Pickleball · Third shot · Drives

Third-shot drive and fifth-shot drop

The serving team drives the third shot low to force a weak reply, then drops the fifth shot and moves up to the kitchen.

Start / 6

Setup

Doubles: the serving pair (A1, A2) starts at the baseline; the receiving pair (B1, B2) starts in normal receiving positions.
Everyone wears protective eyewear, because the drive and the reply come quickly.

A1 serves; B2 returns deep and moves up to join B1 at the kitchen line.
The return must bounce. A1 or A2 then drives the third shot low and firm, aiming at a receiver's feet or hip, never at the head.
After the serve and the return have bounced, either team may volley, so the receivers can block or volley the drive or let it bounce.
When the fourth shot comes back, the serving pair plays a soft fifth-shot drop into the kitchen and moves up behind it.
Play the point out. After five points, swap serving and receiving pairs.

Drive with a compact swing and a little topspin so the ball dips below the receivers' paddles.
Aim low: a drive at the feet forces the receivers to lift the fourth shot.
Watch the fourth shot: a high, weak reply is the cue to drop and come forward together.
On the drop, a slow, low-to-high swing; move in only once the drop is clearly unattackable.

Say it: “Drive low, drop and go.”

The receiving team may attack any fifth shot that bounces above knee height.
The serving pair must call "drive" or "drop" before the third shot, and the call decides the shot.

Start the point with a coach's hand-fed return instead of a serve.
Play it 2 v 1, with one receiver at the kitchen line, until the timing is settled.

Reviewed by the Sportdify coaching team.