6 Things Better Players Do Between Their Own Shots

Jam Shot Drill, Your Ankles, Paddle Shapes, Vatic Pro Prism Review, Asia Event Recap, Backhand Slice Returns & More

Author

FIT PICKLER
September 17, 2026

Health, Fitness, News & Fun for Picklers of All Ages

What's Cooking in the Kitchen This Week:

  • 6 Things Better Players Do Between Their Own Shots

  • How To Keep Your Ankles Mobile for Better Court Movement

  • DRILL OF THE WEEK: The Jam Shot Builder

  • Fitness Expert Glenn Dawson: 3 Ways To Relieve Pain (Muscular Guarding)

  • International Recap Of Dueling Pro Pickleball Events In Asia

  • Pickleball Paddle Shapes: Why the Face Matters More Than Most Players Realize

  • GEAR REVIEW: VATIC PRO PRISM FLASH Review

  • The Pickleball Boom Has Reached Japan

  • HUMOR: When Your Doubles Partner Tries To Cancel On You

  • Coach Mary: How To Hit a Better, Stronger Backhand Slice Return

🥷SKILLS

6 Things Better Players
Do Between Their Own Shots

Me? Not Much, I Just Hit a Cool Drive”

A lot happens between the moment a player hits the ball and the moment it comes back.

There may only be a second or two, but better players use that time. They recover from the shot they just hit, watch what it did to the opponents, adjust their court position, and get ready for what is likely to happen next.

Players who do not use that time often feel as though the game is moving faster than it really is. They finish one shot, watch it travel across the net, and only begin preparing when the opponent makes contact.

What happens between shots can make the next one considerably easier. Here are six things better players are doing while the ball is on the other side of the net.

1. They Recover Their Court Position

The first job after hitting is getting back to a useful position.

If a player has been pulled wide for a dink, that usually means beginning to recover toward the middle. After a return, it means continuing toward the kitchen. After a third-shot drop, it may mean advancing as far as the quality of the shot safely allows.

The important part is that recovery begins after the shot rather than after the opponent hits the next ball.

💪 Health & Fitness Section

How To Keep Your Ankles
Mobile For Better Court Movement

🎶 The Ankle Bone’s Connected to the Leg Bone..🎶

Ankles do a lot more work in pickleball than most players probably think about.

Every time a player gets low for a dink, pushes toward a wide ball, stops after moving forward, or changes direction, the ankles have to move while also supporting the weight of the body. When that movement is limited, the body may find another way to reach the ball. The knees, hips, or torso may move differently, or the player may bend forward instead of lowering comfortably.

That does not mean every movement problem starts at the ankle. But maintaining comfortable ankle mobility can make many of the positions used in pickleball easier to reach.

Why Ankle Mobility Matters on the Court

One of the ankle’s important movements is dorsiflexion, which simply means bringing the shin forward over the foot while the heel stays down.

It happens often in pickleball.

Think about getting into a low ready position. The knees bend and move forward while the ankles bend with them. The same thing happens when reaching for a low ball, moving into a controlled lunge, or stopping after moving toward the kitchen.

🥷 Drill of the Week:

The Jam Shot Drill

This Drill is My Jam…

The Jam Shot Builder teaches you to attack a target that is hiding in plain sight: your opponent. By narrowing your aim toward the paddle-side shoulder and upper arm, the drill helps you find the awkward space where neither a forehand nor backhand feels quite comfortable.

Try the drill to learn how to create more jammed responses, and how to react when your opponent starts protecting that spot.

 🏋️ STAYING FIT with
GLENN & BRIANNA

3 Ways To Relieve Pain
(Muscle Guarding)

🏓 PRO NEWS

International Recap of Dueling
Pro Pickleball Events In Asia

The APP and PPA landed in Asia on the same weekend, bringing two pro events and plenty of U.S. talent to Vietnam and Malaysia. The familiar names didn’t have everything their way, with top seeds falling and international players making some of the weekend’s biggest runs.

See who pulled off the biggest upsets and which pros left Asia with gold.

⚙️ GEAR REVIEWS
Vatic Pro Prism Flash

NEW FROM PICKLER JUNCTION: The Pickler Junction Team’s reviews go above and beyond a simple thumbs up or thumbs down. They pull together independent testing, verified buyer feedback, community opinions, and objective performance data to show where the Vatic Pro Prism Flash shines, and where it may not be the right fit, depending on how you play. Note: Review will list MSRP, link will show sale price if available.

Shopping for new pickleball gear? Reply here and we’ll tell The PJ Team what to review next!

🏓 GEAR NEWS

Pickleball Paddle Shapes
Why the Face Matters

Shape Matters…

Two paddles can use the same carbon, core, and surface technology and still play very differently because of one basic choice: shape. Widebody, elongated, and hybrid paddles each trade something away to gain reach, forgiveness, leverage, or quicker hands.

See what each paddle shape actually changes and which trade-offs make the most sense for your game.

🌏 WORLD NEWS

The Pickleball Boom
Has Reached Japan

ブームになっている

Pickleball’s boom has reached Japan, where the estimated player count has jumped more than sevenfold in just one year to around 330,000. Courts are popping up beneath Tokyo Tower, international pros are arriving to compete, and more than 100 companies have even taken the game into Tokyo’s business districts.

See how pickleball is spreading across Japan, and why its growth is reaching well beyond the court.

🤣 HUMOR

🧭 COMMUNITY NEWS

RALLY RUNDOWN:
LOCAL HIGHLIGHTS

HOLDING COURT with
COACH MARY

  💪 How To Hit A Better, Stronger
Backhand Slice Return

Ed Ju introduces Elenga Satuala, a 16-year-old Pickleball phenom, to demonstrate her wicked slice backhand.  I showed this video and drilled this stroke in my advanced class this week, and they loved it. Ed says it looks like Federer’s!

First, a two-hander is also a great backhander, and it generates topspin, depth and power.  My traditional slice backhand is my go-to shot for service returns and third shot drops, as well as crosscourt dinks.

The slice backhand in this video is different in a few ways.  Check out the video!  If you cannot access the Desert Sun page videos, then go to YouTube, go to Ed Ju, and go to Elenga Satuala backhand.

Here are the specifics:

·     Use the traditional “Shake Hands” or hammer grip with your dominant hand.  Keep your off hand on the paddle much longer, almost like a two-hander, before you separate them on follow-through.

·     Split step first:  bounce, get ready on the balls of your feet.

·     Turn your body all the way closed, with your front foot turning to the side of the court, almost on a diagonal – this is new!

·     Poke your paddle to the back, with your butt cap facing your target. Elenga is already poking her paddle back, as she turns.

·     As she comes through, her paddle is high to low, and then she pulls the paddle through to her wall, which is her front leg. The pull is where you get the power. When the paddle gets to the wall, she flips it, with her backhand, and releases.

·     She does not finish past her shoulder, just on a straight line out to her target.  If she wants more power, she finishes out and up, but not around.

·     Elenga keeps her back hand on the paddle longer than Ed does, and snaps it through, so her ball is “spicier” than Ed’s.

Ed goes to the wall in the video, which is a good way to cue your body when you are first learning this shot.

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