Hey there, it’s your coach Jordan Briones.
At higher levels of pickleball, you’re not going to get any free points. Nobody is going to hand you easy balls or make unforced errors that let you cruise through rallies. You actually have to create offense yourself to set you and your partner up for offensive opportunities.
Most recreational and intermediate players wait for something obvious before they attack. They’re looking for a ball at shoulder height or a floater that screams attack me. But that’s not how the game works at advanced levels.
The truth is, you have to manufacture small advantages during the point. You have to move your opponents around, force uncomfortable positions, and capitalize on subtle openings that most players don’t even recognize.
Today I’m going to break down two specific plays that high level players use all the time to create offense. These aren’t trick shots or complicated patterns. They’re simple, repeatable plays that work because they put your opponent in bad positions and set you up to control the rally.
How to Master the Two Key Rolls That Control the Rally
1. Turn a Wide Roll Into an Offensive Backhand Flick
The first play starts with rolling your opponent out wide toward the outside sideline.
What I’m looking for is a dead dink or something manageable where I can hit an offensive ball toward the outside sideline. Once I do that, I immediately lean middle. I get my left foot really close to the center line and I lean in for my backhand flick.
This play works extremely well at pro level play because when you roll someone out wide, whether they’re a right handed player or a left handed player, they’re usually going to reset the ball back toward the middle. That’s their highest percentage option when they’re stretched and off balance.
This is why it’s so important for me to lean over, drop my paddle tip down, and look for something a little bit high. If I can find that ball, I can initiate offense from there.
The key is understanding what happens after you roll someone out wide. If I can get a good roll on my dink and I hit it with pace, that will either force them to half volley the ball or make them shuffle out and move their feet. When that happens, they don’t have many options. They’re going to hit it back toward the middle because there’s an Ernie threat on the sideline and they can’t leave the ball out there.
That’s where me leaning in and putting pressure becomes really effective.
One thing that makes this pattern even more effective is using your inside dinks first to pull your opponent in before you pull them off the court.
If I can pull them in a little bit toward the middle, then I can actually pull them out wide. Now I have more room and space to work with toward that sideline. This really works best when you’re mixing in your dinks crosscourt and also toward their inside foot.
That variety is what creates the opening. If you just keep hitting crosscourt, crosscourt, crosscourt, your opponent knows what’s coming. But when you mix in that inside dink and then go back out wide, you’re moving them around and creating the space you need to set up your backhand flick.
2. Roll to the Inside Foot and Take Control with Your Forehand
The second play that high level players use all the time is specifically effective for right handed players playing the left side.
As a left side player and a right handed player, I want to do my best to get as many balls in the middle of the non volley zone as possible. Why is that? Because I can be very aggressive with my topspin dinks and my speed ups from that position.
One of the plays I love using is rolling with my backhand to the inside foot of the crosscourt player.
When we’re talking about the inside foot, that’s the foot that’s closer to the center of the court. If I can get my roll to bounce, they will typically reset that ball toward the middle of the court. And then I can start to control the rally with my forehand.
Whether my opponent is a right handed player or a left handed player, if I can either push them off the line or cause a half volley with a good topspin dink, I know something dead will be coming back more toward the middle. Then I can take control from there.
Just like the first play, it’s really important that I set up that inside ball with some crosscourt dinks first. Crosscourt dinks are still really efficient. I can pull them out there and then I can set up that inside dink. Now I can start to control the point.
A common pattern would look like this. They dink me crosscourt. I roll them out wide. Then I roll them to the inside foot. Now I get that dead dink coming back to the middle.
That’s all I’m looking for in high level play. We’re looking for very small advantage points during the rally. I don’t need a ball up at my shoulders to gain advantage. If I just receive that dead dink, I can now roll it out again and still put my opponent on defense, which allows me to continue attacking.
Train Patterns with Purpose to Control Every Rally
Now that you understand these plays, I want to show you how to train them so they become automatic.
The first exercise is moving the ball out wide and then moving it toward the inside foot. You’re going to alternate each and every time. This is really important for accuracy and placement.
Have your partner dink toward the middle of the court so you can work on taking advantage with your forehand. Whether you dink it to their inside foot or out wide, you’re working on control and taking control of the rally with your forehand.
One really important tip at higher levels is to lean in between dinks and make sure you’re ready to attack. If you can get a good roll and force your opponent to let it bounce, your posture and your paddle should be out in front leaning. You’re looking for that opportunity to initiate offense right away.
If you don’t get it on the next one, adjust your feet. Then look to apply offense again.
The next exercise is the same thing but on the backhand side. Your partner hits it toward your backhand and you’re looking to roll out wide and then looking to roll toward that inside foot.
This is something that’s going to really help your accuracy and your shot placement and can set you up to win a lot of points.
It’s really important here that you give yourself enough space, especially if you’re using a two handed backhand, and that you’re getting really low. The other thing you need to understand is that your topspin dinks will only be effective or at their max potential if they’re bouncing.
If you hit your topspin dink and your opponent is easily taking it out of the air, it’s not going to be as effective. So it’s really important to make sure that you’re practicing these dinks so that they’re actually bouncing on the floor.
Once you practice both the forehand side and the backhand side, you can put everything together.
Now you’re working on these placements inside foot and out wide, but your partner doesn’t know where you’re going. Your main thing is leaning in between rolls, setting your feet early, and trying to find something offensive to roll again each and every time.
You’re moving the ball around. And what you’ll notice is the quality of your dinks matters. If you can roll it with more spin and force your opponent to hit a half volley, you’re going to get more dead dinks with higher and higher apexes. That’s really what you’re looking for so that you can either roll out again or continue to attack and speed up.
My Honest Take
At higher levels, offense doesn’t just happen. You create it.
You create it by moving your opponents around. You create it by forcing them into uncomfortable positions. You create it by recognizing small advantages and capitalizing on them immediately.
These two plays work because they put your opponent in bad spots and give you predictable responses that you can attack. When you roll someone out wide, they’re going back to the middle. When you roll someone to the inside foot, they’re resetting to the middle.
Once you know that, you can position yourself to take advantage every single time.
Practice these patterns. Train the footwork. Work on your accuracy. And start recognizing those small advantage points during your rallies.
That’s how you create offense at higher levels.
See you on the courts,
Coach Jordan Briones
