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Pickleball forehand drive

Pickleball / Popular

Drive the forehand with depth and control from the baseline.

What coaches agree on

  • Keep your backswing short and compact, the paddle only needs to travel a short distance back before you drive forward through the ball.
  • Generate your power from a rotating kinetic chain, turning your legs, hips, and shoulders together as a unit and driving up from the ground into the shot.
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  • Swing on a low-to-high path, brushing up the back of the ball, to create the topspin that clears the net and brings the ball back down into the court.

Common mistakes

  • Contacting the ball late, letting it drift behind your body instead of meeting it out in front, is a common error that saps power and drags the net into play.
  • Tensing the arm and gripping tightly to try to muscle the shot is a common error that actually slows the paddle head down; real pace comes from staying loose through the swing.
Pickleball forehand drive lesson
Intermediate

Pickleball forehand drive lesson

Coach's take: Good cues on staying low and keeping the swing compact - just watch the video, the audio alone undersells it.

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