PickleChoo

By Coach Vince Geo Serino, Lead Pickleball Coach at PickleChoo, certified through TAG International Tennis Academy. Last updated: October 2026.

Here is the pattern I see on every open-play court in Singapore: two teams rallying hard, banging the ball back and forth, waiting for someone to miss. It is fun, it is a workout — and it is beginner pickleball. The moment you play someone who has learned the soft game, the whole match changes. They absorb your pace, float the ball low over the net, walk up to the kitchen line, and suddenly you are the one scrambling.

The soft game comes down to two shots: the dink and the third-shot drop. They are the two shots that get you to the kitchen line and keep you there, and they are the single biggest thing separating a 3.0 player from a 4.0 player. This is the guide I wish every player at our courts read after their first month. If you are brand new, start with our beginner’s guide to pickleball in Singapore and our breakdown of the kitchen (non-volley zone) first — the soft game only makes sense once you understand why the kitchen exists.

Why the Soft Game Wins

Pickleball has one rule that shapes everything: you cannot volley (hit the ball out of the air) while standing in the kitchen. That single rule is why you cannot simply smash your way to victory at the net the way you might in tennis. Because the kitchen stops the smash, the team that controls the net does it with softness, not power.

And control of the net is almost everything. In doubles, the team that gets both players to the kitchen line first wins the large majority of points — they are hitting down into a bigger court while you are hitting up from the back. The soft game is simply how you earn the right to stand at that line. The dink is how you stay there and apply pressure; the third-shot drop is how you get there in the first place.

The Dink: Your Home Base at the Kitchen

A dink is a soft shot hit from the kitchen line that lands in your opponent’s kitchen. Because any ball that lands in the kitchen must be allowed to bounce before it can be hit, a good dink is almost impossible to attack — your opponent has to wait, bend, and lift it back softly. Keep a low, unattackable dink going and eventually the other team pops one up. That pop-up is the ball you put away.

Here is the technique I coach, and it lines up with what USA Pickleball teaches:

• Loose grip. Hold the paddle at about a 2 out of 10 in grip pressure. A tight grip sends the ball flying — soft hands keep it soft.
• Less is more. The dink is not a swing, it is a gentle lift. Keep the motion small and compact, paddle out in front of your body, arm relatively straight. The ball goes up and over, not forward and through.
• Open the face slightly so the paddle lifts the ball just over the net and down into the kitchen. Aim for the ball to be falling as it crosses the net.
• Move your dinks around. Strong players rarely dink to the same spot more than two or three times in a row. Alternate forehand and backhand, middle and wide. Varying your target breaks your opponent’s rhythm, drags them off the line, and is far more likely to draw the high ball you can attack.

The patience this takes is the hardest habit to build. Early on, a dink rally feels like it will last forever and the temptation to “do something” and speed the ball up is huge. Resist it. The player who is willing to dink one more ball than their opponent usually wins the point.

The Third-Shot Drop: The Most Important Shot in Pickleball

Here is the situation the third-shot drop solves. Because of the two-bounce rule, the serving team has to let the return bounce before they can hit — which means they are stuck back near the baseline on the third shot. The returning team, meanwhile, has already run up to the kitchen line. The serving team is pinned in the defensive position, and the only way out is to get to the net too.

The third-shot drop is the answer: a soft, arcing shot from the baseline that drops into the opponent’s kitchen. Done well, it forces the team at the net to hit up on the next ball instead of attacking down — and that gentle, upward reply buys you the two or three seconds you need to move forward and join your partner at the line. Pickleball.com calls it “the single most important shot in pickleball,” and in my lessons I would not argue.

The mechanics that matter:

• Relaxed grip, low to high. As with the dink, a tight grip is the number-one cause of drops that sail long. Brush smoothly from low to high under and through the ball — the upward brush is what creates the soft arc.
• Finish high. Let the paddle follow through upward. A short, jabbing finish clips the net almost every time.
• Aim for the middle of the kitchen, slightly toward the centre. Do not chase tight sideline angles while you are learning — the middle is the safe, high-percentage target.
• Move in on contact. The drop is only half the job. The moment you make contact, start walking toward the kitchen line. The drop that you hit beautifully and then admire from the baseline has wasted its whole purpose.

Remember the golden rule: power is the enemy of the drop. Pace makes the ball float too high and long, right into the attacker’s wheelhouse. If your drops keep flying out, you are almost certainly swinging too hard and gripping too tight, not aiming wrong.

Drop or Drive? Reading the Third Shot

The drop is the default, but it is not the only option. The alternative is the drive — a hard, flat third shot aimed at the opponents’ feet or bodies. I teach players to read the return before they decide:

• Drop when the return is deep and both opponents are set at the kitchen line. You cannot out-hit a set net team, so reset the point softly.
• Drive when the return lands short, gives you a comfortable waist-high ball, or when an opponent is still moving up and out of position. Hit it low and hard at the gap or the feet.

A reliable third-shot drop is what lets you be dangerous with the drive — because opponents can no longer sit on the drive knowing a soft ball is coming. If you want a wider set of practice routines around these shots, our coaches have also shared seven drills and tips to get better at pickleball.

The Soft-Game Mistakes I See Most at PickleChoo

• Popping the dink up. Almost always too much backswing or too tight a grip. Shorten the motion and soften the hand.
• Using the wrist. Both soft shots are arm-and-shoulder motions. A flicky wrist adds unpredictable pace — exactly what you do not want.
• Aiming too close to the net. Trying to make the ball “just” clear the tape is how you hit the net. Give yourself margin and let the arc do the work.
• Hitting a great drop and staying back. If you do not move forward, you have simply volunteered to hit another drop from the baseline. Drop, then go.
• Dinking to the same spot. Predictable dinks let your opponent settle and speed the ball up. Keep them guessing.

Two Drills to Groove Your Soft Game

1. Cross-court dink rally. Both players stand at the kitchen line, diagonally across from each other, and dink cross-court for as long as you can without popping one up. Count your longest rally and try to beat it. This builds the control and, just as importantly, the patience the soft game demands.

2. Drop-and-run. Start on the baseline. A partner or coach feeds you a deep ball; you hit a third-shot drop into the kitchen and immediately move forward to the kitchen line, ready for the next ball. This trains the two halves of the shot together — the soft drop and the move in — which is the part most self-taught players never link up.

Coming From Tennis? Unlearn the Swing

Tennis players pick up pickleball fast — the footwork, the hand-eye, the net instincts all transfer. But the soft game is the one place a strong tennis background works against you. The instinct to take a full swing and drive through the ball is exactly wrong for the dink and the drop, where touch beats power every time. I have coached plenty of excellent tennis players who could not win a dink rally for the first few weeks, simply because their hands were too strong. If you are weighing up the two sports, we compared them in detail in pickleball vs tennis in Singapore.

That crossover works both ways. Several of our players train with the network’s tennis coaches to sharpen their net touch — whether that is a dedicated tennis coach in Singapore, the team at TAG International Tennis Academy, or the Japanese-style tennis coaching at Sanwa X. Soft hands are soft hands, in either sport. Our own pickleball programme is led by Coach Gary Tan, TAG’s Director of Pickle, who has shaped the lesson progression our coaches use to teach exactly these shots.

Where to Groove Your Soft Game in Singapore

The soft game is learned by repetition against someone who can keep the ball coming back — which is exactly what structured coaching gives you. We run group and private lessons at three PickleChoo venues: Arena at One North, Prime at New Industrial Road, and Apex at Henderson. For the bigger picture on playing here, our complete guide to pickleball in Singapore covers where to play, the rules, and how to book a court.

Dink vs Third-Shot Drop: Quick Reference

	Dink	Third-Shot Drop
Hit from	The kitchen line	Near the baseline
When	During net exchanges	On the third shot of the rally (serving team)
Lands in	Opponent’s kitchen	Opponent’s kitchen
Grip pressure	Very light (~2/10)	Relaxed
Motion	Small, compact lift	Smooth low-to-high brush, finish high
Goal	Stay unattackable, draw a pop-up	Get your team up to the kitchen line
#1 mistake	Too much backswing / grip too tight	Too much power / staying back after the shot

Ready to Build a Real Soft Game?

You can read about the dink and the drop all day, but you will only own them once you have hit a few thousand of them under a coach’s eye. To book a private or group lesson with a TAG-certified coach, message us on WhatsApp at +65 9029 8400 or explore our pickleball lessons in Singapore. Bring your paddle and your patience — the rest we can teach.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between a dink and a third-shot drop?

Both are soft shots that land in the opponent’s kitchen, but they are hit from different places for different reasons. A dink is hit from the kitchen line during net exchanges to keep the ball unattackable. A third-shot drop is hit from near the baseline — on the serving team’s third shot — to force a soft reply so you can move up to the kitchen line.

Why does my third-shot drop keep going too long?

Nine times out of ten it is too much pace and too tight a grip, not bad aim. Power is the enemy of the drop — it makes the ball float high and deep. Loosen your grip, brush gently from low to high, and finish with the paddle high rather than jabbing at the ball.

How long does it take to learn the soft game?

Most players can hit a passable dink within a few sessions, but building the consistency and patience to win dink rallies and reliably land third-shot drops under pressure usually takes a few months of regular play and some focused coaching. The players who improve fastest drill the soft game deliberately rather than only playing games.

Should beginners learn the soft game early?

Yes. Many beginners spend months only banging the ball and then have to unlearn that habit. Introducing the dink and third-shot drop early — even before they are reliable — builds the right instincts from the start. A coach can feed you controlled balls so you groove the motion without the pressure of a live point.