Master Pickleball's Bounce Attack Shot

TL;DR

Demonstrate a sweeping motion with a high elbow to hit bouncing balls low over the net. Keep the paddle face constant, varying only contact point to change direction. Read your opponent’s movement to determine pace and target. Attack with angles when they plant at the kitchen line, or go middle pace when they rush quickly. Practice maintaining a low, consistent trajectory regardless of ball height.

Attacking High Bouncing Balls

Form and Contact Point

• For balls bouncing up high, the contact point is often outside of the normal strike zone
• Keep elbow high and drop wrist down to create a sweeping motion across the ball
  • Allows getting on top of the ball to keep it low over the net
  • Not hitting with extreme topspin, relying on outside contact to reduce pace
• Contact should be slightly behind the body, not at full extension in front
  • Helps maintain consistent paddle face and low trajectory

Movement

• Lateral movement is important when taking balls out of the air to adjust positioning
• For high bouncing balls, can make later adjustments to contact point
• If the bounce is higher than where you’d make contact out of the air, let it bounce
• Take out of the air if possible when equal height to prevent time for opponent

Direction and Pace Control

• Changing direction is achieved by altering contact point, not paddle face
  • Contact further forward goes crosscourt, contact behind goes down the line
• Pace is controlled by depth of opponent and how hard you swing
  • Harder swing when opponent is deeper, softer when they are crashing
• Hiding direction makes opponents hesitant to crash the net

Types of High Balls

• Very high bouncing balls - use the sweeping motion while staying flat
• If bounce is lower than expected - use a more linear swing staying hip height
• Lower bouncing balls - different form using hip rotation and weight transfer

In summary, the sweeping outside contact allows keeping the ball low while disguising direction and controlling pace based on the opponents’ positioning.

For high bouncing balls, use an arced sweeping swing with high elbow and dropped wrist for outside contact that keeps the ball low over the net. Maintain consistent paddle face and later lateral adjustments without extreme rotation. Control pace and direction through swing force and varying contact point forwards/backwards, not paddle face.