In Pickleball there are many shots that repeat themselves over and over again, all of which need to be mastered.
Think dink, or third shot drop.
Getting good at these shots requires repetition and practice to get your “muscle memory” working for you.
But I have also noticed that pickleballers have very similar reactions when they play certain types of shot.
In fact, I think its possible to say what shot just happened, by looking at the post shot reaction of the player.
Here are some examples!
Player has their head up looking at the sky, both arms down and expression as if they are saying “ahhh!” …………….. They just played an easy dink into the top of the net and after some wobbling as it hit the tape, it dropped back on their side of the court.
Player’s face is wincing and their body is “scrunching inwards” with paddle somewhere covering their “vital parts” …………….. They just got targeted with a very fast body shot.
Player is head down, shoulders down, looking dejected facing the opposite direction from the net………. They just chased a lob but didn’t get to it.
Player is staring across the net with a look on their face like “yep, that’s right, don’t mess with me”…………They just hit an unreturnable smash.
Player has gritted teeth and and one hand actioning to do a head slap to the forehead………….. They just had a smash into an open court and hit it long.
Player is looking across the net with one arm extended out towards their opponents with palm of hand in making something like a “stop signal”, and face is making out like they are sorry (but they are not) ……… They just played a shot that hit the top of the net then dropped over to the opponents court making it impossible for them to get to the ball.
If only I could predict people’s reactions BEFORE they played the shot, I might actually be able to use that to my advantage in a game….. better work on that.
