Hey there, it’s your coach Jordan Briones.
I want to be upfront with you about something. I am not a tennis player. Never have been. So when it comes to the forehand drive, I don’t have that background that a lot of players lean on. I’ve had to build this shot from scratch — and recently I’ve been putting in serious work to make my third shot drive sharper, more consistent, and harder to deal with.
Along the way, I’ve identified three things that make the biggest difference. Not ten things. Not a complicated checklist. Just three fundamentals that, when you clean them up, make everything else fall into place.
And I’ve got three drills to go with them that you can work through with a partner in under ten minutes.
Let’s get into it.
Get Your Grip Right First to Master the Forehand Drive
Before we even talk about footwork or rotation, let’s talk about the grip — because if this is wrong, nothing else is going to give you what you’re looking for.
For a forehand drive with real topspin, you want to be in an eastern or semi-eastern grip. Not a continental. A continental grip makes it incredibly difficult to brush up on the ball and generate topspin, which is exactly what you need on this shot.
If you’re not sure where your grip is right now, this is the first thing to check. Shift your hand slightly toward the eastern position and feel how it naturally closes the paddle face just a bit at contact. That’s what allows you to swing through the ball from low to high and put real rotation on it.
Get this right first. Everything else builds on top of it.
3 Fundamentals That Make Your Forehand Drive Sharper and More Consistent
Key One: Footwork and Spacing That Sets the Whole Shot Up
This is the one I’ve been working on the hardest, and honestly it’s where most players are losing the most ground without realizing it.
Here’s what tends to happen. The ball comes in, a player rushes toward it, and they end up crowding it — contact happens too close to the body, there’s no room to swing, and the result is either a weak shot or something that pops up and gets punished.
What you actually need is space. Deliberate, intentional space between your body and the ball.
The contact point on your forehand drive should be well out in front of your hips and noticeably to the right of your center — not tucked in close to your body. When you create that space, your swing has room to accelerate through the ball properly, and your weight can move forward rather than pulling back or floating up.
One thing that helped me click on this: when your footwork is right, the momentum naturally flows forward. When your footwork is off, you compensate with your upper body — and that’s when you start seeing upward or backward movement through the shot instead of driving forward cleanly.
Get to the ball early. Create space. Let the swing happen instead of forcing it.
Key Two: Staying Low Through the Entire Shot, Not Just at Setup
A lot of players get low to prepare. That part they understand. But then they pop up during the swing — the legs straighten out early, the body rises, and suddenly their pickleball forehand drive technique turns into a floating shot instead of a powerful drive.
This is something I’ve had to consciously work on. The goal is to stay low all the way through the shot. Your knees stay bent through contact. Your body doesn’t rush toward the kitchen line until after you’ve fully committed to the swing.
Why does this matter so much? Because staying low keeps the ball low. A forehand drive that floats up — even just a little — gives your opponent time to react and takes away everything that makes the shot dangerous. You want it skimming low over the net with heavy topspin, not sitting up in the air giving them an easy read.
Stay bent. Stay through it. Finish the shot before you move.
Key Three: Full Body Rotation from Hips Through Shoulders to Finish
This is where the real power comes from — and it’s also where I’ve had the most work to do.
A lot of players, myself included at times, have a habit of stopping the rotation too early. The hips start to turn, the shoulders start to open, and then everything just kind of stalls out before the swing fully completes. What you get is a shot powered mostly by the arm and wrist — and there’s a ceiling on how much you can do with that.
What you want instead is a full, complete rotation. Left shoulder loaded at the start of the backswing with the left hand out in front for balance. Then as you swing through, the hips clear, the shoulders follow, and the paddle finishes high — over the left shoulder.
That finish position is not just cosmetic. It’s actually what drives the topspin and the power on the shot. If your follow-through is stopping low or going in a different direction, you’re leaving pace and spin on the table. Get that paddle all the way up and over the left shoulder on every single rep.
Also worth noting: your elbow position during the swing — whether slightly bent like Ben Johns or a bit straighter — is less critical than getting clean contact out in front and swinging upward through the ball. Don’t overthink the elbow. Focus on the contact point and the finish.
3 Drills to Improve Your Forehand Drive: Spacing, Low Stance, and Early Prep
Drill One: The Catch Drill to Fix Your Spacing and Contact Point
This one sounds simple, but it’s incredibly effective — especially if your contact point has been inconsistent.
Your partner tosses the ball out in front of you while you’re in your ready position. Instead of swinging, you literally catch it. Right where your contact should be — out in front, to the right of your hips.
That’s it. You catch it and freeze. Look at where your hands are. That’s your contact zone.
After a few catches straight on, your partner starts varying the feed — left, right, a little deeper — and you have to move your feet to catch it in the same spot every time. This is where amateurs get exposed. The ball moves and the feet don’t follow, so contact ends up all over the place. This drill is excellent for developing proper pickleball forehand drive technique, training your feet to chase the contact point no matter where the ball goes.
Do this until catching the ball in the right spot feels completely automatic.
Drill Two: Toss Feed Drives Focused on Staying Low and Following Through
Now you’re actually hitting. Your partner stands on the other side and toss feeds you forehand drives one at a time.
Your two jobs: stay low through the entire swing, and finish high over your left shoulder. That’s it. Don’t think about anything else. Let those two checkpoints guide every rep.
Pay attention to what happens to the ball when you do it right. It should come off the paddle with heavy topspin and stay low over the net. That’s your feedback. If the ball is floating, your low-to-high path needs more attention.
If you’re losing control, check whether you’re coming up too early out of your stance.
Take your reps deliberately. Don’t rush through them. Quality over quantity here.
Drill Three: Varied Feed Drives to Train Early Preparation Under Pressure
This is the most realistic of the three drills and the one that ties everything together.
Your partner feeds you from across the transition zone — but now they’re mixing it up. Some balls have slice on them. Some have topspin. Some are a little higher. Some come to your left and force you to move around the ball to hit a forehand.
Your job is to read the ball early, prepare early, get your feet set, and drive it cleanly on every feed.
This is the drill that exposes where your preparation breaks down. If you’re waiting too long to read the ball, you’ll be late. If your footwork isn’t adjusting, your contact point will drift. The drill forces you to bring everything together — grip, footwork, staying low, full rotation — under the kind of varied conditions you actually face in a real game.
Early preparation is everything on the forehand drive. I cannot emphasize this enough. The players who drive the ball well aren’t reacting at the last second. They’re reading early, setting up early, and executing with confidence.
Final Thoughts – Build a Forehand Drive That Actually Holds Up in a Game
I’m still working on this shot. That’s the truth. But here’s what I know for sure after putting in the reps.
When the footwork is right, everything else gets easier. When you stay low and commit to the shot, the ball stays low. And when you rotate all the way through with a full finish, the power and the spin show up without having to muscle the ball.
You don’t need a tennis background to develop a great forehand drive in pickleball. You just need to understand what the shot actually requires and put in focused, deliberate practice.
Work through these three drills. Catch the ball in the right spot. Toss feed until the mechanics feel natural. Then put it under pressure with varied feeds and make your adjustments.
Nine minutes of this done consistently will change your drive more than hours of mindless rallying.
See you on the courts,
Coach Jordan Briones
