Singles Strategy with Ryan Fu

Up your pickleball singles game with Ryan Fu's Top 3 Singles Strategy Tips

Image via Instagram by @ryanfupb.

The difference in strategy from doubles to singles changes drastically. People tend to care more about their doubles game, but there are certain things in singles that can actually help your doubles game.

#1 - Hit your serves hard and deep.

James likes to say “miss 1 out of every 10 serves”. This is especially true for singles. You want to be putting as much pressure on your opponents return as you can.

Deep serves will cause your opponent to have to stay back at the baseline after the return, giving you the advantage and opportunity to charge to the net first. We can make 100 serves in a row, but if they are high and short, it won’t be much help.

When you are playing rec games, I’d really focus on hitting your serves hard, especially on big points.

#2 - Return deep middle.

The return is more or less the same concept as the serve. We want to hit this shot deep so that the server cannot hit a good 3rd shot as we are coming into the net. The middle is a great spot to aim for because it limits the amount of angles your opponent can play with.

If you return to the corner, you are especially giving your opponent more court to hit the ball into. Therefore, if you feel like your opponent can pass from both the forehand and the backhand, I’d recommend returning middle.

"The pros are not aiming for the lines when they hit their shots. They are giving themselves margin to work with so that if they 'miss' their target, the ball is still going in." – Ryan Fu

#3 - Don't aim for the lines.

This can definitely be applied to doubles as well. When I am teaching clinics and someone misses wide I’ll ask them where they aimed on that shot, and usually the answer is, “I aimed for the line!” This is not what you should be doing.

The pros are not aiming for the lines when they hit their shots. They are giving themselves margin to work with so that if they “miss” their target, the ball is still going in.

When we’re playing singles, don’t aim for the lines on passing shots. If you hit a low drive with margin, you will give yourself a chance to hit a winner on the 5th. Also, your opponent may just miss your third shot, which is another advantage of just hitting the 3rd in.

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