Bouncing Back from a Deficit

A pickleball game is typically played to 11 points (win by 2 points) and the serving team is the only team who can gain points after winning a rally - this is considered to be “traditional scoring".

With this traditional scoring method, games often last longer. Back when I used to attend community center drop-in I witnessed a lot of long games where teams were struggling to earn points.

One time I sat for about 45 minutes between my own games, and, in three hours I only played three games. Obviously, that night there were also way too many participants, but, playing one game per hour really did have to do with the length of each game.

An average game at the beginner level - or an even match-up - will probably take about 25-30 minutes, but, unless you’re playing at a rec center that rotates through timed games, there’s no concern about how long your game is taking - and another way of saying this is: there’s no need to rush, especially when playing in a deficit.

People have a tendency to rush through the game just to win, rush to catch up in points, or even rush through the rally, but, if your team is down in points, you shouldn’t be playing with a sense of urgency.

In fact, wouldn’t it be better to slow the process down? I guarantee that the team that’s got more points is impatient to finish off the game!

So, here's how to bounce back from a deficit...

So what does “taking your time” in pickleball look like?

I remember in soccer, the team who had the lead would find little ways to burn a few seconds here and there, like walking to retrieve the ball or making use of those substitutions, whereas the losing team would do the opposite and rush through all of that, just to get the ball in play quicker.

The point is, when you’re in the lead there’s no need to rush - and when you’re not playing against a clock then there’s also no need to rush, right?

Why, in pickleball then, do teams rush to end a rally (e.g. go for a winner) and force plays and shots that aren’t necessarily the right ones to execute at the time?

Image credit: Sara McInnes

I think, in general, players rush a rally because they really enjoy the feeling of hitting a winner, or get caught up in the fun of a good hands battle.

If you're the team getting beaten in these types of rallies, it’s probably advantageous for you to make a change.

Either stop being the team to speed up the ball, get better prepared for the counter-attack, or focus on playing a slightly more strategic dinking rally. Let’s also not forget that slowing down a rally doesn’t necessarily mean not taking your chances.

Slowing down a rally is taking your time to build a point, getting yourself to the kitchen in a steady fashion, and then jumping on those vital offensive opportunities when they present themselves. 

As hard as it might be when in a deficit, stick to your game plan. If you did your homework ahead of time and went into the match confident (with the plan), then try to stick with it from start to finish.

Obviously, checking in with the teammate to ensure you’re on the same page is necessary as well. Even the simplest game plan, such as getting to the non-volley line quickly, can be forgotten in the moment of the game.

Do you ever feel like you’re rushing through service possessions but aren’t accumulating points?

I’ve written about it before, but, either half-stacking or taking your time outs is always a great idea to stop the momentum of the other team or refocus your own team and slow down the pace of the match.

Between rallies, you should take your time to set up and prepare for the next rally ahead and also be intentional with your serve.

Oftentimes you will see pros walking to the sideline to towel off some sweat, while this is probably necessary to some degree, they are also taking the time to reset (mentally speaking).

Image credit: Sara McInnes

Always remember to focus on being a solid partner, having fun, and enjoying the moment. It will take pressure off of each move that you make and as we know, the looser you can play, oftentimes the better too.

Pickleball is a streaky game and it’s so easy for teams to go on mad rushes and somehow be up in points - sometimes right off of the first serve.

But, if you think about being patient and are less concerned about time, then coming back from a deficit is doable. No one can say it can't be done after you check out this legendary comeback.

The John brothers were down 1-10 with $10,000 on the line.

They stuck with a relentless game plan and it eventually wore down the other team, despite their best efforts to take their timeouts and reverse stack a little bit as well.

Unfortunately, they didn’t try to implement a new game plan and ended up losing their lead!

This article was taken from our 'Control the Kitchen' Newsletter, if you're interested in receiving more content like this, please feel free to sign up using the subscribe section located at the bottom left of this page (or underneath the article if you're on mobile), thanks!