. You use it whenever your opponent speeds up the ball and you’re not yet at the kitchen line. The goal is simply to stay in the rally and buy yourself time to advance.
