The third shot drop: how to hit it, and when to drive instead

Why the third shot drop exists

Two rules create it. The two-bounce rule means the return must bounce, and then the serving team's third shot must also be played off the bounce. The kitchen rule means nobody can volley from inside the seven-foot (2.13 m) zone by the net. Put together, the returning team can hit its return deep and walk up to the kitchen line, while the serving team is pinned at the baseline waiting for that return to bounce.

At the line is where points are won in doubles. So the serving team needs a way forward. Hitting hard at two people at the net usually comes straight back at your feet. The drop is the alternative: a ball soft enough to land in their kitchen, so they have to lift it, and slow enough that you can move in behind it.

The arc: peak on your side

Think of the drop as a short lob. The ball rises from your paddle, reaches its highest point before the net, and is falling as it crosses. It then lands in or near the kitchen and bounces low.

If the peak is over the net or on their side, the ball is still rising when it arrives and it lands deep, where the opponents can attack it at chest height. If there is no real peak, just a flat soft shot, it hits the net. Most club drops that go wrong fail one of those two ways, and the fix for both is the same: a higher, earlier apex.

What a good drop looks like

1. Ready. Behind the baseline after the serve, split step as the returner hits.
2. Move and set. Get behind the ball and stop before you hit. A drop played on the run goes wherever the run was going.
3. Backswing. Short, with the paddle dropping below the ball and the face open. Shoulders turned a little, not a full forehand turn.
4. Contact. Out in front, around knee to thigh height after the bounce. The paddle moves low to high, lifting the ball rather than pushing it forward.
5. Finish. Paddle up to about shoulder height, pointing at the target, held for a beat.
6. Move. As soon as you see the ball is good, move forward and split step when the opponent hits.

Grip for the drop

The continental grip works for forehand and backhand drops and gives a naturally open face. An eastern forehand grip is also common for forehand drops. Semi-western closes the face and makes the lift harder. Grip pressure is about three out of ten: soft hands are the difference between a ball that dies in the kitchen and one that rockets off the paddle.

How to hit the third shot drop, step by step

1. Read the return early. Deep and low means drop. Short or high means you have a choice (see below).
2. Get low. Knees bent so the paddle can get under the ball without dropping the paddle head to the floor.
3. Open the face. Slightly, toward the sky. The face angle sets the trajectory; the swing only sets the distance.
4. Lift, do not hit. The swing is a smooth, rising movement from the shoulder with the legs pushing up. No snap. The ball should feel like it is carried rather than struck.
5. Swing slower than feels right. From the baseline, a drop is roughly the pace of a gentle underarm throw to someone eleven metres away, which is roughly baseline to far kitchen line.
6. Finish at the far kitchen line. The paddle points where you want the ball to land. A finish pointing at the ceiling sends it deep.

Cue: lift it up, let it fall. Your job ends at the apex; gravity does the rest.

What happens after the drop

The drop is only half the shot. The other half is moving forward, and most club players either stay at the baseline admiring it or sprint in behind it and arrive mid-stride as the opponent hits.

Move in when the drop is good, and split step every time the opponent is about to strike. From the baseline, most players need two or three shots to reach the line: drop, move, split, reset or dink, move, split. The area between the baseline and the kitchen is the transition zone, and balls at your feet there are normal. The reset is the shot for them. If the drop was poor and floated up, stay back and defend rather than walking into an attack.

When to drive instead

The drop is not compulsory. A third shot drive is the better choice when:

• The return is short or high. You can hit it from in front of the baseline, from above net height, down at their feet.
• The returner is slow to the line. A drive at a player still moving forward is hard to volley.
• An opponent has a weak volley or backhand block. Drive at it and look for a pop-up.
• You want to set up the drop. Drive the third, then drop the fifth off whatever comes back. This pattern is common at every level now.

A team that only ever drops is easy to read. A team that only ever drives is easy to block. Mixing them is what makes both work.

Common third shot drop mistakes and the fix for each

Too hard, landing deep

The ball is still rising at the net and lands at the opponents' feet, or behind them. Fix: swing slower, peak earlier, finish lower toward the kitchen.

Into the net

A flat swing with a closed face. Fix: open the face and get the paddle lower under the ball so the path is clearly upward.

Floating high into the kitchen

A drop that lands in the kitchen but bounces to chest height is still an attackable ball. Fix: shorten the arc; aim to peak about half a metre above the net, not two.

Flicking the wrist

Wrist action adds speed you cannot control on a touch shot. Fix: firm wrist, swing from the shoulder, legs lift the paddle.

Hitting on the move

Fix: get to the ball early and stop, even for half a second. Then hit. Then move.

Admiring the shot

Fix: start forward the moment you know it is a good one. If you are still on the baseline after a perfect drop, the perfect drop was wasted.

Third shot drop drills without a court

With no ball coming at you, a drop is all shape, which makes it ideal for home reps. The broader routine is in pickleball practice at home, and shadow swing drills covers doing shadow reps properly.

• Shadow drops, 15 forehand and 10 backhand. Split step, move a step, stop, drop, hold the finish, then two steps forward and split. Cue for the set: stop before you swing.
• Drop wall. Four metres from a wall with a line at 86 cm. Aim for the ball to hit just above the line and fall almost dead. Ten in a row is a good day.
• Catch and lift. Toss a ball up and catch it on the paddle face without it bouncing off. Twenty catches. It is the soft-hands drill disguised as a party trick.

Third shot drop drills on court

• Step-back drops. Partner at the kitchen line feeds; you start at the kitchen line and drop. Every five good ones, take two steps back. Finish at the baseline. It builds the feel for distance one zone at a time.
• Drop and move. Partner feeds a deep ball; you drop, move in, split step, and play whatever comes back. Keep going until you reach the line or lose the point.
• Target zone. Put a towel or cones along the kitchen, and count drops that land in or just behind it and bounce below net height. Ten attempts, count the good ones, beat it next week.
• Two against one. Two players at the kitchen, one at the baseline dropping and working forward. The single player wins the rally by reaching the line. It is uncomfortable, which is the point.

Related guides

• How to hit a drive
• How to reset in pickleball
• How to dink
• How to serve in pickleball
• Pickleball practice at home: drills without a court