A Pro's Optimal 2-Hour Pickleball Practice Plan

Only have two hours a week to improve your pickleball game? Here's exactly how a PPA pro would spend every minute, from kitchen drills and resets to competitive match play

If your like me, life can get busy, seriously limiting your ability to get on a pickleball court and keep improving your game.

Like anything else, getting better at pickleball requires repetition, which requires spending the hours both on and off the court to work on your game.

For the amateur player who is not playing pickleball full-time, the best way to get better is to practice smarter and truly optimize your time on court.

Here is how I would spend my time if I only had two hours a week on court.

Drilling is the best bang for your buck in terms of maximizing court time

Let’s say your schedule permits you to do two one-hour sessions a week on a pickleball court. If your sole focus is to get better as quickly as possible, I would spend at least one of those two hours drilling.

When I talk with the amateur players I coach, they all tell me that it is hard to find a similar skill level player who wants to drill regularly. That makes sense to me, especially since most people don’t have a ton of time each week to play.

It is only natural that with those few precious hours you do have, you want to play competitive rec games instead of drilling.

But, for those people who want to continue to improve, drilling is the key to getting better.

Let’s break down exactly what I would do if I had an hour a week to drill. A lot of these drills are exactly what pros do when drilling.

💡

Need some new pickleball gear? Get up to 15% off select paddles, shoes, and more with code THEDINK at Midwest Racquet Sports.

First thirty minutes – focus on the kitchen

Start at the kitchen.

For ten minutes, work on the four directional dinking patterns at the kitchen for roughly 2-3 minutes each
Right side to right side dinks crosscourt, left side to left and both down the line patterns
To really maximize, add in patterns. Two dinks to the outside foot, then one to the inside foot of your opponent

Practice hitting majority top spin roll dinks but also work on shovel or flat/defensive dinks. The goal is to stay as low as possible to get your legs warmed up and engage your core.

You should be in the athletic position (feet shoulder width apart) in a medium squat the entire time. Practicing good footwork and technique is key here.

For the next ten minutes, work on speed ups with your drilling partner.

For 2-3 minutes, have your partner be across from you down the line, and one person practice speedups, both off the bounce and out of the air
Work on hitting your opponent’s right shoulder and hip (or opposite if they are lefty)
Again, utilize topspin to hit these speedups
If you are the one being sped up on, practice hitting resets to neutralize your partner’s attacks

After 2-3 minutes, switch roles (defense goes to offense, offense goes to defense). Do this for both sides.

For the final ten minutes at the kitchen, I would play mini games to four or five points. Play these games for all four positions (both cross courts and both down the lines).

Remember to stay low, and instead of trying to win the game, work on the shots you spent the first twenty minutes practicing.

Practice hitting top spin on as many shots as you can from the neutral and attacking positions and utilize defensive dinks to get the point back to neutral when you are being attacked.

The key for these last ten minutes is to simulate kitchen points, working on moving dinks around to set up opportunities to strategically attack your drilling partner.

💡

Need some new pickleball gear? Get up to 15% off select paddles, shoes, and more with code THEDINK at Midwest Racquet Sports.

Second thirty minutes – resets and drops

My pickleball alter ego isn’t Dr. Reset for no reason. Resetting is arguably the most important shot to work on if you want to improve in pickleball.

As you can see from the section above, offense is primarily played at the kitchen. The best way to get to the kitchen on a consistent basis is to execute a good reset. Therefore, resetting is the key to getting to the kitchen.

Similarly to the dinking drills above, have your drilling partner stand on the kitchen line while you stand in between the kitchen and baselines in the transition zone across from them.

For 2 minutes or so, hit as many resets as you can from both down the line and cross court from your opponent
Work on getting your butt and your paddle as low to the ground as possible, with your paddle slightly in front of you
Your first goal should be to ensure the ball clears the net
Once you are doing that consistently, aim to have the ball bounce just in front of your opponent

After 2-3 minutes, have your drilling partner switch sides and continue the drill for both down the line and cross court patterns.

If you are the person at the net, you are working on rolling the ball with top spin to your drilling partner’s feet, or around their shins. Work on reaching as far into the kitchen as you can to take balls out of the air. If you can’t reach the ball or hit a bad shot as a result, let the ball bounce and continue to find your partner’s feet with top spin.

After five minutes, switch roles (person at the net goes to transition zone to reset, and person who was resetting comes to the kitchen).

For the next ten minutes, repeat the above drill but with the back person all the way at the baseline. This person should be hitting mostly drops but can also spend a few minutes working on drives. The key with the drive is to not overswing and try to hit the drive with 100% power. Aim to hit a 75% swing, instead working on placing the drive lower over the net with a little bit of top spin. Work on alternating between driving and dropping.

For the final ten minutes, I would play seven-eleven.

With the same set up as the drills above, the person at the net has to get to eleven points before the person at the baseline or transition zone gets to seven points
If you feel like you need to work on drops and drives more, have the person who is back start on the baseline
If your resets need more work, start at the transition zone
Play as many games as you can!

Notice I am not recommending you spending a lot of time on serves and returns. While these shots are crucial in singles, I don’t think it's worth spending more than a few minutes on both. Having an unattackable serve and return is the key, so work on them until you reach that point.

Love pickleball? Then you'll love our free newsletter. We send the latest news, tips, and highlights for free each week.

Final 60 minutes – play as many games as you can

For the final hour of practice time a week, I would go out and play rec games, ideally with someone with the same skill level or slightly lower or higher.

While drilling is awesome and can deliver fast results, it is also essential to get match reps.

Playing in a match is more difficult, as nerves come into play and our decision making can become murkier as a result of wanting to win. To the best of your ability, try to break free from your normal match patterns and work on the shots you practiced while drilling. The only way to get better is to incorporate what you practice into how you play, no matter how difficult it may be to lose a match.

If your club or city has strong open plays, go to those open plays to face as many different opponents as possible. For you higher rated amateurs, find a solid group of players that you can play rec with and get together to play as much as your schedule permits.

Pickleball is a blast and so addicting because of how quickly you can level up as an amateur. Even if you only have a couple hours a week to play, utilizing the plan above can help you continue to grow. Best of luck on your pickleball journeys.

Professional pickleball player Eric Roddy has teamed up with Jittery Joe’s to release a new pickleball coffee – The Kitchen Brew. Whether you are hitting dinks or chasing dreams in the Kitchen, our medium roast gives you the perfect boost to power through every game. Start your day right, both on the court and in your cup!

You can purchase The Kitchen Brew on the Jittery Joe’s website.

Heads up: hundreds of thousands of pickleballers read our free newsletter. Subscribe here for cutting edge strategy, insider news, pro analysis, the latest product innovations and more.