6 Pro-Endorsed Drills You Can Use Now to Reach 5.0 and Beyond

Go find a court and put in the work – the formula works because it's built on thousands of hours of real court time, not theory

Tanner Tomassi spent two years grinding on Florida courts to reach 5.0 level play; now he's one of the internet's top pickleball content creators... when he's not winning gold medals on the APP Tour.

Lucky for you, he's distilled that journey into six essential drills that'll transform your game. If you're serious about leveling up, here's the exact progression he used to go from 4.0 to elite status.

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Start Every Session with Straight-Ahead Dinking

The foundation of everything is controlling the kitchen line.

Tanner kicks off every practice with a straight-ahead dink game that includes speedups, and this single drill is responsible for more improvement than anything else he did.

Why? Because it forces you to take balls out of the air, lean into the kitchen, and steal time from your opponent. You're not just hitting dinks; you're learning court positioning and decision-making under pressure.

Play games to 11 points (or 5 if you're short on time), and focus on smart decisions over flashy shots. Tanner did this drill twice a day for hours when he first moved to Florida, and it shows in his comfort level at the net.

Master Crosscourt Dinking Without Speedups

About 99% of pickleball is crosscourt dinking, so you need to be able to hang comfortably for long rallies. This drill strips away the speedups and forces pure consistency.

The goal is hitting 100 shots in a row without an error. Think of it as cooperative rather than competitive. Mix in different techniques: slices, two-handed rolls, aggressive dinks, and taking balls out of the air.

Keep everything soft and controlled, like you're in a tournament. Don't rip winners off dinks. This builds the muscle memory and court sense you'll need when matches get tight.

Handle Aggressive Dinks with a Slice Cut

When your opponent has a super aggressive dink they can hit winners on, the answer isn't to block it back. Instead, step to the middle, lean in, and slice cut it out of the air.

Top players like Ben Johns and Hayden Patrick do this constantly. The more aggressively your opponent hits, the more it floats back, giving you a flick opportunity. It's a simple adjustment that completely neutralizes a dangerous shot.

Cover the Middle Comfortably and Effectively

The middle line isn't a force field, but a lot of amateurs treat it like one. This drill teaches you to step across and cover that space without hesitation.

Have your partner pull you wide with a dink, then speed up down the middle. You respond by hitting one back out wide, and they speed up again. It's a five-rep exchange where you're constantly moving and adjusting.

The key is getting comfortable stepping across the middle line and reacting quickly. In matches, this happens constantly, so drilling it builds automatic responses.

Deal with Bangers and Chaotic Speedups

Not everyone plays pretty pickleball. Some players drive hard and crash the net, creating chaos. You need to handle that without panicking.

Set up with one player at the baseline and one at the kitchen line. Feed a ball, and the baseline player drives it hard and comes in. You have to punch back and handle the speed without dropping it.

This creates game-like scenarios that actually happen in tournaments. It's way better than softly feeding balls in practice, because you're training your hands and instincts for real pressure.

Build Fast Hands with the Dead Dink Speedup

This is Tanner's personal favorite, and it's solely responsible for his quick hands. Both players start at the kitchen line. One player gives a dead dink, and the other has to speed it up to start a hands battle.

You can stay on the line, back up, or move wherever you need. The point is inducing a fast-paced exchange and playing it out. The more you do this, the better your hands get, especially your ability to read and react to the ball.

It's simple, it's effective, and it's the closest thing to a magic drill for hand speed development.

The Real Secret Is Consistency

Tanner didn't become a 5.0 player by doing these drills once. He did them religiously, multiple times a day, for two years straight. That's the part nobody wants to hear, but it's the truth.

Pick these six drills, commit to a schedule, and watch your game transform. The formula works because it's built on thousands of hours of real court time, not theory.

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