Respect the

Respect the "X" - UPDATED - The Pickleball Strategy You Need for 2022 | WeArePickleball

Early on in our path as pickleball instructors we started to notice a common error: players from one side of the court crossing over to hit a shot on the other side of the court.

To be clear, this is not always an error. There are plenty of times where crossing over makes sense: covering the middle and lob coverage are two easy examples.

BUT …

Crossing over for the sake of crossing over or because of some “forehand takes the middle” idea often leads to errors. And unnecessary ones.

Unnecessary because you have control over whether you break the X or, instead, respect it.

Perhaps the most common form of not respecting the X that is causing your team to lose rallies is the player on one side coming over to take a third shot drop that properly belongs to their teammate if the team was Respecting the X. The most common reason given for this is “forehand in the middle.” This is an error (lowercase “e” error if you want to look at it that way, which is what we do inside WeArePickleball).

Three reasons it is an error:

1. It is a more difficult shot, mechanically, for the player coming over to hit the third shot. This player is reaching away to hit the ball. Their teammate would be hitting a ball coming into their body.
2. The player coming over leaves their side of the court open and vulnerable to attack.
3. The one very few players know: they “pin” their teammate back behind their shot. The pinned player cannot move forward and attack if appropriate.

The X applies at the NVZ line and also in defensive settings. These are all covered in this video.

There are times when you can break the X – specifically, whenever there is a shot that makes more sense to be taken irrespective of the X. Think of a poaching opportunity where one player will come across to attack a high ball. That is an example of breaking the X, with a purpose.

As you develop as a pickleball player, adding these sorts of pickleball strategies will significantly help you. Seeing the game better will mean you are playing the game better.

Let’s keep working at it.

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https://open.spotify.com/episode/59IhIbzw9EGL3KnGWaRqS3?si=DpX3S-sgTry81VpG65yLZw&dl_branch=1

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Stay well out there.

Tony
WeArePickleball Player Development
Tony@Betterpickleball.com
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