Resets: How to Avoid Missing Deep in Pickleball

Top 5 Pro Player James Ignatowich

Hey guys, this is James Ignatowich, and today I’m going to cover how to miss deep when you hit resets, instead of missing high or hitting into the net. Remember, the goal of a reset is to neutralize your opponent’s attack by hitting a soft shot that lands in the kitchen, forcing them to hit upwards and reducing their offensive advantage. But you can’t always execute perfectly, so let’s learn how to miss.

First off, you obviously shouldn’t miss into the net because if you do, you’re out of the point. But you also shouldn’t miss high because if you give yourself too much margin for error with height, your opponent will be making contact above their shoulder (Figure 1). This is especially detrimental in men’s doubles, as it’s the last thing you want.

Figure 1. Arrow shows hitting the ball too high

I believe you should give yourself a margin for error as it relates to depth, meaning you should aim to miss deep, so to speak. For example, when you hit a reset, you want it to bounce inside the kitchen, right? That’s obvious, we know that.

But if you can’t pull that off, you should try to miss it just past the kitchen line (Figure 2) while maintaining a low trajectory, so you don’t get crushed. The opponent will still either be hitting up on the ball or making a pretty flat return.

Figure 2. Arrow shows the ball going long (out of the kitchen), but it stays low so that opponent can’t smash it.

However, if you aim too high and miss by 3 feet, they will probably smash it too hard.

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James Ignatowich is a top 10 professional pickleball player originally from Connecticut, now residing in Delray Beach, Florida. A former Division 1 tennis player at Vanderbilt University, James made a transition to pickleball, quickly rising to prominence in the sport and often playing doubles with Tyson McGuffin and Anna Bright. In addition to his athletic achievements, he runs his own podcast, where he shares insights into the game and interviews other professionals. jamesignatowichnewsletter | PPA | MLP | My paddle