How To Hit Stronger Groundstrokes | Zane Navratil Pickleball 

First, congrats on being one of the first pickleball video posters I’ve seen to communicate the importance of the non-paddle hand (NPH), non-paddle arm (NPA) and non-paddle side (NPS) of the body. I’ve always taught that the serve should be treated as a weapon in pickleball, and never agreed with the “just get the serve in” approach. Within the last year, the pickleball community finally figured out the advantage of having a good serve. Similarly, I’ve always taught the value of having a powerful 3rd shot drive. And again, this is now a more accepted view in the pickleball world. IMO, the next thing the pickleball world is going to understand is the great value of the NPS of the body and how it greatly increases control and consistency. Having said all that, the ability to have increased power (forehand and backhand) by using the NPS is really just a by-product and isn’t the main purpose. Increased control and consistency are the main purposes for using the NPS of the body. Forehands - Your demonstration of how to use the NPS is not quite there yet. Instead of just moving the NPH back with the paddle, it should be used differently and purposefully. Ideally, the NPH is used to get a vital information about where the incoming ball is in 3D space in regards to the player’s body. Imagine the flight path of the incoming ball. It’s generally a straight line. On the forehand side, the NPH should be placed out in front of the body (and yes, this will rotate the shoulders and allow for more power) directly in the flight path of the incoming ball. If the NPH is left in this position, the ball should strike the NPH in the palm - this will verify the NPH was in the correct position. And I say palm because the NPH should be rotated so that the palm faces the incoming ball with the thumb pointed down toward the court. This will mimic catching a softball/baseball with a glove - the brain can grasp this concept better and it leads to the player focusing on the value of this hand position. With the palm toward the ball and the paddle back and prepped, shoulder rotation starts just prior to the ball contacting the NPH. This rotation pulls the NPH out of the way and the paddle should end up in the exact position where the NPH was just prior to shoulder rotation. This results in higher consistency and control because the player now has a reference point of where the ball is going to be and knows where to strike the ball. That added reference point is the KEY to increased control and consistency and that reference point info does not exist if the NPH isn’t used correctly. For instance, if the ball would hit the NPH if it were not pulled away by shoulder rotation, then the player understands the incoming ball is not too far left, or right or high or low - they know exactly where it is going to be. If the ball is not in this zone, the player must move their feet to get in the correct position so that the ball would hit the palm if not rotated away. In your video, two things could be improved. 1) your NPH is not in the flight path of the ball - it is demonstrated too high and you never get the advantage of FEELING with your NPH exactly where that ball is going to be. So by definition, your shots will be less controlled and less consistent. 2) The palm of your NPH is not facing the ball, and your thumb is not down, so you will not be able to visualize catching the ball. This visualization is important to the player mindsets- they really NEED to watch the ball coming toward their hand. Backhands - Ironically, your forehand strokes around the 2:18 to 2:22 mark are close to what you should be doing on the backhand side. That is, having both hands stay close together (not in a 2 handed fashion) and having both hands finish in front of the body. During the backhand portion of your video, you demonstrate separating the hands with the NPA moving backwards, away from the ball. This is done by tennis players when they want extra power and it is primarily done to counterbalance the higher weight of the tennis racquet that is moving forward. This is not necessary in pickleball and is in fact counterproductive. It is counterproductive because moving the NPA backwards causes you to lose the ability to rotate the shoulders and hips into the shot. In general, the more body mass you can rotate into ANY shot, the better your ability to control the paddle speed and direction. The backhand shot is less about power and more about control and consistency - that ability to place the ball where you want. Rarely is the backhand shot about power - that’s more the forehand’s job. Including more body mass in the shot mechanics allows for more control and more consistency, much more so that just using the paddle arm. If more shot power is needed, the player simply needs to rotate the shoulders and hips into the shot quicker. Hope you find this info helpful. The NPS use is important in EVERY pickleball shot, whether that is drives, dinks, lobs, overheads, whatever. This is what tennis players have known for decades. It’s going to be interesting to watch the pickleball world start to understand this and then move to teach it correctly.

Thank you for posting. I'm glad you said, "for me". Many videos say, "this is what you are supposed to do...". When they have a wide variety of viewers. And... Glad that guy had pants on underneath. ;) Ya know, I asked for dancers in the background. Is that the best you could do? :)

great tip. I've always wondered why my two-handed backhand drive was more consistent that my forehand drive and it was because I was performing the "INCORRECT" version of the forehand a lot of times. Thanks Zane!

Have to love the old guy photo bombing you getting undressed in the background. 🤣

great vid! really great tip! (i learned this exact same tip to help generate power in table tennis!). i think i know the answer to this, but asking anyway. in the side by side vid one of the biggest differences (other than the use of the NDH (and body rotation, legs) is your follow through. i dont think you mentioned this in the video...but your follow through is vastly different in the side by side. in the "just the arm" frame, your follow thru stops around mid body. in the using NDH/body rotation, your follow through is past your mid-line and up past the side of your head. would love your thoughts on the importance of follow-through (in all shots actually, including dinks, drives, drop-drives, drops and volleys). there are some pb shots that have very little follow-thru (like punch volleys) tho eh...so...hum..maybe a whole video on follow-thrus. and oh...one other question. how much tension do you have in your arm (say..in the side by side..when you use just your arm it's a lot more tension in the arm right?). when you do your nice follow-thru stoke..is there like 20% tension in the arm (fairly loose...but not loosy goosy?) it's your body turning that's propelling the arm forward and up..not arm tension right? thanks!

YES! I remembered seeing this video before and glad I found it again, because going to use this technique when leading a drill session for my pickleball meetup group today.

Very nice tips , thank you Zane ! I have a fairly good ground stroke but not very consistent , was looking for some tips for a long time . I’m eager to try this and see if I can have more consistent ground strokes !

This is really helpful to me as of not coming from tennis. Thank you

Very nice tip Zane---Thanks for your teaching !

You're def putting topspin on the drives where you're not using the other arm (on forehand side).

What grip do you use?

I love grandpa stripping in the background 😜

4:33 slow