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Stacking--Why and How

10/20/2018

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PicturePhoto by Johnson Wang at Unsplash.com.
If you've had an opportunity to watch a tournament and saw stacking in action, you may have wondered why the players were moving around the court, standing together, or standing outside the court completely. If you're curious about stacking and how and when to incorporate it into your game, read on.

Stacking is used during tournament play to exploit a team's strength and minimize its weakness. The technique increases the number of times a person plays on the right (even) or left (odd) side of the court.

According to the rules, the non-serving partner or the receiver's partner may stand in any position (even off the court), as long as they stay on their side of the net. Therefore, both team members may stand inside their service court, and partner of the person receiving the serve may stand outside the court at the time of the serve. 

Some examples may help explain how and why stacking works, and why you might want to try it.

Picture
1) Backhands in the center. Judy is right-handed and her partner, John, is left-handed. They don't like having both backhands in the middle, so when Judy serves, they stack. Both partners stand in the right service box until she serves. Then Judy moves to the left side of the court, while John stays put. At the end of the rally, they switch sides again, so they will be in their correct places for the next service. (Note: If Judy is uncomfortable with John standing so close, he can wait outside the service box until Judy moves.)

2) Strong or weak forehand or backhand. If partners are like-handed, but one or both have strengths or weaknesses that could be exploited, they could use stacking to their advantage. Right-handed Gloria has an average forehand, while her right-handed partner, Diane, has a forehand that is exceptionally strong. Diane would rather play in the left court to cover the middle and take advantage of her forehand strength. The same would be true for a partner with a weak backhand. When players are like-handed, putting a weak backhand in the right court with a strong forehand in the left court just makes sense.
Picture
3) When receiving. The players in example 1 above are receiving the serve. Judy is the receiver, and John would normally be up at the non-volley-zone line in the left court. However, since John would rather be on the right, he stands outside the sideline, just behind the non-volley zone line on the right. ​After Judy returns the service, John moves in, and Judy rushes to the non-volley-zone line on the left.

Stacking isn't something you must do, but it can help your team play better and more consistently. You can choose to stack during only a portion of the game. Stacking can confuse your opponents and is sometimes good as a way to change things up. 

If you understand what stacking is and how your team (and your opponents) can use it, you'll have an advantage over those who don't.

​Happy stacking!

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Backhand Techniques

11/16/2014

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Picture
The picture on the left shows the backhand stroke Vic started with. The paddle swings through fairly flat, parallel to the ground. Vic hits the ball forward of his body with his wrist locked through the entire swing. 
As with all strokes from the baseline, it is important to make room for the shot: step back or forward, as necessary, in preparation for the movement of the shot itself. ​
Backhand Techniques
A while ago, I wrote an article for the USAPA newsletter discussing how people practice pickleball. One of the folks who gave me input was Vic Avery, and during research for that article he offered some other thoughts, too. One was about backhand shots. He said, "I had a serious problem in singles because of a weak backhand on groundstrokes. Once, while watching Pat Kane 's backhand, I saw he used a totally different technique from mine. I was using the tennis style: square your body to the court (facing the side fence) and use mostly arm for the power (a sweeping motion in a plane parallel to the ground). Opponents found it easy to read the direction and speed of my shots. I tried his method—punching it by:



  1. straightening your arm and getting wrist action at the end, 
  2. contacting the ball almost straight in front of you, and 
  3. having the paddle travel in an arc perpendicular to the ground, from low to high.
The result was far more power and the ability to go either left or right at the last second.”

Vic's reply caused me to start thinking about the different backhand techniques I have seen in play and to wonder about the evolution of pickleball strokes that are separate and distinct from those we brought with us from tennis, racquetball, or other sports. I was also curious about the backhand particularly because many players say they find it more difficult than their forehand strokes. So I asked a sampling of players again: “tell me how you handle the backhand in pickleball.”

Rock Kane wrote, “Whenever I can, if I know someone is going to my backhand, I try to get quickly into a position to be able to use my forehand which is my stronger hit.” Many players agree with Rock, saying their forehand strokes are stronger than their backhands. Certainly, if you have time to get into position for a forehand stroke and it won't pull you so far out of position that your next return might in jeopardy, I'd agree that taking a forehand would be preferred by most. Rock continued, “Also, when reaching for a backhanded shot, I slip my hand to the end of the paddle [handle] to give me more paddle hitting surface in the reach.”

Dick Lewis said his baseline backhand is “very similar to the tennis groundstroke.” He went on to say, “The backhand shot should be easier then the forehand.” I mentioned that this goes counter to what most people say, although I have always felt that backhand and forehand should both be equally difficult (or easy, depending on your point of view). I asked him why he thought the backhand should be easier? His answer, regarding the backhand from the baseline: “You need to turn sideways to the net. By doing this you already have your arm back and in the proper position on the backhand” [because you don't have to take as much backswing compared to the forehand groundstroke].

Dick then described a number of ways to hit the ball (imparting topspin, hitting the ball flat, and cutting for backspin, which he says is the hardest shot but very effective against lower-level opponents). Lastly, he described “a different backhand shot where you bring your arm forward and snap your wrist at impact to the ball. The shot would be similar to the flat shot. With practice this can be the easiest of all backhand shots.” He and Vic are speaking the same language.

I asked him, “What about the backhand ‘pops' that are done from the non-volley-zone line?”

“While at the net, you would have a continental grip, which is where the "V" between your thumb and index finger would be in the center of the grip. The paddle is held in the ready position, which is chest high. The quick backhand would be hit by twisting your body to the left, if you were right-handed, and slapping the ball, moving the paddle forward. The paddle should never be taken back further then your peripheral vision. An example would be, facing the net, taking the paddle back as far as you can see without moving your head.”

Finally, we discussed the shot he described with the flick of the wrist. I told him I've seen this done up at the non-volley zone, too. He agreed, but said he uses it only with high backhand overheads.

To put a wrap to this research, I called Vic back, and we went out to the court together so I could see just what he meant in action. I photographed his movements for his original “tennis-type” stroke as well as the new strokes, both at the baseline and the non-volley zone line. Here's what he showed me and what he explained in more detail.
Picture
The “new” backhand is shown on the right. In this stroke, Vic's wrist is not locked but can be seen to unleash its own power just at the moment the paddle contacts the ball. This stroke is made perpendicular to the ground, going from the backswing down and finishing up high. Much additional power is gained in this type of stroke due to the wrist action.

Picture
The picture on the left shows the standard stroke when close to the net. Again, it's a flatter stroke, and the wrist is locked throughout the swing.


Picture
In the new version of the backhand at the non-volley zone, the wrist snaps at the moment of impact, imparting extra power to the ball.


Picture
Finally, the overhead backhand shown at left works beautifully because of the wrist action given to the shot. Vic says it's also easier to add spin to the ball when using more wrist in the shot.


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    Gale Leach lives in Arizona with her husband, two dogs, and a cat. When she's not writing pickleball tips, she's working on the second in a new series of novels for young adults and updating The Art of Pickleball.

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