The Blueprint to Winning More Points as the Serving Team

In pickleball, the serving team starts every point at a natural disadvantage. The third shot is regularly the moment where points start to unravel. The choice you make here largely determines whether you feed into your opponents’ advantage, stay stuck in neutral, or step into control of the rally.

Why the Third Shot Matters

The third shot is the pivotal moment in a rally for the serving team. Choosing the right shot sets the tone for the rest of the point. Consider these key principles:

• Your opponents have the early edge—they return first and can rush to the kitchen.

• The first team to hit down on the ball often gains the advantage. By making the ball dip or forcing upward contact, you can seize control.

• Third-shot choices aren’t just about getting the ball back—they’re about creating the kind of rally you want to play next.

Drives can lead to quicker opportunities for advantage, but inconsistent drives, drives that are too high, or drives that opponents can attack may cost points or your chance to score points. If your team’s drives are risky, stay back and wait for a better setup, often looking for a short, attackable ball or a ball that you can more easily get to drop.

Remember: You can only win points on your serve, so constructing opportunities is critical.

The team at the net generally has a better chance to win the point—they get to hit down, attack at opponents’ feet, use angles, and apply heavy topspin. The serving team must either expose weaknesses with drives or execute drops that stay below net height, allowing them to advance.

When to Drive

A drive is a tool to pressure opponents and create offensive opportunities. Drives work best when:

• The returning player is not moving up to the kitchen fast enough, and you can target below the knees or make them stretch for a ball.

• An opponent cannot handle the drive.

• You can consistently get the ball to dip and stay low over the net.

• The return is short, high, or sitting up.

• You can step forward with balance and control.

• Your opponents are stacking or shifting positions, and you can catch them off guard.

• You see a chance to pressure their transition or force an awkward volley.

• You play with a partner who can capitalize on a setup ball, such as someone skilled in poaching and finishing attacks.

• If a deep ball prevents a good drop, a drive can create a more manageable ball to drop and advance.

Keys to a successful drive: Keep it low, add power when possible, and target open spaces, hips, or paddle side. Be ready for your next shot—most drives are setup balls rather than winners.

When to Drop

The drop is the primary tool for advancing toward the net while neutralizing the opponents’ early advantage. Drops work best when:

• The ball has bounced, peaked, and is starting to descend.

• You are comfortably behind the ball, balanced, and ready to move forward immediately after hitting.

• You can hit the ball waist height or lower, ideally at your opponent’s feet.

• The ball is short and low to the ground, making it hard to drive.

Keys to a successful drop: Aim for an arc peaking on your side of the kitchen so that it lands in your opponents’ kitchen and stays low, keep your grip soft, don’t take much if any backswing, and follow through toward your target. Advance behind it with your partner to be ready for the next shot.

Hybrid Option — The “Drip”

Between a drive and a drop lies the hybrid shot, often called the drip. This controlled, topspin-loaded shot starts firm but dips quickly, applying pressure without committing fully to a drive. Think of it as a very soft drive with the trajectory of a drop—it forces upward contact while remaining consistent.

The drip is a monster shot—like Frankenstein—half drop, half drive. Pros use it constantly, and it should absolutely be added to your arsenal. It’s especially effective when your opponents are slow getting up to the kitchen line, but it can also work when they’re already at the net if you’re skilled at getting the ball to dip low, forcing them to hit upward.

The drip is truly a blend: Use a firmer, more stable arm with less whip than a full drive and focus on “pushing over” the ball. Your paddle moves from low to high at roughly 50% power, adding controlled topspin that helps the ball arc over the net and dive at the opponent’s feet.

How to Advance as a Team Using Drives

Before hitting a drive, recognize whether your opponents are out of position or if you and your partner have attacked weaknesses. Step forward if your team’s drive is low or the setup is favorable. If the drive is high or your opponents can handle it, maintain balance and be ready for a low, hard shot back. If the opponent hits your drive back high and hard, it is likely going out.

Good drives often produce a shorter, easier ball for a subsequent drop, so anticipate and position yourself to advance.

A good drive should trigger coordinated movement, with both players looking to move forward immediately—ready to intercept anything high and soft, or ready to drop a shorter/lower ball and continue to advance. Think of drives as “pressure pushes.” Each low drive puts opponents in survival mode, producing everything from mishits to pop-ups to cautious blocked balls that fall short.

Those short replies let you advance into the transition zone and either attack or drop from a far better spot. This is the backbone of combos like drive–drop or drive–drive–drop.

How to Advance as a Team Using Drops

Before hitting a drop, the off-ball partner who’s not hitting the shot should take a few steps forward before their partner makes contact. This applies positional pressure and creates the threat of an advancing presence.

If the drop is executed well and forces an upward reply, that advancing partner is now in position to capitalize or at least shrink angles. If the drop is high, stay back and prepare for another neutralizing shot.

Great drops operate like moving wedges—you and your partner tighten the space between you and the kitchen with each successful ball. When both partners advance together behind a quality drop, you eliminate angles, reduce your opponents’ options, and force them into harder shots.

Even when a drop is only decent, advancing a couple of controlled steps can shift momentum, especially when you get comfortable at hitting drops and resets in the transition zone.

Moving as a Team

Advancing toward the net is a coordinated effort. With experience, you’ll quickly learn to read which balls to advance on, which to pause on, and which require you to retreat—this is something great players do extremely well.

As a team, move with purpose, protect the middle, and maintain a slight stagger when necessary. Even two or three deliberate steps forward after contact can change the geometry of the point and your opponents’ ability to pressure.

Whether using a drive or a drop, the timing of the off-ball partner’s advance is crucial—it creates the visual and tactical pressure that affects opponents’ decisions. Team movement transforms shots from isolated attempts into coordinated sequences that build advantage.

Beyond the Third Shot

Developing the ability to reset effectively is essential. Handling hard shots while transitioning toward the kitchen is similar in strategy to a drop but requires a more abbreviated, defensive technique—think like a volleyball player bumping a low ball.

Use a short, compact motion with an open paddle face, low stance, and stable base. Keep your head still, absorb pace, and redirect the ball with control rather than power. Force your opponents to hit off the bounce or awkward volleys by keeping shots low.

If your partner manages to hit a ball below net height and you’re playing an aggressive opponent who likes to pressure the fourth ball (or any ball after it), this becomes a prime opportunity for you as the off-ball player.

If you’ve already moved forward before your partner’s contact—and you recognize that your partner’s shot will force the opponent to hit up—you can look to be aggressive with your positioning.

This is your green light. Move forward, looking to take the ball out of the air, and attack. By stepping in early and cutting off that upward reply, you turn defense into offense and apply immediate pressure.

When “attacking” in transition, control and placement matter far more than power—attack open spaces, hips, and the paddle side of the body while keeping the ball low enough that opponents can’t hit down.

Against stronger players, this “smart aggression” becomes essential. Pure power may come back in hard-to-handle places when you’re in transition and your opponents are at the kitchen, but low, targeted attacks are harder to deal with, leading to pop-ups and replies you can finish if they happen to get it back.

Final Thought

Every third ball is a decision—drop, drive, drip, or lob—and it’s the moment that defines your control of the rally. The serving team starts at a disadvantage, but by understanding how and when to apply pressure, that disadvantage can become an opening.

Mastering this phase means mastering technique, movement, timing and strategy. Start by developing consistency with low, dipping drives and high-percentage drops. Then build patterns—like a third-shot drive followed by a fifth-shot drop—to set up points you can finish. Over time, these choices become instinctive, your teamwork becomes seamless, and the rallies begin to flow your way.

When you can turn your serve from a position of defense into one of controlled opportunities, you don’t just stay in the point—you own it. •

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Kyle McMakin is a touring pickleball professional, former Division I tennis player (UC Davis) and head pro for LevelUp Pickleball Camps. Kyle is a two-time Triple Crown winner. His DUPR is above 6.0 in both singles and doubles.

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