Theres a group of guys at my local courts who just slam every single ball as hard as possible. No strategy, no dinks, just pure power. And honestly theyre winning a lot. Im trying to play proper pickleball with drops and dinks but i keep losing to these bangers. Any tips for handling this play style without just becoming a banger myself?
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The key to beating bangers is taking away their power. When they hit hard, absorb it with a soft block and drop it into the kitchen. Theyre expecting you to hit back hard so a soft return throws off their rhythm. Also, dont give them high balls - keep everything low and they have nothing to bang.
the soft block is hard though. when they hit that hard i instinctively want to block hard back
practice relaxing your grip when you see the big wind up coming. loose grip absorbs the pace. tight grip reflects it. takes practice but once you get it youll own bangers.
Banging actually works at lower levels because people havent developed good defense. As you improve, youll find bangers become easier to beat because theyre one dimensional. Focus on improving your resets and blocks - those skills will serve you well as you level up.
thats encouraging. sometimes it feels like im playing the wrong game watching them win
One thing that helped me: target the feet. Bangers struggle with balls at their feet because you cant get much power on a low ball. Keep your shots ankle height and watch them pop it up where you can put it away.
Also consider: maybe theyre having fun their way and you can have fun your way. Not every game has to be serious strategy. Sometimes playing against bangers is good practice for hand speed and reactions even if you lose.
Something that worked for me: stand a little further back from the kitchen line when youre playing bangers. Gives you more time to react and absorb pace. Once they see their hard shots coming back as soft drops, they get frustrated and start making errors. The mental game is half the battle with these guys.
Late to this thread but heres what finally clicked for me with bangers. Instead of trying to block hard or reset perfectly just use a soft block return where you barely move the paddle forward. Almost like catching an egg. Let their pace do the work and just redirect it low over the net into the kitchen. The less you swing the more control you have. I started winning like 70% of my games against bangers once i stopped trying to match their energy and just took pace off every ball they hit at me.
Something nobody has mentioned yet - where you stand matters a ton against bangers. I used to park right on the kitchen line and get blasted. Now i take a half step back when i see someone loading up. Gives me just enough time to get my paddle in front of the ball. Also if you can get your drops consistently into their backhand side most bangers are way less dangerous from that side. My buddy Greg is a total banger and his forehand drive is lethal but his backhand drive goes into the net like 40% of the time