Clinic Recap: Aggressive vs. Soft Game — When to Use Each Style

What a fun clinic in December!
We worked on both the aggressive game and the soft game to show how each style creates a completely different type of point. When you play aggressively, you probably noticed how quickly the ball comes back at you — but you also felt how much leverage it gives you to overpower your opponent.

On the other hand, when you slow the game down, you gain more time to think, move forward, and get to the net without rushing. That extra moment lets you picture the shot you want to hit next.

Here’s a quick recap of why we practiced certain shots and how each one connects to either the aggressive or soft game.

Aggressive Approach to the Net

When we worked on the aggressive approach, your drives — including your third shots — were fast and full of energy. That pace forced your opponents to react quickly, and in many cases it made the net player lift the ball, giving you an easier put-away.

A key detail was aiming your aggressive drive toward the hip area. That spot is one of the hardest for opponents to handle. When you hit shoulder-high drives, the net player can attack the ball more easily, but hip-level shots often force them to pop it up — which sets you up to win the point.

Defending the Drive

For the players at the net, the main focus was blocking or counter-punching those fast incoming shots. The best way to handle pace is to bend lower, keep your eyes level with the ball, and let the ball meet the paddle instead of taking a big swing.

Defending against fast drives doesn’t need to be complicated. Stay compact, stay calm, and either punch the ball back or simply reflect it. The goal is control, not power.

Mid-Court Drive vs. Mid-Court Reset

Another drill we worked on was driving from the mid-court at the feet of the player standing in the mid-court. This helped you focus on hitting a very specific target, which made your approach easier because the opponent had to hit a tougher, faster reply.

The mid-court reset was more challenging for some of you — which is completely normal. Resetting from mid-court is one of the hardest skills in pickleball. Some of you found it easier to move forward and take a volley reset instead of waiting for the bounce, which is often the better option when you’re still getting comfortable.

By the end of the drill, all of you became much more confident with both the reset and the approach shot from mid-court.

Full-Court Game Play

At the end of our lesson, we played some points as well as 1-vs-2 games. In those games, many of you realized that hitting fast isn’t always the answer — but it is a good option to have. Hitting fast speeds up the point, but it doesn’t always put you in the right position when you’re trying to get to the net.

When you slowed the game down, you noticed it was less stressful to get to the kitchen and gave you a better chance to set up the next shot. The soft game bought you time, helped your footwork, and let you control the point.

That’s all for this pickleball clinic recap — great job, everyone, and we’ll see you next time!