Find out what Hesitation Dinking is and how to use it in your game from Top 3 Ranked Pickleball Pro Dylan Frazier
What Is A Hesitation Dink?
Image via Instagram by @selkirksport
The hesitation dink is shot generally used from the kitchen line where a player acts like they are going to speed the ball up and then hits an aggressive dink to their opponent. This can be a good tool to get your opponent off balance and to get ahead in the dink rally. It is also good to add to your arsenal as another shot that can be used on attackable balls to keep your opponent guessing.
How to Execute the Hesitation Dink Shot Successfully
To execute this shot, you have to sell the speed up to your opponent. You want them to believe the ball is coming fast to cause them to tense up. A good way to do this is to over exaggerate your body movement forward and then move your paddle very quickly right up to the ball.
At this point, your opponent has reason to believe the ball is being sped up. Now, at the last second, slow your swing speed down to hit a dink to your opponent, sort of letting your paddle lag behind your body which should be moving forward to sell the speed up.
Where to Target the Hesitation Dink
A good place to target is to the left or right of your opponent to make them have to move a little once they regain their balance. If they took the bait, your opponent is now in a difficult position to hit a dink, allowing you to punish them for a high dink or just take control of the dink rally.
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