Rate Your Real Pickleball Skill Level with These 3 Simple On-Court Assessments

Plateaus happen because players don't know what to work on. These three assessments solve that problem.

If you've hit a plateau in your pickleball game, you're not alone. Many players find themselves stuck, unsure of their actual skill level or what to work on next.

The good news? You don't need a fancy coach or expensive equipment to figure it out. Jordan Briones from Briones Pickleball Academy has created three simple, measurable assessments that'll show you exactly where you stand and what parts of your game need attention most.

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The Return Assessment: Your Foundation

Your return of serve is everything. It's the first shot you control, and if you can't get it deep, you're already playing from behind.

Here's how to test yourself.

Set up a marker or cone in the middle of the transition zone on the opposite court. This gives you a visual target for depth.
You'll hit 10 returns crosscourt from the even side, 10 from the odd side, and 10 straight down the line. That's 30 total returns.

The catch? Your returns have to land past that marker and on the correct side of the court. Short returns don't count. Wide returns don't count.

You're measuring accuracy and depth together, which is exactly what matters in a real match.

Once you've finished all three sets, add up your successful returns and divide by 30. That's your return percentage. Briones scored 76% across his three attempts, which he noted is solid but improvable.

Your number tells you whether your return game is a strength or a weakness that needs work.

The Transition Assessment: Getting to the Net

Pickleball is won at the net, not from the baseline. The transition assessment measures how often you actually make it there.

You'll need a partner at your skill level.

They start at the non-volley zone and feed you a relatively deep ball
From there, you choose either a drive or a drop
Your goal isn't to win the point in one shot
Your goal is to reach the non-volley zone line and establish your feet there, even if it takes multiple shots

Again, you'll test three directions:

Crosscourt even-to-even, odd-to-odd, and straight down the line. Ten attempts each, 30 total. Count how many times you successfully make it to the net.

Briones scored 83% on this assessment, which he called a solid baseline.

The beauty of this test is that it doesn't penalize you for taking extra shots. It rewards you for the actual goal: getting to the net where you can control the rally.

The Dink Assessment: Consistency Under Pressure

Dinking is the heartbeat of modern pickleball. This assessment measures how many dinks you can hit in a row while keeping your opponent below net level.

Start on the even side and dink with a partner
The key rule: you're only counting the dinks you hit, not the ones your opponent hits
Every time you touch the ball, that's one dink
The rally ends when someone misses or when your opponent takes the ball above net level

The goal isn't a specific number. The goal is consistency and control.

You want to force your opponent to contact the ball low, which limits their attacking options. Briones hit 15-plus dinks in his demonstration, showing that when you're hitting quality dinks, your opponent stays pinned down.

Test yourself on all three sides: even, odd, and down the line. Down the line is trickier because you have less court to work with, so your swing speed and control need to be dialed in.

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What These Numbers Actually Mean

Once you've completed all three assessments, you've got a real snapshot of your game. You know your return percentage, your transition success rate, and your dinking consistency.

Here's what matters: these aren't one-time tests.

You can repeat them multiple times to track improvement
You can test against different partners to see how your game holds up under different pressure
You can identify which assessment is your weakest link and focus your practice there

The assessments also reveal your playing style. If you're driving your way to the net instead of dropping, that's useful information. If your dinking is solid but your returns are weak, you know where to spend your court time.

Plateaus happen because players don't know what to work on. These three assessments solve that problem. They're simple enough to do on any court with a partner, and they give you concrete numbers to chase.