The Pickleball Drive Crash Course: Pro Tips for Powerful Shots

The drive is one of pickleball's most important shots: it's your way to take the initiative, put pressure on your opponents, and finish points.

Jordan Briones, head coach at Briones Pickleball Academy, just dropped a masterclass on one of pickleball's most essential shots: the drive.

In a recent YouTube video, Briones walks through everything you need to know about hitting a powerful, topspin-heavy drive, even if you've never picked up a paddle before. The video is packed with technical breakdowns, on-court demonstrations, and progressive drills that actually work.

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The Grip Sets Everything in Motion

Your grip determines whether you can actually generate power or if you're just flailing around. Briones emphasizes that pro players across men's and women's doubles and singles are using an eastern grip, sometimes leaning toward semi-western. Why? Because it closes your paddle face and allows you to use pronation, that natural wrist motion that creates topspin.

The continental grip gets a bad rap, but Briones clarifies it's not inherently wrong. The catch is that during contact, you'll have to manually turn your wrist inward, which makes it harder to access that pronation motion naturally. It's a small adjustment, but it's the difference between a drive that feels effortless and one that feels forced.

Footwork and Unit Turn: Your Foundation

You can have the perfect grip, but if your feet aren't positioned right, you're already losing. Briones stresses that footwork is your main resource for creating space around the ball. The concept he introduces is the "unit turn," where your shoulders and hips rotate together as you position yourself around the incoming ball.

Whether you're using an open stance or a closed stance, the principle remains the same: get your feet around the ball and turn your shoulders.

This isn't just about looking cool; it's about setting up your body to generate power from the ground up. Briones demonstrates this by showing how he creates a semicircle of space around the ball, positioning himself close enough to make contact but far enough to swing freely.

Distance matters too. Briones recommends being within touching distance of the ball, with the contact point ideally around your left knee (for right-handed players). This is where you'll get the most power and control.

The Swing Path: Drop Below, Swing Up

You don't need to start your swing high above your head. Briones shows that the key is dropping your paddle below the ball at some point during your swing, then accelerating through and forward. He sets up at a middle height, then swings down and through the ball, finishing high above his left shoulder.

Think of it like a golf swing. You're swinging up to the ball, not down at it. This upward motion is what creates topspin and keeps the ball in the court. The follow-through is crucial too; Briones finishes with his paddle high, which ensures he's completing the motion properly.

Power Comes From Your Legs, Not Your Wrist

A lot of players think power comes from extreme wrist lag or a wrist flick. Nope. "Your power starts in the legs and it comes from that rotation," Briones says.

When you load your legs and rotate your core and hips quickly, your arm and wrist naturally lag behind. This isn't something you're manufacturing; it's a byproduct of good mechanics. The best players stay loose and relaxed, letting their wrist do what it naturally does rather than forcing it. Briones demonstrates this by showing how his wrist feels completely relaxed even though he's generating serious power.

Stop thinking about your wrist. Focus on getting low, rotating your hips and core, and letting everything else follow naturally.

Forward Momentum Wins Games

One thing Briones is still working on, even as a pro coach, is maintaining forward momentum through the shot. It's easy to lean backward if you're not creating enough space or if you're not aware of your body position. But when you're hitting a solid drive, your weight should be moving forward toward your target, not away from it.

This is subtle but important. You're not just hitting the ball; you're finishing your drive moving in the direction you want it to go. It's the difference between a drive that lands short and one that lands deep.

The Progressive Drill System

Briones doesn't just talk theory. He shows exactly how to practice drives in a way that actually builds the skill. The progression goes like this:

Static feeds first. Have a partner toss easy balls directly in front of you. Your job isn't to hit yet; it's to work on your unit turn, get a stable base, and catch the ball where you want to hit it. This builds muscle memory for positioning.

Moving feeds next. Now your partner tosses balls to different locations, forcing you to adjust your feet and spacing. You're still working on footwork and contact point, but with more variables.

Realistic feeds from the baseline. Your partner hits balls from the baseline like they're returning a serve. These come faster, so you have less time to set up. This is where you start focusing on footwork, spacing, and balance under pressure.

Full rallies. Finally, you're rallying baseline to baseline at full pace. Start with medium intensity and gradually increase as you get more comfortable.

This progression is genius because it isolates the skills you need before throwing everything at you at once. Too many players skip straight to full rallies and wonder why their drives fall apart.

Taking It to The Court

What makes Briones's approach refreshing is that he's not selling you a secret technique or a magic paddle. He's breaking down the fundamentals in a way that makes sense, then showing you exactly how to practice them.

Whether you're a beginner trying to figure out how to drive the ball or an intermediate player looking to add more power and consistency, there's something here for you.

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