How to hit a pickleball drop shot (and when to drive instead)

A pickleball drop shot is a soft, arcing shot aimed to land in your opponents' kitchen so you can walk to the net behind it. Most often it's the third shot of the rally. You hit it low to high, with an open face and contact well out in front.

Why the serving team is stranded at the baseline

The double-bounce rule creates the problem. The serve has to bounce and the return has to bounce, so the serving team can't move in and volley — they're pinned behind the baseline waiting for the return to land.

The receiving team has no such constraint. One player has stood at the kitchen line since before the serve; the other walks in behind their own return. By the time the third shot is struck, two opponents own the line and the serving team is still 22 feet from the net, hitting up at people who hit down. The third shot is how you cross the 15 feet from baseline to kitchen line without handing over an easy volley.

In traditional side-out scoring only the serving team can score, so losing that rally costs the serve, not just a point. Rally scoring, used in some leagues and event formats, changes that math. Either way, keeping the call straight while you're jogging forward is its own skill — that's what Pickleball Scoreboard is for, a pickleball scoreboard app for iPhone and Apple Watch that tracks match scores while you're busy getting to the kitchen line.

How to hit the pickleball drop shot

The third shot drop is a lift, not a hit. Most errors come from treating it like a small groundstroke.

Grip. Continental, loose hand. Squeezing adds the pace you're trying to remove.

Contact point. Out in front, thigh to waist height, after the ball has come down off its bounce. Let it get behind your hip and the face closes and the ball finds the net.

Swing path. Low to high with the face slightly open, from below the ball to above your contact point. Power comes from the shoulder pushing forward and up, not from the wrist. Finish high and keep the paddle moving toward the target — decelerating at contact is the usual cause of a drop that dies in the tape.

Aim at the apex, not the landing spot

The ball should reach its highest point before it crosses the net and be falling as it passes over. If the apex is on your opponents' side, the ball is still climbing when it clears, and it lands deep and shoulder-high — a free putaway.

Pick a target a few feet inside the kitchen, at an opponent's feet. Crosscourt is the safer version: the diagonal is longer, and the net is 34 inches at the center against 36 at the sidelines. Down the line leaves almost no margin.

Drop or drive: choosing the third shot

The drive answers the same problem differently — a hard, flat ball at an opponent's feet or hip. It isn't meant to be a winner. It's meant to force a block that pops up, so your partner can crash the line and volley it.

	Third shot drop	Third shot drive
Ball flight	soft arc, falling as it crosses	flat and low over the tape
Target	inside the kitchen, at the feet	hip of the nearest opponent
Contact height	below net height, out front	waist or higher
Best against	opponents set at the kitchen line	opponents still moving in, or a short return
Typical miss	pops up, volleyed at your feet	net or long
What follows	you walk in and split step	partner crashes for the pop-up

Resets: the drop you hit from mid-court

Few drops earn the line in one shot. You'll hit one, take three or four steps, and hit another from the transition zone. That's a reset — the same stroke with less time and more incoming pace. Stop moving before contact, splitting as your opponent swings, and soften your grip so the paddle absorbs pace instead of returning it. Don't retreat to the baseline after a good drop; going backward gives up everything the drop just bought.

The pickleball dink shot: what the drop earns you

Once both teams are at the line, the rally turns into a dink exchange. A dink is a soft shot hit from at or near the kitchen line that lands in the opponents' non-volley zone, low enough that they can't volley it downward.

The mechanics mirror the drop over a shorter distance: knees bent, paddle in front, open face, a push from the shoulder with a quiet wrist. Contact ahead of your toes, not beside your foot. The point of a dink rally isn't to win it — it's to wait for the ball that sits up. Crosscourt gives you the most room, and taking a dink out of the air is legal as long as your feet stay out of the zone; the kitchen rules cover what counts as touching it.

The pickleball lob: when it's worth the risk

A lob sends the ball over an opponent's outstretched paddle toward the baseline. It's best mid-dink, when both opponents lean over the kitchen line and would have to turn and run, and crosscourt gives you more court to land in. The cost of missing is steep: a short lob is an overhead smash against you, and outdoors, wind can push a good one several feet out. The worst version is lobbing from mid-court while transitioning, which gives away the position you were about to win.

Around the post: the shot that ignores the net

An around-the-post shot is legal. The ball may travel outside the net post at any height — including below the level of the net — and it counts as long as it lands in the correct court. Nothing requires a pickleball to cross over the net.

You don't hunt for it, you earn it. A sharply angled crosscourt dink or drive drags you wide of the sideline, the angle carries the ball outside the post, and you step off the court and drive it flat. Two cautions: a ball that hits the net post is a fault, and so is touching the net or post while the ball is live.

The decision rule most 3.0 players get backwards

Drop when your opponents are already set at the kitchen line. Drive when they're still moving.

Plenty of players do the reverse. They drive into two opponents planted at the line — four paddles at close range with the whole court to hit down into — then float a drop at a returner still jogging forward, who gets a free ball at hip height.

If you'd rather have a physical cue than a tactical one, use your contact point. Ball above your waist, drive it. Ball near your knees, drop it or lob it. The height of your contact predicts the height of theirs.

FAQ

What is the third shot drop in pickleball?

It's the serving team's soft third shot, arced from near the baseline into the opponents' non-volley zone. Because the double-bounce rule keeps that team back, the drop is how they buy time to move up. It travels roughly 25 to 30 feet and should be falling as it crosses the net.

How do you dink in pickleball?

Bend your knees, hold the paddle out in front with a loose continental grip, and push the ball up and forward from the shoulder with an open face. Make contact ahead of your toes and keep the wrist quiet. Clear the tape by about a foot so the ball drops rather than sitting up.

Should I drop or drive the third shot?

Look at your opponents' feet. If both are set at the kitchen line, drop — a drive there just gives them a downward volley. If either is still moving forward, or the return lands short and you can take it above your waist, drive at the closer player's hip.

Why does my drop shot keep popping up?

Usually the contact is late or the swing is too big. Meeting the ball behind your hip forces you to open the face and lift, which sends it high. Take it out front after it starts to drop, shorten the swing, and aim for an apex on your own side of the net.

Is an around-the-post shot legal in pickleball?

Yes. The ball may pass outside the net post at any height and doesn't have to cross over the net, as long as it lands in the correct court. Hitting the net post is a fault, as is touching the net or post while the ball is in play.