Beginner Pickleball Tips: 5 Habits That Fix Most Mistakes

These five beginner pickleball tips fix the mistakes almost every new player makes. Most beginners lose points the same five ways, and the good news is that none of them are about talent. They’re habits, and each one has a simple fix you can practice in your very next game.

Tip 1: Don’t hit every ball hard

The number one beginner mistake is treating every shot like a smash. Hard shots feel satisfying, but at the beginner level they mostly fly long, hit the net, or come straight back at you faster than you can react.

Control comes before power. A medium-paced ball that lands in beats a rocket that lands out, every single time. A few things that help:

• Keep your paddle out in front of you, not back by your hip.
• Aim for the middle of the court, not the lines.
• When you’re close to the kitchen, use a soft shot instead of a drive.
• Swing smoothly and let the paddle do the work.

Two-minute drill: rally with a partner and count how many shots in a row you can keep in play. Try to beat your number each time. Power will come on its own once control is there.

Tip 2: Get to the kitchen line

After you serve and return, the goal is to move up to the non-volley zone line (the kitchen line) as soon as it’s safe. Beginners tend to hang back near the baseline because it feels safer. It isn’t. From the back of the court you’re reacting to everything; from the kitchen line you control the point and have far more angles to play.

Remember the two-bounce rule: the serving team has to let the return bounce before coming forward. Once that’s done, work your way up, ideally together with your partner so you don’t leave a gap between you.

Two-minute drill: at the kitchen line, practice “dinks”, soft shots that just clear the net and land in the other team’s kitchen. Ten in a row with a partner is a great goal.

Tip 3: Aim for the middle

When you’re not sure where to hit, aim between your opponents. A ball down the middle creates a moment of “yours or mine?” confusion, it crosses the lowest part of the net (34 inches in the centre versus 36 at the sidelines, per the official rules), and it gives you the biggest margin for error. Going for the sideline is how beginners turn a safe rally into an unforced error.

Two-minute drill: put a towel or a cone in the middle of the far side of the court and see how many shots you can land near it.

Tip 4: Watch the ball, not your opponent

Keep your eyes on the ball all the way to your paddle. Beginners look up early, usually to see where the ball is going or what the other players are doing, and that’s exactly when mishits happen: off the edge of the paddle, into the net, or skywards.

Trust that the ball will go where you aimed. You’ll see the result soon enough.

Two-minute drill: during a warm-up rally, say “hit” out loud every time the ball touches your paddle. It sounds silly and it works, because it forces your eyes to stay on contact.

Tip 5: Move your feet

Good pickleball isn’t just about your paddle. It’s about where your feet put you. Beginners reach for balls, stretch, lunge and hit off balance. Experienced players take two small adjustment steps and hit from a comfortable, balanced position.

Stay light on your feet, keep your weight slightly forward, use small shuffles rather than big lunges, and avoid reaching whenever you can. Court shoes, with proper side-to-side support, make this much easier than running shoes do.

Two-minute drill: before a game, shuffle side to side along the kitchen line for 30 seconds, touching the sideline each time. It wakes your legs up and reminds you to move.

Putting the beginner pickleball tips together

You don’t have to fix all five at once. Pick one tip, make it your focus for a whole session, and move on to the next one next time. Within a few weeks you’ll notice you’re winning rallies not because you hit anything spectacular, but because you stopped giving points away.

New to the game? Start with our complete beginner’s guide and the rules explained simply.