Mastering the Kitchen: A Comprehensive Two-Hour Drill Session Tailored Training for Precision and Performance Welcome to a comprehensive guide on mastering the kitchen in pickleball, presented by Jack Munro. This instructional session is meticulously designed to focus exclusively on improving your skills at the kitchen line. Jack delves into a series of drills aimed at enhancing your dinking, judgment, reflexes, and speed-up patterns. The kitchen, or non-volley zone, is crucial for a solid defensive and offensive strategy in pickleball. By dedicating time to these targeted drills, you’ll be able to improve your game significantly, making you a formidable player on the court. Let’s begin this journey to refine your kitchen play, ensuring you have the tools and techniques to excel. 1. GET INTO A RHYTHM (0:16) To start, it's essential to get into a rhythm with some simple dinks: Begin with straight-ahead dinks for 5 minutes. Focus on getting a feel for the ball and developing a consistent pace. Keep your dinks soft and controlled, aiming for consistency over power. Work on taking balls out of the air when possible to maintain an offensive stance. This initial drill is about warming up and setting a foundation for the more advanced exercises to come. Getting into a rhythm helps in loosening up your muscles and calibrating your movements. The objective here is not just to get comfortable with the ball but also to sync your hand-eye coordination. This foundational drill will set the tone for the rest of your session. 2. BALL HOPPER/TUBE (0:29) Utilizing a ball hopper or tube can drastically improve the efficiency of your drill sessions: Use a ball hopper that can carry a large number of balls to avoid frequent interruptions. Ensure you have enough balls to sustain long drills without constant retrieval. Jack prefers using Dura balls for their bounce and durability, making the transition to softer balls easier during competitive play. The ball hopper allows for a seamless practice session, ensuring that the flow is maintained and you can focus on improving your skills without the hassle of stopping to pick up balls constantly. 3. STRAIGHT AHEAD DINKS: 5 MINUTES (0:57) For the first specific drill, focus on straight-ahead dinks: Position yourself at the kitchen line and engage in straight-ahead dinks with your partner. Aim to maintain a steady rhythm and keep the ball low over the net. Practice taking some balls out of the air to keep your opponent on their toes. Spend about 5 minutes on this drill to build consistency and control. Straight-ahead dinks are a fundamental aspect of kitchen play, allowing you to control the pace of the game and set up for offensive shots. This drill helps in honing the precision of your dinks, making you more adept at keeping the ball in play while waiting for the right moment to attack. 4. CROSS-BOX DINKS: 20 MINUTES (3:18) Now, switch to cross-box dinks for a more realistic practice scenario: Begin by hitting cross-court dinks, focusing on footwork and positioning. Alternate between letting the ball bounce and taking it out of the air. Aim to move your opponent around their box, varying your shots between the middle and the sides. Spend 20 minutes on this drill to develop your ability to control the ball across the court and move your opponent. Cross-box dinks simulate real match conditions, enhancing your ability to control the ball and maneuver your opponent. This extended drill period allows you to refine your cross-court accuracy and adaptability, crucial for high-level play. 5. MUTUAL HANDS: 10 MINUTES (4:53) This drill focuses on warming up your mutual hands and eye coordination: Engage in a friendly volley exchange, aiming for each other’s chest. Focus on guiding the ball back rather than hitting it down. Spend about 10 minutes on this drill to fine-tune your reflexes and hand-eye coordination. Warming up mutual hands is vital for preparing your reflexes and ensuring both players are in sync. This drill helps in developing soft hands, crucial for delicate dinks and quick reaction volleys. 6. NEUTRAL BALL SPEEDUPS: 20 MINUTES/SIDE (5:17) Transition to neutral ball speedups, a key component of offensive play: Start with your partner blocking your speedups for the first 2 minutes. Gradually increase the intensity, aiming speedups at their backhand. Progress to speeding up anywhere (line, body, or cross-body), allowing your partner to counter. Spend 20 minutes on each side to practice both offensive and defensive scenarios. This drill enhances your ability to recognize and execute speedups while also training your partner to anticipate and counter them. Developing a strong speedup game can give you a significant edge during competitive matches. 7. SKINNY SINGLES KITCHEN GAME: BEST OF 3 (7:26) Combine all the skills learned into a game of skinny singles: Play a best-of-three match within the kitchen, focusing on dinks, speedups, and counters. Apply the techniques practiced, aiming to maintain control and precision. Use this game to simulate real match conditions, integrating all aspects of kitchen play. Playing skinny singles helps consolidate all the drills into a competitive format, allowing you to test your skills under match-like pressure. This game emphasizes strategic play and sharpens your competitive edge. 8. COOL DOWN AND STRETCH After an intensive session, it’s crucial to cool down and stretch: Spend a few minutes on gentle stretches targeting your arms, shoulders, legs, and back. Use this time to relax your muscles and prevent stiffness. Reflect on the session, noting areas of improvement and successes. Cooling down properly is essential for muscle recovery and flexibility. This step ensures you’re ready for the next practice session without risking injury. 9. OUTRO (8:24) Conclude the session with a brief review and thank you: Reflect on the drills covered and their importance in improving your kitchen play. Express gratitude to your practice partner and any supporting individuals or organizations. Encourage continuous practice and suggest rotating drills for comprehensive skill development. Summarizing the session helps reinforce the learning objectives and sets a positive tone for future practice. Acknowledging the efforts of everyone involved fosters a supportive and motivating training environment. Inclusive Guide Summary This two-hour kitchen drill session, led by Jack Munro, is designed to enhance your pickleball skills through focused practice and strategic exercises. From getting into a rhythm with straight dinks to engaging in competitive skinny singles, each drill targets specific aspects of kitchen play. Utilizing tools like a ball hopper ensures efficiency, while mutual hand drills and speedups improve reflexes and offensive strategies. Cooling down with stretches and reflecting on the session helps consolidate the skills learned. By following this guide, you’ll develop a comprehensive understanding of kitchen play, making you a more versatile and effective pickleball player.
Great content and execution on this video. The voice over is sooooo helpful for us struggling w our kitchen game. Just as pickleball is evolving to "next level", content providers need to provide more videos, like this one, to explain what's required at the "next level". The time commitment drilling this one area makes me realize I need to put in way more drill time. The dinking drills, plus the time allotment for each, provides a good guide. Thanks Jack, you have a natural coaching style!
As a fellow lefty I absolutely am saving this and digesting it with my drilling partner. MOAR PLZ! Would love to see some lefty-specific strategy vids!
Thanks Jack, great stuff. I appreciate you being thorough. It's like practicing your short game in golf. Everybody likes to hit big balls but it's drills like this that help somebody like me elevate their game.
This is awesome content, and exactly what I’m looking for. I’d also love to see content on strategy, thought process, patterns, setting up shots, but I’d also be ecstatic for more content like this. For this video, I really appreciate you going into why you’re doing the drill, like what part of the game it will help you improve. 🙏
Great video! I find when drilling I like to set a timer for 10 min and stick with a drill for at least that long. It’s surprising how quick we move on to the next drill without the timer
Junior Mint! Great to see this. In the old days, used to watch you play at Tustin courts pre high school and pre COVID. Hope you're enjoying Austin, and say hello to that other Kid (from Tustin) who also resides there. Good luck to you.
Hi Jack, Super random thing I wanted to throw your way. I really have enjoyed your RU-vid content and have found it really helpful. I am an ambassador at a small local gym in Sacramento with brand new courts. I wanted to offer up reserving courts for you to have a more private small setting for training/drilling or whatever while you are in town for the PPA event in Sacramento in early June. I can reserve courts and they are pretty empty most of the day if you wanted to have a more private quiet place to drill/practice while you are in town. It's about a 15 minute drive from the PPA event location. There would be no cost for this of course. Thank you for your time,
Hey Jeff, yes I would definitely take you up on this leading into PPA Sac and any future tourneys! Can you reach out to me on Instagram to chat further?
That's a nice location. That looks like Chicago or maybe NYC. But if you have a fear of heights, I would be terrified to even be up there moving around.
when you are doing a forehand cross court dink and the ball gets to our outside, you do a flat dink with your wrist cocked. Is there a reason why you prefer this over the forheand slice dink, like what collin johns does?
Hey Jack! Really great video. Two quick questions: 1/ what grip are you using for your forehand topspin dinks? Eastern or Continental or somewhere between the two? 2/ when you hit forehand topspin dinks on balance is your wrist mostly locked and you’re pushing low to high or is there wrist movement involved?
Really great job!!!! I would love to invite you to the Philippines 🇵🇭 if you are up to it. Would love to feature you here . We are about to have our very first professional Pickleball League and we would love to have you here and some other pros. Of course we would provide everything for you including airfare and accommodations!!! As well as cash bonus. My Pickleball group here in the Philippines are a huge fan of yours. Keep making these videos. You are an amazing Pickleball professional!!!! God bless you always!!!!
