Put them in pickleball jail: the golden SEQUENCE to “break a banger “

Stand by people, this is a long one but possibly the most important blog I’ve ever written so stay with me.

The most common phrase heard at a clinic or course is “how to deal with bangers”. The fright or flight response gets triggered in so many players and there’s been a history of denigrating power players coming in, often from tennis. It’s a standing joke at the club where I started playing that I WAS one of those. And they aren’t wrong: I came in swinging away at everything until I learned a more balanced game the hard way. Paddle technology has evolved so power players aren’t going away. I dislike the use of “bangers” as a term but it will help this article get discovered! I always think of them as “power players”: it doesn’t need to be a negative at all to use power but the prevailing attitude towards this play is due to the seemingly singular focus strategically of these players.

What gets lost is the reason WHY players play this way. At the lower levels, it’s remarkably effective at winning points. As players grow, it’s still successful as a strategy but the better players start to predict and respond to the power game with effective counter strategies. Part of the reasoning to play this way is that the ball is normally at least over the net on the other side so asks a question of the opponent. The other common factor is the difficulty of dropping a ball in the Non Volley Zone and keeping it unattackable. Avoiding making the mistake of hitting a ball softly into the net prevents the slightly embarrassing nature of what seems like a “weak” shot being unsuccessful.

This keeps rally lengths short, dinking rarely occurs so players never LEARN the decision making around speeding up or playing slow nearer to the net. Once players reach 3.5 and upward towards the upper levels of 4.5, the key match statistic isn’t about winners, it’s about errors. By this stage, players have mastered pretty much all the shots so it’s either execution or decision making that creates the errors. One of the most common errors is speeding up off the wrong ball and the “traffic lights” analogy helps to a degree on that choice.

Recently, I was asked to help a club with its players on improving their decision making and avoiding unforced errors. I led a session, designed solely as a modified set of games with different conditions. The impact was staggering within three cycles of the games, with two additional new cycles to double check the outcomes. Buoyed by the success, I then repeated the same gameplay sequence at clinics in Portugal, Poland, Hungary, Wales and Türkiye. At every single session, identical behaviours occurred at the same points, irrespective of the level of the players. This was something special: it was like I had cracked a secret code through this game sequence. Reflecting on the progression, I realised some deeper tactical nuances could be explored for better players. I then remembered a favoured stat I’ve used loads of times and how this also tied in.

My first instinct was “this is mine and I’m keeping it for my use as it’s my secret weapon as a coach!” After sitting on that idea for a while, I realised that someone else will eventually figure it out, maybe does the same or someone will take it back to use. Better to put my “flag on the moon” first, share it out there and get some awareness of my concept. Plus I can explain EXACTLY what is going on “under the hood”. So here it is, the “pickleball jail” game sequence and how/why it works with the very specific changes. It’s ridiculously simple. You may do ten minutes sequences rather than full games based on what you see but it’s just a game of pickleball with one new rule.

1. Play a normal game of pickleball but no one is allowed to hit the ball hard at any point.
2. Play a normal game of pickleball but no one is allowed to hit the ball hard until after the tenth shot in a rally.
3. Play a normal game of pickleball but no one is allowed to hit the ball hard until after the fifth shot in a rally.

That’s it. Nothing clever, people have played this sort of game. However the sequence is the key.

Game one is “pickleball jail”. No one can hit a ball hard at any point. No smashes, no drives, no hard volleys. First question: how can i get a serve in if I don’t hit it hard? Hit it high and loopy. What about returns? High and loopy. What about a smash to finish? You have to hit it softly and low to empty space.

What happens to the players? Firstly they start to explore new things: extended rally lengths, playing without fear of attack, finding new ways to win points. Many also get properly fed up because they can’t finish a ball they could before or one of their weapons is neutered. There’s more going on that I’ll reveal at the end.

Game two: they are out of jail but still substantially “handcuffed”. What behaviours do I see? Rally lengths plummet because they now need to count to ten whilst playing and restricting shot choices. In the first game, rallies go fifteen, twenty shots even with 3.0 players. In game two, it is harder to get to ten: players are waiting for the first chance to speed a ball up so when they get to the eleventh ball, without fail, someone hits the ball hard. Irrespective of if it is the ball to speed up! It almost always flies in the net or long. After a while, they don’t always go on eleven.

I also say you can speed up “after ten” when setting it up. Sometimes I’ll say “after ten, if you want to” depending on if they ask or I feel they need it reiterating. In the heat of the rally at first, the players never remember “if you want to”. Eleventh ball equals speed up.

Game three, they can go “after five”. On this sequence, you will see players playing speed ups off the correct ball for them. The rally extends, speed ups are more mindful, more successful and volley battles will often have a reset in there at higher levels. The cuffs are loosened and so is the mind and decision making. More options are permitted but the process has unlocked those options.

After this, I let them play a normal game: they are fully “out of jail”. The behaviours remain from the third game. I’ll see a proper put away on a fourth or fifth ball but I will see far better decisions on shot choice across the rallies.

By this point, players are thinking I’ve pulled some weird Jedi mind trick on them. I haven’t coached them in a conventional sense but their behaviours are totally different. They are playing better but I’ve barely said a word of advice to them. The coaching is in the sequence and the set up. By allowing them to play and learn by mistakes without guidance, they figure out lots of stuff.

In game one, they face balls they want to hit hard, know they hit hard and can’t. Lesson one: recognise the balls to put away with power. Lesson two: actually sometimes, I can do something different that’s equally as effective but never been forced to explore it before. Lesson three: they can’t hit balls they normally want to hit hard but the softer ball is a better outcome, more reliable and less risky for their team. They are exploring new areas. Lesson four: they get deeper into rallies with softer play and start to work out new ways of winning points, potentially with less risk.

Game two: the excitement to get to eleven and be allowed to speed up means that they don’t want to turn up that chance. “I’ve been artificially held back and now I can do it so I’m gonna do it whatever”. Players discover that maybe it’s better to wait.

Game three: players can speed up on the sixth. That’s close to what happens normally in amateur rallies. The sixth shot is the one that ends the point. Serve, return, third, volley, pop up, bang. However, this isn’t the case in game three. Often the fourth, fifth and six shots are better quality due to better decisions. Players speed up on the right ball when it’s a good percentage chance. The game sequence let them figure it out THEMSELVES.

What else is going on with the sequence?

The first game is about exploring, restricting and recognition. What can I do, what should I do, what can I do differently that I didn’t do before? This feeds into the next two. Game two is the stretch: there’s more mental processing going on with the count to ten shots. Errors creep in, people need to play with better choices to get to ten. The desperation to hit hard manifests itself at the wrong time so they learn again.

Game three is where they start to connect the dots. One of my favourite stats: across tens of thousands of matches in amateur play, the average rally length is 4.7 to 4.8 shots. The longer ones are offset by the botched thirds, the serves in the net, the long returns. The game with five shots means players get to just beyond that average rally length. It’s about where they get to now whereas the other two are longer and less common. It feels more normal, they are more comfortable but with enhanced decision making. “It’s like normal pickleball, just better” as a player put it to me.

There’s a couple of deeper strategic aspects I alluded to earlier: why ten and why five shots? As above, five has a logical reason based on amateur game stats. Ten is double five but it’s more than that. One is an even number and one is an odd number. As all players know, the odds are very different if serving or returning. In ten shots, the speed up choice comes first to the serving team and well established; a real match goal for serving teams. Remove the disadvantage of being second to the NVZ, get forward and set up a point. In five shots, the returning team gets the first speedup; often a volley as the fourth shot from the returning team at the NVZ, if a third shot is too high (very common). The numbers create real game situations for players.

The other facet I rarely see players exploit, unless they are truly analytical, is directing the ball for the eleventh or sixth shot to the “correct” player. If I see a player that is speed up happy, I will throw some “bait” over the net to them and invite them to speedup on a ball that is just too tempting but the wrong ball to hit hard! I sit ready with my paddle up to counter attack back and finish the point off their baited attack. Again, the game sequence lets players figure out real time solutions to problems without external direction.

Discovery learning is the way adults learn best: we need to live problem solve on court all the time. Everybody has different abilities and tendencies: by allowing them to learn by making mistakes, experiencing the frustration of not hitting a ball you KNOW you can finish, seeing new choices, players process this for themselves and own their decisions. They know themselves, not dictated to by a traffic light system, a coach’s own proclivities or other factors: players will need input of course but learning by doing is best. They personalise their decisions based on experience and outcomes, rather than a prescribed system. As long as they understand that they win a point due to a good decision and not a lucky outcome, the learning is almost without coach input.

That’s it: I’ve done it now and released this to the pickleball world. Tried and tested across nations, levels and clubs. Reassuringly, humans seems to react the same wherever I’ve done this, as we truly are one people. Try this out in your club or group, tell me if it works but tell them it came from me!