Cornering the Ball: The Real Reason Your Dinks Pop Up

If you’ve ever found yourself stretched out at the kitchen line, watching yet another dink sail high into your opponent’s attacking zone, you’re not alone. It’s one of the most frustrating experiences in pickleball, that moment when you think you’ve got the touch and finesse down, but the ball just won’t cooperate. The problem is, most players are looking in the wrong place for the solution. They focus on their paddle angle, their grip, or their touch, when the real culprit is hiding in plain sight: their feet.

APP professional Richard Livornese Jr. has introduced a concept that’s changing how players think about dinking at the kitchen line. He calls it “cornering the ball,” and it’s not some advanced technique reserved for elite players. It’s a fundamental footwork principle that addresses why dinks pop up in the first place, and more importantly, how to fix it. In a detailed instructional video, Livornese breaks down this concept in a way that makes you wonder why it isn’t taught from day one.

Understanding the Stretch Dink Problem

The stretch dink is that shot you’re forced to make when the ball is placed wide, just beyond your comfortable reach. Most players instinctively extend their arm, reaching out with their paddle to make contact. It feels like the natural thing to do. You see the ball going wide, and your body’s immediate response is to stretch for it. The problem is, this creates a mechanical nightmare that almost guarantees a pop-up or an error.

When your paddle extends beyond your body’s natural positioning, several things happen simultaneously, and none of them are good. First, you lose the fine motor control that comes from having your arm in front of your body. Your shoulder moves into an uncomfortable position, one that your body instinctively recognizes as weak and unstable. You can feel it immediately, that sense that you’re off balance and vulnerable. Second, you’re forced to rely primarily on your wrist and forearm to generate the shot, which makes applying spin nearly impossible. Without spin, you lose one of your primary tools for keeping the ball low and controlled.

Think about any other sport where precision matters. A basketball player doesn’t take a shot while falling away from the basket unless they absolutely have to. A tennis player doesn’t hit a groundstroke while stretched out to their maximum reach if they can help it. The same principle applies in pickleball. When you’re in that extended position, with your paddle six inches to a foot outside your chest, you’re operating from a position of weakness. Your body knows it, even if your mind hasn’t fully processed why those shots keep sailing up.

The reality is that pop-ups don’t happen solely because of a lack of touch or finesse, though those factors certainly play a role. The real issue is positional. When you hit from outside your feet, you’re fighting against your body’s natural mechanics. You’re asking your arm and wrist to do work that should be supported by your entire body’s positioning. It’s like trying to lift something heavy with just your fingertips instead of using your whole hand. Technically possible, but unnecessarily difficult and prone to failure.

The Footwork Solution: Cornering the Ball

So what does cornering the ball actually mean? At its core, it’s a simple concept: get your outside leg behind the ball before you make contact. Instead of reaching for a wide dink with your arm, you take an extra step, positioning your body so that the ball stays inside your leg when you hit it. If the ball is really wide, you take a cross step to cover more ground quickly. The goal is always the same: create a position where your paddle stays in front of your body, where you have maximum control and options.

Livornese emphasizes this point repeatedly throughout his instruction: “Always trying to get that extra step.” That extra step is everything. It’s the difference between being reactive and being in control. It’s what separates players who consistently keep their dinks low from those who are constantly fighting to keep the ball in play. When you corner the ball properly, you create space behind the ball, which gives you time and options. You’re no longer just trying to survive the exchange. You can think about placement, spin, pace, and deception.

On the backhand side, the concept is relatively straightforward. You move your feet to get your outside leg behind the ball, and suddenly you’re hitting from a comfortable, stable position. Your body is balanced, your paddle is in front of you, and you have access to all the small adjustments that make for a quality dink. On the forehand side, the mechanics get slightly more complex because you’re working with both slice and topspin options, but the fundamental principle remains unchanged. Position your body correctly, and the shot becomes infinitely more manageable.

The beauty of this approach is that it transforms a difficult shot into a routine one. A wide dink that would normally force you into that uncomfortable stretch position becomes just another ball to handle. You’re not doing anything magical with your paddle or your touch. You’re simply putting yourself in a position where good technique is possible. It’s like the difference between trying to write your name while standing on one foot versus sitting comfortably at a desk. The physical act of writing doesn’t change, but the conditions make all the difference.

Why This Fundamentally Changes Your Dinking Game

When you corner the ball properly, you unlock capabilities that simply aren’t available from a stretched position. You can change direction, dropping a dink cross-court when your opponent expects it down the line. You can add deception, making it harder for your opponents to read your intentions. You can apply aggression when appropriate, taking a slightly higher ball and rolling it with topspin to put pressure on your opponent. All of these options exist because you’re hitting from a mechanically sound position.

From that stretched-out position, though, you have essentially one goal: get the ball in the court. You’re not thinking about strategy or placement or setting up the next shot. You’re in survival mode, hoping your touch is good enough to keep the ball low despite being in a terrible position. It’s a reactive mindset rather than a proactive one, and it shows in your results. The difference between these two approaches is genuinely night and day, and once you see it demonstrated, you can’t unsee it.

One of Livornese’s most insightful observations addresses something many players have noticed but couldn’t quite explain: why does the game look slow when you watch higher-level players? They seem to have so much time to set up and execute their shots, while recreational players feel like they’re constantly rushed and scrambling. The secret isn’t that advanced players have better reaction times or that they’re physically faster. They’re simply taking that extra step.

That extra step creates what looks like time because the player is in a stable, controlled position. They’re not scrambling to reach a ball. They’re not stretching and hoping. They’re simply in the right spot, with their body balanced and their paddle in an optimal position. This is a crucial insight for intermediate players trying to understand what separates them from the next level. It’s not some secret technique that you need years to master. It’s not an advanced spin variation that requires perfect timing. It’s footwork. It’s positioning. It’s the willingness to move your feet instead of extending your arm.

This realization can be somewhat humbling because it means that many of the pop-ups and errors we attribute to poor touch or bad luck are actually the result of lazy footwork. But it’s also empowering because footwork is something anyone can improve with focused practice. You don’t need to develop a magical touch or perfect timing. You need to commit to taking that extra step, even when reaching seems easier in the moment.

The Progressive Approach: One Important Caveat

As with any technique adjustment, there’s a potential pitfall to avoid. Livornese warns that as players start implementing the cornering concept, they sometimes overcompensate by jumping back too early when their opponent approaches the dink. This is actually the opposite of what you want to do, and it creates its own set of problems.

The proper progression is always to stay up first, ready to take the ball out of the air if possible. “First option is always out of the air,” Livornese emphasizes. You maintain your position at the kitchen line, staying aggressive and ready to take the ball early. Only when you recognize that the ball is going to bounce do you back up to give yourself space. The movement pattern should always be forward to back, never back to forward. If you start backing up preemptively, you lose the ability to take balls early, which is one of your most powerful weapons at the kitchen line.

This distinction is important because it speaks to the overall philosophy behind good kitchen line play. You want to be aggressive and forward-thinking while also being prepared to adjust when necessary. Cornering the ball isn’t about being passive or defensive. It’s about putting yourself in the strongest possible position to execute whatever shot the situation demands. Sometimes that means staying up and attacking. Sometimes that means backing up to create space. The key is making those decisions from a position of strength rather than scrambling to compensate for poor positioning.

Making It Simple: A Beginner’s Guide to Cornering

If you’re relatively new to pickleball or haven’t spent much time thinking about the technical aspects of dinking, the concept of cornering the ball might seem abstract at first. Let’s break it down into terms that anyone can understand and apply immediately, regardless of skill level.

Imagine you’re standing at the kitchen line, that non-volley zone right by the net. Your opponent hits a dink, which is a soft shot designed to land in your kitchen. If that ball comes straight at you, no problem. You can hit it comfortably because it’s right in front of your body. But what happens when your opponent places that dink wide, toward your sideline? Most players instinctively reach for it with their paddle arm, keeping their feet planted and stretching to make contact. This is the stretch dink, and it’s why so many balls pop up and give your opponent an easy put-away opportunity.

Cornering the ball means doing something different. Instead of reaching with your arm, you move your feet quickly to get behind the ball. If the ball is going to your right, you shuffle or step to your right until your right leg is behind where you’ll make contact. If the ball is going to your left, you move left until your left leg is behind the ball. The result is that when you hit the ball, your paddle is still in front of your body, in that comfortable zone where you have control and options.

Why does this matter? Think about trying to catch something. If someone throws a ball straight at your chest, you can catch it easily with both hands. But if they throw it way out to your side and you try to catch it with one hand stretched out, it’s much harder. You might still catch it, but you have less control, and you’re more likely to drop it. The same principle applies to hitting a dink. When your paddle is in front of your body, you have control. When it’s stretched out to the side, you’re just hoping.

The practical application is simple: commit to moving your feet. When you see a dink going wide, don’t reach for it. Take a quick step or two to get your body behind the ball. It might feel awkward at first, especially if you’re used to relying on your reach. But within a few practice sessions, it becomes natural, and suddenly those wide dinks that used to cause problems become routine shots that you handle with confidence.

Implementing Cornering Into Your Game

Understanding a concept intellectually is one thing. Actually implementing it in live play is another challenge entirely. The good news is that cornering the ball doesn’t require you to develop some new physical skill. You’re not learning to hit with more spin or power. You’re simply retraining your instincts about when and how to move your feet, which is something you can work on immediately.

Start by paying attention during your next dinking rally. When a ball goes wide, notice your first instinct. Are you reaching with your arm, or are you moving your feet? Most players will find that their default response is to reach, because it feels faster and requires less effort in the moment. Once you’ve identified this tendency in your own game, you can start correcting it. Make a conscious decision to take that extra step, even if it feels slow or unnecessary at first.

During practice, you can work on this specifically with a partner. Have them feed you dinks that are intentionally wide, and focus exclusively on your footwork. Don’t worry about where your return goes at first. Just work on establishing the habit of getting your outside leg behind the ball before you make contact. Once that movement pattern becomes automatic, you can start adding back in the other elements like placement and spin. But nail the footwork first, because everything else builds on that foundation.

One helpful way to think about it is that you’re creating a stable platform for your shot. Your legs and core are your platform, and your arm is the tool you use to execute the shot. If your platform is solid and well-positioned, your arm can do precise, controlled work. If your platform is unstable or poorly positioned, your arm has to compensate, which leads to errors. By cornering the ball, you’re ensuring that your platform is always solid, regardless of where your opponent places the ball.

As you practice this technique, you’ll start to notice how much more time you seem to have. Balls that used to feel rushed suddenly feel manageable. You’re not scrambling or stretching or hoping. You’re in position, balanced, and ready to execute. This is what Livornese means when he talks about how higher-level players seem to have so much time. They’re not actually moving faster or reacting quicker. They’re just consistently putting themselves in good positions, which creates the illusion of having more time.

The Broader Implications for Your Game

While cornering the ball is specifically about dinking technique, the underlying principle has broader applications throughout pickleball. The idea that good positioning trumps athletic reach is relevant for groundstrokes, volleys, and even serves and returns. In every aspect of the game, there’s a trade-off between reaching for a ball and moving your feet to get into proper position. And in almost every case, moving your feet is the better choice.

This is part of why pickleball, despite being accessible to players of all ages and athletic abilities, has such a high skill ceiling. The difference between a 3.5 player and a 4.5 player often isn’t about power or athleticism. It’s about these fundamental positioning principles. The higher-level player consistently makes better decisions about court positioning and footwork, which allows them to execute shots with more control and consistency. They’re not hitting harder or spinning the ball more. They’re just in better positions more often.

Understanding this can be liberating for players who feel like they’ve hit a plateau. If you’re struggling to improve despite playing regularly, the answer probably isn’t to work on hitting harder or developing some new shot. The answer is likely to focus on fundamentals like footwork and positioning. Cornering the ball is a perfect example of this. It’s not flashy or exciting, but it works. It solves a real problem that affects players at every level, and it does so by addressing the root cause rather than treating symptoms.

The best part about this approach is that it’s something you can work on independently, without requiring special equipment or a hitting partner. You can practice your footwork patterns anywhere, visualizing wide balls and rehearsing the movement of getting your outside leg behind them. You can do shadow swings, focusing on keeping your paddle in front of your body while your feet adjust to different ball positions. These simple drills, done consistently, will rewire your instincts and make cornering the ball automatic.

Why Professional Players Make It Look Easy

When you watch professional pickleball matches, one thing stands out immediately: the players make extremely difficult shots look routine. A ball that would have most recreational players scrambling and barely getting it back, a pro handles with apparent ease, dropping it perfectly into the kitchen with control and placement. The question is, how? What do they know that the rest of us don’t?

The answer, according to Livornese’s analysis, is simpler than you might think. Professionals are obsessive about footwork and positioning. They take that extra step every single time, without exception. They’re not relying on superior touch or some magical ability to hit from awkward positions. They’re simply refusing to hit from awkward positions in the first place. Every ball, no matter how wide or difficult, gets the proper footwork treatment. They corner the ball instinctively, which is why they always seem to have time and space to execute.

This is actually good news for recreational players because it means the gap between you and the pros isn’t as large as it appears. You’re not missing some inn