How to Find ‘Moments of Advantage’ in Pickleball

Amateurs often focus on winning points during a match. But pickleball isn't always that simple. According to Kyle "ThatPickleballGuy" Koszuta, high-level players should instead focus on moments of advantage and opportunities that eventually lead to points.

Here’s how.

#1 - Finding a moment of advantage on a serve

When you're serving, and a player puts their hand behind their back, signaling to their partner, you can assume they will switch positions.

This means the person returning the serve has to run all the way to the other half of the court to take their place at the kitchen line.

A pro sees this as an opportunity to create a moment of advantage.

Your goal for this serve should be to make the returner run out wide, creating more distance between himself and his destination. Look at the picture below.

In this situation, you should aim your serve toward the right sideline. That alone will create a moment of advantage on your third shot.

On the third, drive the ball toward the running opponent. Sometimes, you'll get an easy point like this:

But even if they get it back, it will likely be an easy ball for you to handle, and your path to the kitchen is so much easier thanks to that moment you created.

In pickleball, winning a point on a serve is hard, but you can always use your serve to try to set up an advantage later in the point.

By the way, Kyle Koszuta was a recent guest on the PicklePod. Watch here:

#2 - Watch for opportunities

If you see your opponent in this position, how should you respond?

If you're a 4.0 or below, you might not think much of it. In fact, you may not even notice it when it happens.

A high-level player recognizes this as an opportunity to either rush to the kitchen (if they are back) or put their paddle in a high attacking position (if they're already at the kitchen line).

They don't need to sit and watch where this ball goes. They already know it will result in a rising and very attackable next ball. By getting into a better position, they’ve taken advantage of this opportunity and can now focus on hitting a winner on their next shot.

If you'd like to learn more about ThatPickleballGuy and what he teaches, tune into the PicklePod on Monday (subscribe here). Also, check out this full video on Kyle's YouTube channel.