How to Make Opponents Play Their Second-Best Pickleball
I have watched players lose while hitting the shots they practiced best.
The drive looked clean, but the opponent loved pace. The dink was safe, but it kept feeding the player who wanted a long crosscourt exchange. The serve had plenty of speed, but it landed in the returner’s favorite contact zone.
Winning in pickleball is not about showing every tool you own. It is about choosing the tool that makes this opponent solve the least comfortable problem.
How to Win in Pickleball: The Quick Answer
Figure out what kind of rally your opponent wants. Test something different without donating the point. If the same discomfort keeps showing up, stay there until they prove they have an answer.
Winning is not making an opponent play badly. It is repeatedly making them solve the part of the game they trust least.
PRESS will not fix poor execution, bad positioning or a partner plan your team cannot follow. It solves a different problem: deciding where your pressure should go once the rally begins.
Use the PickleTip PRESS Method
| Step | Question |
|---|---|
| P — Profile the Preferred Game | What rally, contact or pattern does this opponent want? |
| R — Run a Low-Cost Test | What safe question can we ask without gambling the point? |
| E — Examine the Response | What changed in their movement, contact, decision or partnership? |
| S — Sustain the Pressure | Does the same situation continue reducing their good options? |
| S — Shift When They Solve It | What adjustment did they make, and what pressure should replace it? |
PRESS is not about finding one weak shot. It is about finding the situation that repeatedly reduces an opponent’s good options.
What PRESS Looks Like During a Match
I had this play out during a match at Pontiff playground. The player across from me on the left side kept sliding around his backhand, setting his feet, and looking to drive forehands from the same comfortable base. My first thought was the obvious one: make him hit the backhand.
But PRESS allowed me to slow that diagnosis down. Was he running around the backhand because it was weak, or because the forehand pattern was simply where he felt most dangerous? Those are not the same thing, and they do not always call for the same response.
- Profile: The player keeps rebuilding points around a set forehand and wants time to drive.
- Run a test: Send a deep return toward the backhand with enough margin that you are not gambling the point.
- Examine: The return comes back, but the player reaches, contacts late and leaves a softer third shot.
- Sustain: Test the same situation again. If the late contact and weak third ball return, your partner can begin expecting that reply.
- Shift: If the opponent slides over early or lets the partner take more of that ball, keep the broader goal of denying the comfortable forehand but change the route with body pressure, movement or a different depth.
The backhand was only the doorway. The real problem was that the player needed time and balance to build the forehand he wanted.
What This Is Not
- It does not mean hitting harder on every attackable ball.
- It does not mean changing shots merely to appear unpredictable.
- It does not mean abandoning your own strengths to chase every possible weakness.
- It does not mean deciding the opponent has a weakness after one miss.
- It does not mean changing the plan after one lost rally.
The plan should be simple enough that both partners know the next ball and flexible enough to change when the opponent finally catches on.
Most of the examples here come from doubles, where pressure affects both the hitter and the partner. PRESS works in singles too, but then you are reading recovery, court coverage and the space that opens next.
1. Profile the Opponent’s Preferred Game
Before searching for weakness, identify comfort.
What does the opponent want the rally to look like?
- Do they want fast hands at the kitchen?
- Do they prefer a long crosscourt dink exchange?
- Do they run around the backhand to create a forehand?
- Do they attack almost every ball above the knees?
- Do they want time to set their feet and drive?
- Does one partner dominate the middle while the other protects a sideline?
You do not need a clipboard. Just notice which kind of rally they keep steering the point back toward.
The opponent’s favorite shot is not always the problem. The larger issue may be the position or pattern that keeps delivering that shot.
A target is where you hit the ball. A pressure point is the situation you keep making the opponent solve.
2. Run a Low-Cost Test
Do not gamble the match on a first impression. Ask a safe tactical question and observe the answer.
| Suspected discomfort | Low-cost test |
|---|---|
| Backhand contact | Use a deep serve or return that allows margin |
| Movement after being pulled wide | Dink behind the recovery path |
| Body-ball organization | Use controlled pace toward the paddle-side hip or shoulder |
| Impatience in soft rallies | Extend the pattern without floating attackable balls |
| Middle-ball confusion | Send a neutral ball through the shared decision area |
| Difficulty changing pace | Alternate depth, height or tempo without forcing a winner |
You may lose the test point and still learn exactly where the next five balls should go.
Use the 4.0 vs. 5.0 decision-making guide when you need help reading what the previous ball created and which choice the contact actually supports.
3. Examine the Response, Not Only the Result
An opponent does not need to miss for the test to reveal discomfort.
- Did they reach instead of moving?
- Did they retreat from manageable pace?
- Did they change grip or paddle position late?
- Did they attack from poor contact?
- Did they avoid the backhand?
- Did the partners hesitate over the middle?
- Did they recover slowly after the shot?
- Did they change formation to protect the target?
The ball coming back does not mean the test failed. A late reach, a rushed attack or a partner sliding over to help may tell you more than the miss would have.
One miss is an event. Repeated discomfort is a pattern.
Four Types of Opponent Weakness
| Weakness type | What it may look like |
|---|---|
| Technical | Unreliable contact, paddle-face control, touch or swing path |
| Movement | Late spacing, poor recovery or difficulty changing direction |
| Decision | Attacking low balls, avoiding resets or overusing one response |
| Partnership | Middle confusion, uneven transition, weak lob coverage or unclear priorities |
“Weak backhand” is often too shallow a diagnosis. The contact may be fine when the player is set but unreliable after movement. The real pressure point is not the stroke alone. It is the combination of movement, timing and contact.
A Weakness Can Disappear When the Feet Are Set
A player may handle ten straight backhands when you feed the ball directly to the strike zone. Pull that same player wide first, make them recover and then play behind the movement. Now the contact may arrive late, the paddle face may open and the next ball may sit up.
That does not mean the backhand diagnosis was completely wrong. It means the useful version is more specific: the backhand becomes unreliable after movement.
The Pressure Point Changes With Player Level
- Newer players: The problem may be obvious contact, court position or confusion over who takes the middle.
- Intermediate players: Look more closely at movement, recovery, impatience and decisions made from poor contact.
- Advanced players: A single stroke may not break down. You may need to build a sequence they dislike, change the pace they expect or send a ball that makes both partners hesitate over the same job.
4. Stay With the Pattern While It Works
Players often discover something useful and abandon it because repetition feels predictable.
Predictability is not automatically a problem. A known deep return to an uncomfortable backhand can remain effective even when the opponent knows it is coming.
You do not need to surprise an opponent if the known problem still has no comfortable answer.
Stay with the pressure while:
- Your team can execute it with margin.
- The same ball keeps producing a late contact, softer reply or rushed decision.
- The pattern does not expose your own court.
- Your partner understands the likely reply.
- The opponent has not made a successful adjustment.
Repetition is useful when you know what ball is probably coming back and your partner knows it too.
Pressure Is Broader Than Power
Some players hear “apply pressure” and think “hit harder.” Pace is only one form of pressure.
| Pressure type | What it asks the opponent to solve |
|---|---|
| Depth | Contact farther behind the baseline or closer to the body |
| Low contact | Lift the ball without creating attackable height |
| Movement | Hit while changing direction or recovering |
| Patience | Stay disciplined through another neutral ball |
| Body positioning | Organize the paddle in crowded space |
| Middle pressure | Make partners decide early and clearly |
| Pace change | Adjust timing without losing shape |
Use the controlled aggression guide when added pace is the right form of pressure. Use the advantage-in-pickleball guide when the goal is maintaining positional control.
5. Shift When the Opponent Solves It
Eventually, a decent opponent will notice what you are doing. Maybe they slide farther over, let their partner take the middle or quit attacking that low ball. At that point, repeating the same target is not discipline. It is stubbornness.
Watch for signs of adaptation:
- Earlier paddle preparation.
- Different return position.
- A partner taking more middle balls.
- Improved recovery after being pulled wide.
- Fewer rushed attacks.
- A formation change that protects the target.
Keep the goal; change the question. If they protect the backhand, test the body or make them move first. If they clean up the middle, use an angle that makes both partners stop and figure out who owns the next ball.
Build a Simple Partner Pressure Plan
A doubles plan does not need five targets and three hand signals.
A useful doubles plan tells both partners two things: where the pressure is going and what ball is likely to come back.
- Choose one primary pressure pattern.
- Agree on the expected reply.
- Protect the most likely counter.
- Use one simple signal when the pattern needs to change.
For example:
“Let’s keep the return deep to the left player’s backhand. Expect the middle ball after the third shot. If they stack away from it, we switch to body serves.”
The best target is not always the opponent most likely to miss. Sometimes it is the player most likely to send back a predictable ball your partner can attack.
If your partner keeps getting exposed by the plan, it is not a good plan—even when the target itself is correct.
Use the doubles communication guide for partner calls and the pickleball gameplan guide for the broader match plan.
What Not to Chase
- One lucky miss: It may not reveal a repeatable weakness.
- Opponent frustration: Emotion matters only when it changes behavior.
- Complicated trick shots: A tactic your team cannot execute is not a gameplan.
- Every possible weakness: One dependable pressure point is enough to begin.
- A plan that exposes your partner: If your partner keeps paying for the tactic, it is not a good plan.
The PickleTip PRESS Card
PROFILE:
What rally do they want?
RUN A TEST:
What safe question can we ask?
EXAMINE:
What changed in movement, contact, decision or partnership?
SUSTAIN:
Should we repeat it?
SHIFT:
What adjustment did they make?
When PRESS Is Not the Real Problem
PRESS helps you read and pressure an opponent. It cannot rescue a pattern your team cannot execute or solve a problem that is happening on your own side of the net.
| What is happening? | Better next step |
|---|---|
| Your own recurring errors are deciding the match | Use the pickleball mistakes diagnostic hub |
| You need a complete pre-match or tournament plan | Use creating your own pickleball gameplan or the tournament gameplan |
| Pressure changes your grip, breathing, tempo or next-point decisions | Use CLEAR or PACE |
| Partner priorities or calls keep breaking down | Use the doubles communication guide |
Winning in Pickleball FAQs
Start by identifying the rally your opponent prefers. Test a less comfortable pattern without gambling the point, watch for repeated discomfort and keep applying that pressure until the opponent adjusts or your own execution breaks down.
Look for repeated changes in movement, contact, decisions or partnership rather than one miss. A weak backhand may actually be a movement problem if the shot only breaks down after the player is pulled wide or forced to recover.
No. The better target is not always the weaker player. It may be whichever player or pattern gives your team the most predictable reply, even if that player is stronger overall.
There is no fixed number. Use a low-cost test and look for the same response across similar situations. One miss is an event; repeated discomfort is a pattern.
No. A known pattern can remain effective when the opponent still cannot solve it comfortably. Variety matters when it changes positioning, timing or expectation, not merely because repetition feels predictable.
Identify what changed. The opponent may move earlier, protect the target, change formation or let a partner take more balls. Keep the broader goal, but change the route with body pressure, movement, depth, angle or pace change.
Make Them Play Their Second-Best Game
You do not need to discover every weakness or win every tactical exchange. Find one situation that reduces the opponent’s good options, apply it with enough margin to repeat it and stay alert for the adjustment.
The goal is not to find a permanent weakness. It is to find the next pattern they have not solved yet.
