You Probably Aren't Working On Your Drive Enough
If you’ve watched pro pickleball, you’ll see a lot of players hitting drives in an attempt to find an easier drop on the 5th shot. At the rec level, it’s not such a given that a drive will produce a shorter ball.
90% of players hit their drive too hard, and if you're not getting enough topspin, that ball is going to sail high to the net team. As you get better, you’re not going to get away with hard, flat drives. What’s most important is that your drives are low enough so your opponent is hitting up on the ball. Consistently putting this pressure on opponents will cause a few misses, and more importantly, make it easier to get to the kitchen over the course of a game.
Consider Driving Middle More Often
Work on making your drives dip as they are crossing over the net. The middle is always a good spot, because the net is lower and your target is just inches above the net. Remember, if you are going to miss a drive, you want to miss in the net tape, not deep past the baseline. Once you get more confident in your drive you can work on transferring your weight into the court after your shot, setting you up better for the next mid-court ball (driving and crashing).
Remember: DO NOT Over Hit Your Drives
I just want to reiterate again to NOT over hit your drives. I would start off by exaggerating it, and hitting a topspin drive more the speed that a drop would be. Some of the best drives I see almost look like drops, it’s just a tiny bit harder and lower. Once you feel consistent on the slower drive, increase the pace gradually until you can keep the harder drive lower. If you start missing drives long again then go take a water break.
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