5 Simple Pickleball Wall Drills to Try at Home

One of the best things about this sport is that you and your friends can play the game just about anywhere. To enjoy the game, you only need a ball and paddle.

However, to master this sport, like any other, you need to follow drills. This means constantly repeating a technique to commit it to muscle memory, so it becomes a reflex action when you’re playing an actual game.

You might not always find an experienced player to practice with you. So, you have to rely on yourself. Fortunately, you can try various pickleball wall drills on your own to up your game. To enhance your skills, here are five pickleball wall drills to try at home.

What Exactly is Pickleball?

Here is a quick rundown for the new pickleball fans who have only started looking into the sport. Pickleball is a paddle sport that every age group can play. You play it on a badminton-size court. You can enjoy singles or doubles game. It is also an excellent exercise for those who like to indulge in mild workouts to keep their bodies moving while spending time with friends.

Pickleball paddles are smaller than tennis racquets and have rounded edges to help keep the ball in play. The ball itself is similar to a Wiffle ball and is perforated, so it doesn’t bounce too high. You can can learn more about the difference between a pickleball ball vs a tennis ball here.

To score in pickleball, you must hit the ball over the pickleball net and into the opponent’s court. Players must give the ball a strike to send it over the net towards their opponent. The first team to reach 11 points wins the game, but if both teams are tied at 10 points, they will continue playing until one team has a 2-point lead.

Winning in pickleball isn’t just about hitting the ball over the net – it’s also about strategic placement. Players must use spin and lobs to keep their opponents guessing and must always be aware of where their opponents are on the court so they can anticipate their next move.

Before You Get Started – Find a Wall

You can use the basement or garage wall to start your drills. To go one step further and practice like a pro, prepare your wall to look like a pickleball court:

  1. Tape a horizontal line 36″ above the ground. This would act as the highest part of the net.
  2. The width of your net or tape can be between 6′ to 8′, so you have enough space to do your drills.
  3. Tape a horizontal line 7 feet away from the wall. This is your kitchen line.
  4. You can also tape a line from the wall to the kitchen line to split the court into left and right portions.
  5. Take an inch or two of tape and use it to mark points 12′, 17′, and 22′ feet away from the wall.

The Five Drills

Now that your ‘wall’ or court is ready, you can do any of the drills below to start practicing.

Forehand and Backhand Pickleball Wall Drills

One of the best ways to improve your forehand in pickleball is by practicing against a wall. This is because you can control the ball’s speed and spin and the height at which it hits the wall. By doing this, you can hone in on your technique and make sure that you’re hitting the sweet spot on your paddle every time.

Here’s a drill that you can try at home:

  1. Stand at the kitchen line with your feet slightly apart. If you’re right-handed, hold your paddle in your right hand. People who are left-handed should do the opposite.
  2. Do forehand dinks by hitting the ball gently against the wall, making sure that it lands between the 5 feet line and the kitchen line. This technique hones your targeted hitting skills. As you get more comfortable, increase the speed and power of your shots. Remember, you should focus your attention on the ball at all times. Try to repeat ten dinks in a row.
  3. Repeat the same procedure for backhand dinks with the same target area.
  4. Now alternate between forehand and backhand dinks, hitting the ball to land between 5 feet line and the kitchen line. Hit your ball to the left-hand court while doing the forehand, then hit it into the correct court while doing the backhand. This strengthens your cross-court dinks.

Forehand and Backhand Pickleball Wall Drills Using a Target

Now let’s add a target between the five-foot and kitchen lines to practice hitting even more precise dinks. Using tape or a marker, you can use a plastic cup to act as your target or mark the area.

  1. Stand on the kitchen line and do forehand dinks to knock down the cup. Repeat for ten dinks and count the times you knock down the cup in 1 minute.
  2. Now repeat this for backhand dinks.
  3. Now alternate between forehand and backhand dinks while repeating the same procedure.

Pickleball Wall Volley Drills

Volleys are one of the essential shots in pickleball, as they keep the rally going and put pressure on your opponent. To practice your volleys, start by hitting soft, low shots. As you get more comfortable, you can serve stronger shots.

Another drill is to alternate hitting volleys with backhand strokes – this will help keep your stroke consistent and prepare you for game situations. Volleys allow you to stay in the ready position so you can swerve off any quick shots from your opponent while also helping you rapidly move the paddle into different positions in your hand.

  1. Stand at the 5 feet line and do forehand volleys at least ten times in a row. Count how many volleys you do without allowing the ball fall off to the ground.
  2. Now repeat the forehands volley but this time stand on the kitchen line. This will be harder, so staying consistent is key to becoming a pro.
  3. Do backhand volleys by standing first on the 5 feet line and then on the kitchen line.
  4. Now do alternating forehand and backhand volleys on the 5 feet line and then on the 7 feet line.

The Overhead Smash Pickleball Wall Drill

This drill aims to work on your control and aim when hitting an overhead shot.

  1. To start, stand on the five feet line. Hit the ball with an underhand stroke, so it goes up in the air and hits the wall above your head. It should be a reasonably low shot. As the ball comes off the wall, hit it again with an overhand stroke as hard as possible. Try to ensure that you hit it in the same spot each time.
  2. Now move back to about ten feet away from the wall and continue hitting the ball overhead. The further back you are, the more challenging this drill will be. Again, focus on hitting the ball, targeting the same spot as before.

This is a great drill to improve your aim and control when hitting an overhead shot in Pickleball. By varying your distance from the wall, you can make this drill as easy or complex as you want it to be.

Pickleball Wall Two-touch Volleys Drill

If you are guilty of hitting the ball too close to the net, too hard, or too low, two-touch volley drills are a great way to get yourself out of this habit. They’ll improve your paddle control and how you touch the ball with your paddle.

Two-touch volleys will help you develop a soft touch for the ball, so you can lower your opponent’s hard-hit volley when playing a real game.

The idea is quite simple:

  1. The first drill is the “Bounce, Touch, Bounce, Touch” drill. Stand at the kitchen line and bounce the ball. Then tap it with your paddle so it bounces on the ground again before it hits the wall. Let it bounce on the ground after it rebounds from the wall before touching it with your paddle. Repeat this to get the hang of it.
  2. The second drill is “Bounce, Touch, Touch.” This is like a regular dink where you stand on the kitchen line and bounce the ball on the ground before hitting it with your paddle so it hits the wall. Don’t hit the ball too high on the wall.
  3. The third drill is “Touch, Bounce, Touch.” This is the same as the other two except that there is no bounce in the beginning, but it is rather a volley. You volley the ball to the wall, where it touches and rebounds. Let the ball bounce before hitting it back toward the wall.
  4. The fourth drill is “touch, touch.” This is a simple volley where the ball never bounces on the ground, but you keep going back and forth with the wall.

Repeating these drills will help you control your paddle easily and allow you to be swift in your movements when you play an actual game with another opponent.

pickleball wall drills

Conclusion

We hope you enjoyed these five pickleball wall drills and that they help improve your game. If you have any other drills that you swear by, you can add them to your routine too. And if you are looking for more ways to step up your pickleball game, check out our other blog posts on the subject.