You may ask yourself, what shot is this? I am hoping that the name I’ve coined, the “Dining Room Shot”, catches on and becomes a common term used in pickleball.

There is the “third shot drop”, where the ball lands in your opponent’s kitchen. In many homes, the dining room is right next to the kitchen. So a shot that lands 1 to 3 feet beyond the kitchen would land in the “Dining Room” - thus the “Dining Room Shot”. The dining room shot requires a slight variation to the third shot drop. The good news is that the dining room shot has a larger window to hit the ball through so it’s even easier than hitting the drop shot from your baseline.

The dining room shot can be very effective against the vast majority of players from the 2.0 to 4.0 skill levels.

The objective of the shot is to keep the ball in play while forcing your opponent into hitting a low volley or half volley. The target area for the shot forces your opponents into hitting a ball that is below the net and descending. These low balls will present a challenge for most players.

The dining room shot is a blend of the drop shot and drive. Often, players have not developed a drop shot, so hitting their drive with less pace will result in a ball that gets over the net and is still low to your opponents. Balls lower than the net force your opponents to hit up on the ball making it a difficult ball to put away. Part of the strategy behind the dining room shot is to give you a larger margin of error.

A normal point is when your opponents hit their return of serve and move forward. They will be transitioning to their NVZ line and many players cannot get all the way there in time. The dining room shot is perfect for this situation, since it travels low or even to the feet of the opponent. It is more effective in the beginning to intermediate levels of play, but can also be used at advanced levels. Regardless of level, this shot is still a difficult one to put away.