At 5:34, that is not a Scorpion. She is not low enough and her paddle is not high enough. A good example of a Scorpion is when your opponent drives the ball at your dominant shoulder in an attempt to chicken-wing you and instead of trying to block or punch it back, you drop way down (Eye level with the top of the net) and hit an overhead shot. A scorpion's body is low with the attack coming from above.
For me, this was an eye-opener game. I see myself in the white skirt ladies, but I aspire to play like the ladies in black. I'll watch this video several more times to study the skill set of the ladies in black.
Typically , when you get as good at 3rd. shots & resets into the kitchen like the team in black is , your frequency of unforced errors has long since become minimal . But not with the ladies in black . Very odd ? Their drop shot skills=4.5 rating while their Put Away consistency is at the 3.5 level .
I thought the big difference was in the power. The ladies in blue were more athletic than they appeared but they just had no put away shots. When the team in black made a mistake on the drop shots they had no fear of being penalized for it because the overhand smashes of the team in blue had nothing on it, so the team in black had as many chances as they wanted to get to the net. Team in black made a lot of unforced errors but when they had the opportunity for the smash they made use of it better than the team in blue. You don't want to hit a 3rd shot drop short into the net , as you said, because the point is over but there are plenty of players that will make you pay for hitting it too high and deep as well so the margin of error shrinks. Team in black had no real fear of that so they just needed to get it over the net until they could get to the net.
The players in black are having fun, very athletic, very supportive of each other and, more importantly, acknowledge good shots by their opponents. The players in black dominated the players in blue with their put-away shots with far more power and good placement. Shading at the NVZ line could be better by the lady with the cap. Look at the gap at 12:33. When your opponent forces your partner to the sideline, you need to go to the center to close that gap.
You always pick some great videos to analysis and this one is no different. 9 shots to get to the non volley zone, thats so amazing to see that. Unfortunately they lose the point tbut thats the way to play. Win you so much games playing that way. After this point, I knew who was going to win. Great analysis too, overall, great game with some good dinking and defense.
Thanks. I watched the interview you did on geaux pickleball. The biggest takeaway was this, a player's goal should be to eventually make it to the non-volley zone line, no matter how many shots it may take. If it doesn't happen on the 3rd, if it doesn't happen on the 5th, if it doesn't happen on the 7th, keep trying. So, if your third shot or even fifth shot doesn't land in the kitchen, don't panic. Learned to defend in the transition zone so you can move all the way up.
