The 4.5 Hump
There is one key ingredient that will get you over the hump
In today’s Bite Size Pickleball newsletter:
The 4.5 Hump
A well-placed product placement
THE 4.5. HUMP
OK, so, best case scenario: Satan gets out of hell and starts playing pickleball. Being Satan, he obviously starts out just slamming the balls as hard as he can and chuckling whenever he bodybags someone. Yup, Satan thinks he’s got it made. But then, some old grannies come along and dink him, and his ilk, to death.
So Satan dies again and is reborn in the shape of the Terminator (?), who also got his ass kicked by a pair of dinking old grannies. BTW, no offense to you if you are a grandmother, just riffing here. Oh wait, did I say the word riffing? We interrupt this newsletter for a very important product placement.
Oh, just go buy it so I can continue. Or maybe get it for a friend?
So, Satan dies a wicked dinking death, goes back to his horrid cave and tries to figure out how he can reemerge as a better pickleball player. With a little time on the court, Satan was able to get to the 4.0 level, being the fiery athlete he is. But then he, along with every other 4.0 player, hits the roadblock known as 4.5.
Before you hit 4.5, number one, you need to learn to hit LESS unforced errors. And you need to have an all-around knowledge of the game, and a few different tools at your disposal. But the one tool you don’t yet have is the tool all 4.5 and up players need. That’s a solid, CONSISTENT short game. Third shot drops, resets, and dinks, CONSISTENTLY.
I play with a bunch of players in the 4.0-4.5 range. Many are very competent, and most hit really hard. But when you get them up to the net, and start dinking with them, the big, brawny dudes tighten up. I can see the looks on their faces, “Oh sh*t, dinking? I don’t need no stinkin’ dinkin’!” But you absolutely do if you want to rise about 4.5, and you need to be good at, and actually learn to enjoy the art of the dink, rather than let it make you TILT.
If you find yourself getting tense when the dinking starts, there is only ONE THING that will get you over the 4.5 hump. That one thing is DRILLING. There is no way around that if you want to rise about the 4.5 level. Because you won’t feel comfortable trying to dink, reset and drop much in rec play. You won’t feel secure enough to. For example, you may get in a couple of dinks (three at most) and then revert back to attack mode, often trying to attack from too low of a ball, and slamming into the net. That is the M.O. of a 4.0 player. And it ain’t ever going to change unless you…
Get thee to the practice court. I can’t say that enough.
I have been lucky enough to have found a partner who loves to drill the past couple of months and I have really used the time to shore up my short game. If you want to stop getting washed ashore by the better players, you’d be wise to get out and drill yourself. Otherwise, you’re going to be stranded on 4.0 Island for the rest of your existence.
