Pickleball! HitThe Ball With Topspin! Take Your Game To The Next Level! How Advanced Players Do It! 

Learning a lot from your videos. It’s become a ritual. I watch your videos the night before game day. Then overnight I practice in my subliminal dream state. Theta level osmosis. And then the next day…Bam! Zowee! Kapow! My best to Captain Rory!

I've learned something important from Cliff PB. It was a short 7 min vid on where to stand depending on where the ball is on the opponent's side. Really helped me a lot. :) Good vid, Rory.

Rory, enjoy the channel. i think the impressive topspin derives from a few factors. freeze the frame around 8:18 to 8:20 when the subject is getting ready to serve. He is holding the paddle very loosely in his fingers and towards the end of the grip (as you mention). he has loose wrists, whihc help with the speed as well. impt observation, note how the paddle is pointed behind him; on his fast top spin drives, he takes paddle back, points the head behind him and then flicks it forward in addition to his arm pullling the paddle thru and forward. he is picking up several more MPH of paddle speed doing this, he is getting velocity from front to back and rotational movement of the paddle . he is getting some core rotation as well thru the hit. lastly, notice how he finishes with the paddle head above his head, extreme upward motion..impressive

Rory, Thank you for your pb critique and content. Your views are often thought provoking. Many pb players imo say they want to get better and do nothing except play more. They do improve modestly. To get significantly better you have to bring your brain to the game. The variables to study are many and your videos deliver a solid broad brush for me to build on. Thanks - really.

Great comments for a newbie like me to learn. Thank you, following!

Also... Cliff is a big time table tennis player. Much of his technique is from his years of playing ping pong.

Your comment about the glove leads me to believe that you haven't played in S. Florida in the summer.

I played tennis for more than 20 years and started playing PB about 4 months ago. Almost all the videos and 3.5-4 level club players I saw looked down on players coming from tennis as bangers without really understanding how they hit the ball. No good tennis player swings hard without putting topspin. PB players seems to have only one defined way of playing PB and are not open to other ideas like angles, topspin, drives. I think it is only a matter of time before topspin drives etc become more common and dinking takes a backseat. I won't be surprised to see more aggressive serves and occasional aces.

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Look how loose Cliff's arm and wrist are when he hits those topspin shots and flicks. That is the key to how he gets that whipping action. Any tension in your arm or hand will kill you on those shots. I'm working on staying relaxed like that in the middle of a rally, it's tough. Of course it doesn't hurt that he's obviously a natural athlete with great hand eye coordination :)

This video shows what. Deal with at the park except they are inexperienced players who always want to hit hard. I did get safety classes as you suggested which did help not to fear being close at the non valley zone but still did get hit a few times. Now I need to figure out how to improve on moving away from the ball for I know 80% of them will go out for they don’t spin the ball. The only time I try to spin the ball s during the serve and maybe a 3rd shot drive if players are still at the back.

I wear a glove because my hand sweats and I loose control of the handle

Yeah I think it really does depend on what other racquet sport (if any) that the players are coming from. Tennis players always hit topspin as emphasized here: grip at the end of the handle, using the wrist, lag and extra length to generate the whipping motion needed for powerful topspin drives. Table tennis players on the other hand choke up on the grip, sometimes have one finger up on the back, and their topspin motion relies more on their whole arm moving down to up to generate the necessary spin. While the tennis way is great from the backcourt line, the table tennis way works well from the transition zone up to the kitchen. That's not to say tennis players aren't going to try to topspin drive on you when they're in the transition zone (we all know they will) but they have to be really good at it to consistently keep it in the court at that distance. And half the time they're also counting on you not being able to get out of the way in time for the bodybag. Then you have those who have played both and will drop topspin on you from anywhere on the court. For me I find the tennis way of topspinning to be easier to do but different strokes for different folks. 🤷🏻‍♂

I got to play doubles against a guy like Cliff. A flick of the wrist!! The guy we played waits to the last second if you will and could direct the ball to different parts of the court( like you would not get your paddle on it). To make things crazier? He stands in the transition zone. I did get on to him, and we still lost 11-8. We moved on RVing. The play against him was to the back hand and tight cross court to the net in the kitchen. The other thing I wanted to bring up is? I will use Cliff as an example. It could apply to anyone. So Cliff is a 4.5, but he looks like he has three shots that could be 5.5- 6.0. we all have those great shots that are better than our rating. and some that are worse. So rating can be miss leading. Of course the goal is to find those shots and avoid hitting it there for them.

Any tutorials on the backhand flick volley? I want to learn what cliff was doing

Good info about holding the grip to maximize topspin, but I disagree with the comment about wearing a glove. I sweat quite a bit when playing and without the glove I lose my grip. I've developed both good touch and power wearing a glove, and it prevents my hand from slipping.

It looks like Cliff might be giving the ball a little spin from his hand before he serves it, which I thought was illegal. Am I seeing this right?

You can see the highlighted player in the last 3 seconds of this video throw the ball up to serve. Is this legal to do this? I thought a drop serve must be dropped, not thrown. Please anyone reply to this...

I say creating top spin has very little to do with holding the paddle handle at the end or chocking up close to the paddle face or having a finger pointing up the paddle. It has to do with having acceleration at the point of contact in an upward fashion. The more acceleration, the more top spin. The proper grip will help you to accelerate but not a must for the more talented players. Certain grip will work better depending on ball height.

I have seen many women who want an elongated paddle because it gives them more "reach". Then they choke up on the handle, because the swing weight of those paddles is too high for them, negating any "reach" the paddle might give them. So they end up playing with a paddle they can't hold properly, that has a smaller sweet spot, and wonder why they can't hit spin.

I would be interested in knowing what credibility you have to dissect and criticize someone else's game. I disagree with many of your proclamations and happen to be a certified IPTPA instructor.

no matter what his shot is, if you return it as a drop, he won't be able to do anything. In this video we see how important 3d shot drop are and what happens if you don't use them.

You said no slice return. I disagree. My slice serve return gives me lots of time to get to the kitchen and usually kicks when it lands. Yes, better players can handle it usually but I'm at the net by then.

8:22 looks like he did a ball spin on the release which isn’t allowed on a serve

These drive shots instead of drop shots are dangerous for you, because opponents can simply block it and you won’t have time to reach the net . That's why we don't see so many of these shots in a real professional game on the PPA tour, only in singles

Gloves? What's not to like? Baseball, golf, and other sports use gloves. My hands sweat and I wear a glove to give me the grip I need. I like your pickleball advice but I differ with you on the glove comment.

No resets?! Or soft game = not advanced, high level pickleball (not 4.5+ as you randomly stated)

You are absolutely 100 % wrong. My hand sweats a LOT. Wearing a glove allows me to grip the paddle more easily. I tried both ways this past week. After playing without the glove the handle got wet and slippery. After I put the glove on I had full control and feel. It may not affect all players. There is definitely an advantage of wearing a glove for me.

I greatly dislike "bangers". Things just get wreckless.

Why don't we ever see your own videos of your matches? Maybe it's the old, "those that can't do, teach" thing. Or are you the next Ben Johns and you make no technical or strategic mistakes?

poor undisciplined play. When you see players hit a 3rd shot drive followed by a 5th shot drive you know you're watching a basic game.

These players are playing something closer to tennis than Pickle-Ball . There is little thought going here , and that's why it becomes boring to watch . Every shot is predictable . Yes , top spin drives are important to have in your tool bag , but to use it on every shot ???? BORING!!!