Analyze Serves, Returns, and 3rd Shots

Written By PB Vision Team

Last updated 4 days ago


One of PB Vision’s primary goals is to expose areas in your game that need work and help you visualize improvement over time.

Recording and uploading your games to PB Vision won’t automatically make you a better player - we wish it were that easy! Deliberate improvement requires deliberate practice. 

Did you know that Ben Johns drills 2+ hours a day, 6 days a week? Another pro shared that for every hour of actual games they play, they spend 2 hours drilling.

Now, most of us don’t have that kind of time or even want to drill 2 hours each day, but if you want to get better, drilling is the fastest way to improve. 

This is a beginner's guide for using PB Vision to uncover what areas of your game need the most improvement and give you some suggestions on how to practice. Later, these suggestions will be built right into the app alongside the data.

First – How do I know what to drill? 

After you upload your first video for our AI to analyze, check out these 4 areas first:

  1. Serves

  2. Returns

  3. 3rd Shot Drops

  4. 3rd Shot Drives

Serves

You can only score on your serve—are you making the most of it? Here are 4 things to look at:

Consistency – How often are you hitting the net or out of bounds? Focus first on just putting the ball in play. 

Have you noticed that most pros don’t serve it very fast or even put crazy spin on the ball? That’s because they know their opponent will likely return whatever they send their way. If you are playing at a high level you’re more likely to score during a rally than get an ace.

Depth – A deep serve is more important than a powerful serve. It will keep your opponent away from the kitchen for a few more seconds and make the returns more difficult. Both of which will set you up for a better 3rd shot. 

Power – If you consistently hit a deep serve then you’ll want to focus on speed/power. We track the median speed of your serves so it’s easy to compare over time.

Accuracy – Can you hit the ball where you want, like to your opponent's backhand? Check out the 3D shot viewer to see where your serves are landing. Are you intentional with the placement and do you have a larger strategy at play? 

Here are the top serving videos and drills to help you improve your serves: 

  1. Beginners Guide -  Rules and Technique

  2. How to Hit EXPLOSIVE Serves in Pickleball (60+ MPH)

  3. 5 Serves to Learn (Top Spin | High Loop | Slow Lob | Short Angle | Slice)

Returns

Returns are arguably more critical to winning a game than serves in pickleball because a missed return literally gives your opponent a free point. We've all experienced the thrill of intense dinking, driving, executing impossible saves, and engaging in long rallies at the kitchen, all for the reward of a single point. Yet nothing matches the disappointment of seeing your next return fly into the net, allowing your opponent to tie up a close game. Your returns NEED to be as close to 100% successful as you can get.

Similar to serves, PB Vision breaks down your returns so you can analyze: 

  1. Consistency 

  2. Depth

  3. Accuracy

Remember the #1 goal of the return is to help you get to the kitchen, giving your team a major advantage. Because of that, it’s okay to hit a floating return that hangs in the air a bit (while still going deep) so you have more time to run to the kitchen. The worst mistake a player can make at this point is returning the ball short. A short return is an open invitation for the serving team to run right to the kitchen line and put the returning team on the defensive. 

Here are the top return tips, tricks, and drills to help you improve:

  1. New Best Way to Return - How the pros do it

  2. The 3 T’s of Service Returns

  3. Load and Explode Returns

  4. 5 Advanced Return Targeting/Positioning Strategies 

3rd Shot Drops & Drives

This is where things start to get interesting! This is a crucial shot in the game of pickleball. After the serve and the ball is on its way back, you have a couple of decisions to make. 

  • Do you go for the drop shot or should you drive it?

  • Do you hit that shot crosscourt, to the middle, or down the line?

Here are some resources from the pros on 3rd shot strategy and technique for hitting those shots effectively: 

  1. 3rd Shot Drop Technique 

  2. Drive + Drop Combo Drills

  3. Hybrid Drive - a mix of a drop and a drive

  4. Strategy Drop vs. Drive

Conclusion

However long you decide to practice, here are two tips to always remember:

  1. Be specific about what skill you want to improve and then practice drills again and again until you see improvement. Then move to the next.

  2. Form first, speed second. It’s just as easy to develop bad habits as it is to develop good ones. Don’t sacrifice future progress by developing bad habits.

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