Things really kick off when Julian Arnold offers his first “Andiamo” exclamation after this point: https://youtu.be/eiOkPnzAmfA?t=15768. Notice how Arnold takes advantage of just about six inches of extra space in the middle of the court created by the prior ball which causes Lucy to move just a bit to her right.
Ok, Jessie and Julian are serving here – watch Julian crash up following the third shot and then take advantage of another six or seven inches of space in the middle of the court: https://youtu.be/eiOkPnzAmfA?t=16009. We see this strategy repeatedly – regardless of third shot choice, the non-3rd-shot-player crashes up and prepares to clean up any mishit.
Watch how Matt gets the ball down to Jessie’s left foot, causing an error: https://youtu.be/eiOkPnzAmfA?t=16160. On the very next point he is patient enough to get the ball down to her left foot again, causing a pop-up: https://youtu.be/eiOkPnzAmfA?t=16178. Us club players and 3.5/4.0 tournament players can learn from this.
A few points later, Matt uses deception to pretzel Jessie up in knots: https://youtu.be/eiOkPnzAmfA?t=16253. Deception is such a key element of high-level pickleball … the more we can learn to incorporate it into our play the more points we can steal during a match.
Notice that when the women hit third shots the men cheat up / crash to the middle, near the kitchen. They’re always looking to clean up a pop-up off of the third shot.
Following another “Andiamo!” Julian cheats up following his own third shot and cleans up a mess – so much we can learn from this tactic. https://youtu.be/eiOkPnzAmfA?t=16353
On the next point, Julian cheats all the way over to Jessie’s side of the court on a fifth shot, causing Jessie to yell “Stay There” … great management of the court on this point: https://youtu.be/eiOkPnzAmfA?t=16369. Julian attacks middle, gets a pop-up from Lucy, and finishes.
Matt is serving here … watch the inside-out deception from Julian on this point: https://youtu.be/eiOkPnzAmfA?t=16463
Again, Julian cheats up after the third shot, goes after Lucy, then gets a clean winner down the middle: https://youtu.be/eiOkPnzAmfA?t=16507
Watch Julian go low to Lucy’s backhand a few times to get a pop-up: https://youtu.be/eiOkPnzAmfA?t=16803. Placement matters. Practice placement, peeps.
Matt Wright unveils a lob at the right time: https://youtu.be/eiOkPnzAmfA?t=17086. Look at the space created by the lob in the center of the court.
Again, look at the pressure Julian creates by crashing up to the “T” by the kitchen: https://youtu.be/eiOkPnzAmfA?t=17106
Julian melts down, often … here’s a great example: https://youtu.be/eiOkPnzAmfA?t=17204. When playing aggressive, crashing up to the “T”, you better win 2/3rd of the time to compensate for mistakes you are likely to make. https://youtu.be/eiOkPnzAmfA?t=17204
Lucy dinks behind Julian and gets and easy point here: https://youtu.be/eiOkPnzAmfA?t=17259
Julian is going to butcher this Ernie attempt … but watch how his attempt changes what Matt has to do, causing Matt to mess up: https://youtu.be/eiOkPnzAmfA?t=17314
Matt puts on a master class in breaking down the opposition here: https://youtu.be/eiOkPnzAmfA?t=17447
In this point, Jessie gets lobbed back, but instead of tethering Julian takes up the space in front of Jessie, goes on offense, and earns the point: https://youtu.be/eiOkPnzAmfA?t=17472. This is not the way we’re taught to deal with these situations. Pickleball is changing, and one player really needs to cover the kitchen area to clean up any pop-ups.
By the way, how much dinking are you witnessing in this match? Pickleball changes. Two or three years ago the points would have devolved into dinking battles. Today, aggression and assertive play results in combinations designed to end points faster.
Now, it took 20 balls +/-, but Matt and Lucy keep Julian occupied on his backhand so that he can’t create mayhem off of his forehand. Their efforts pay off, don’t they? https://youtu.be/eiOkPnzAmfA?t=17855
Inside out by Lucy – work on your inside-out shots: https://youtu.be/eiOkPnzAmfA?t=18022.
Look at what happens when you give Julian one, just one (1) ball in the middle of the court: https://youtu.be/eiOkPnzAmfA?t=18362. Stick to the game plan. Matt/Lucy were having success going to his backhand in dinking battles.
Julian with an inside-out: https://youtu.be/eiOkPnzAmfA?t=18457. This has to be part of your arsenal, don’t you think?
Watch Matt just sneak in there and steal a dinking point: https://youtu.be/eiOkPnzAmfA?t=18531. In mixed doubles, Men have a key role to play – knowing exactly what balls to sneak in and take to create offense off of. Matt is halfway on to Lucy’s side of the court when he takes this ball.
The exact opposite happens here … Lucy sees a ball she can shove down the middle of the court and takes a wicked backhand to finish the point: https://youtu.be/eiOkPnzAmfA?t=18562
Near the end of this point, Matt creates a winner a few shots early by using his feet to take a forehand dink instead of accepting a defensive backhanded dink opportunity: https://youtu.be/eiOkPnzAmfA?t=18586
Jessie hold the ball on her paddle and disguises placement until the last possible second … just beautiful deception here: https://youtu.be/eiOkPnzAmfA?t=18651
Julian goes behind Matt on this point – just precious! https://youtu.be/eiOkPnzAmfA?t=18708
Even the pros mess this stuff up: https://youtu.be/eiOkPnzAmfA?t=18979
Matt goes behind Julian: https://youtu.be/eiOkPnzAmfA?t=19462
My goodness: https://youtu.be/eiOkPnzAmfA?t=19581
Match point features a lob: https://youtu.be/eiOkPnzAmfA?t=19691
This is such a good investment of pickleball learning here … more than an hour of master-class-level points to grow from. Notice how little of this game came down to dinking! Instead, the players just hauled combinations and strategies at each other, crashing third shots, driving thirds and fifths, setting up combinations for winners. It’s just beautiful pickleball!
Pickleball Analytics! 