You can rally, you can serve, and you still lose the long, quiet points at the kitchen line. Nobody tells you the fix is boring: you need to dink on purpose, not just when a rally happens to go soft. The best dinking drills for club players are five simple ones, run with one partner, each with a target to beat. Luca, who runs Dinkwell, plays club pickleball and co-founded South Coast Pickleball in the Illawarra, and the soft game is where club matches are won. Below you get the set-up, the steps, the target and a harder version of each.
The short version
- A dink is a soft shot from near the kitchen that lands in the opponent's kitchen, so the opponent has to hit upward.
- Five drills cover it: crosscourt, straight-on, figure 8, triangle and the dink-to-volley switch.
- Count consecutive dinks, not total dinks. One miss resets the count.
- Start with a target of ten in a row, then move to 20 once ten feels easy.
- Fifteen to 20 minutes a session is enough. Stop when your dinks start getting sloppy.
What is a dink, and why drill it?
A dink is a soft shot hit from or near the kitchen into the opponent's kitchen. A well-placed one lands low and short, so your opponent has to hit it upward instead of attacking it.
Why practise it by itself? Because the rules push the whole game toward the line. The non-volley zone extends 7 feet (2.13 m) from the net on each side, and you cannot volley inside it. If you want to read why, our guide to the pickleball kitchen rules covers every fault. Add the two-bounce rule, where the serve and the return must each bounce before anyone volleys, and most points end up with both teams at the line trading soft shots. The team that stays patient longest wins more of them.
Pickleball US publishes its own list of dinking drills with a beginner benchmark of 20 to 30 consecutive dinks. That is coaching advice, not a rule, so treat it as a target to grow into.
Before you start: the ground rules for every drill
Three habits make any drill worth the time.
- Count in a row. Say the number out loud. When someone misses, go back to zero. Why? Because a match punishes the miss, not the average.
- Keep it low. The net is 34 inches (86 cm) high in the middle and 36 inches (91 cm) at the posts. A dink that clears the tape by a hand-width is hard to attack. One that floats up is a gift.
- Stay behind the line unless the ball bounces in the kitchen. You may step in to hit a bounced ball, but once you are in, both feet have to be back out before you volley.
Drill 1: crosscourt rally
The crosscourt rally is the foundation. It is the longest path over the net, which gives you the most room for error.
- Set up. Stand at your kitchen line on one side. Your partner stands at the opposite kitchen line, on the diagonal.
- Start the rally. Drop-feed a dink to your partner's kitchen, then keep dinking crosscourt.
- Count. Both of you count consecutive dinks that land in the kitchen.
- Target. Ten in a row, then 20.
- Make it harder. Switch sides and repeat with your backhand.
Why crosscourt first? The net is lower in the middle than at the posts, and the diagonal is longer than the straight line, so the margin is bigger. Learn the rhythm here.
Drill 2: straight-on backhand rally
Most club players hide their backhand dink. This drill stops that.
- Set up. Both of you stand at the kitchen line, directly across from each other.
- Hit backhand only. Dink back and forth with your backhand, keeping every ball inside the kitchen.
- Count. Consecutive dinks, shared count.
- Target. Ten in a row.
- Make it harder. Move one step to the side after every shot, then back.
Why this matters: in a real rally, the ball is often hit to your backhand on purpose. If it is your weak side, the other team will find it.
Drill 3: figure 8
The figure 8 trains you to change direction without losing your balance.
- Set up. Both at the kitchen line. Stand on opposite diagonals, so a crosscourt dink goes to your partner's forehand side.
- Pattern. You hit crosscourt to your partner. Your partner hits straight back to you. You then hit crosscourt again, and so on, tracing an 8 on the court.
- Switch roles. After 10 exchanges, swap who goes crosscourt and who goes straight.
- Target. Ten full exchanges with no miss.
- Make it harder. Call "change" at random so the pattern flips.
Drill 4: triangle
The triangle teaches you to pick where the ball goes, not just get it over.
- Set up. Both at the kitchen line. You will aim at three spots in your partner's kitchen: straight, the middle and crosscourt.
- Pattern. Hit one dink to each spot in order: straight, middle, crosscourt. Your partner just returns each ball to you.
- Switch. After one full triangle, your partner picks the next pattern.
- Target. Three full triangles without a miss.
- Make it harder. Pick your spot silently and make your partner guess.
Why the middle? Pickleball US recommends using it to open up the sideline. A ball down the middle takes away your opponent's angles and makes them move.
Drill 5: the dink-to-volley switch
This drill teaches you the moment a dink stops being a dink.
- Set up. Both at the kitchen line. Dink back and forth as normal.
- The switch. If a dink floats up above net height, play it out of the air from behind the line. Both of you keep volleying until someone misses.
- Reset. After the point, go back to dinking.
- Target. Play five points. Win each by hitting a high ball, not a low one.
- Make it harder. Only the person who got the high ball is allowed to speed it up.
Why bother? Attacking too early is the most common reason club players lose points at the line. A ball that is above the tape is worth attacking. One that is not should be dinked back.
Which drill should you start with?
| If this is you | Start with | Target |
|---|---|---|
| New to dinking, unsure of the rhythm | Drill 1, crosscourt rally | Ten in a row |
| You avoid hitting backhand | Drill 2, straight-on backhand | Ten in a row |
| You can rally but cannot place the ball | Drill 4, triangle | Three full triangles |
| You attack too early or too late | Drill 5, dink-to-volley switch | Five points |
| You want one routine for a warm-up | Drill 3, figure 8 | Ten exchanges |
A simple plan is 15 minutes: five minutes of crosscourt, five of your weakest drill, five of the figure 8. Why short? Because dinking is a touch skill and your touch fades when you tire.
How your paddle helps with the soft game
Dinking rewards a paddle that gives you feel and does not add pop you did not ask for. Our 16 mm Dinkwell Carbon Paddle has a raw carbon fibre face on a foam core and is our control choice for players who spend most rallies at the line. Our guide to 13 mm vs 16 mm paddle thickness explains the difference in plain terms.
Common questions
How many dinks in a row is good?
Ten in a row is a sensible first target, and 20 is a strong club-level one. Pickleball US gives 20 to 30 as a beginner benchmark, but that is coaching advice, not a standard. Pick a number that is just hard enough that you miss it sometimes.
Can I practise dinking by myself?
Mostly no, because a dink needs a ball coming back. You can tap soft balls at a wall at kitchen distance, but a partner gives you a real count and real direction.
How long should a dinking session be?
Fifteen to 20 minutes of focused work is plenty. When your dinks start floating up or your count drops, stop. Sloppy reps teach the wrong habit.
Should I dink hard or soft?
Soft. The aim is to land the ball low in the kitchen so your opponent cannot attack it. Hitting harder gives them more to work with.
What to do next
If you remember one thing: count dinks in a row, and start with the drill you like least. That is where your next points are hiding. Pick one drill from the table, run it for your next three sessions, then add a second. Our 16 mm Dinkwell Carbon Paddle is the control choice for this soft game, and comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee counted from delivery. For the rules behind the line, read our kitchen rules guide next, and for the source of the 7-foot zone, see the 2026 rulebook and Pickleball US's dinking drill list.