This week in Five Dink Friday:
• A disguised backhand slice drive you need in your arsenal
• A meme-worthy meltdown over the new DUPR ratings (plus a quick explainer)
• Graceful dinking or dead-ball disaster? Reddit did not hold back
• I asked Reddit how to fix my shot selection—here’s what they said
• Pro-level insight from Zane, Callie Jo & Coach Kyle on leveling up your in-game IQ
#1🧨 Steal This Shot: The Deceptive Backhand Slice Drive
You know what's better than a highlight reel? A shot you can actually steal and weaponize.
This one’s pure gold. Take a quick watch:
It’s Nico, in the transition zone, selling a backhand drop… then slicing a laser down the line with surgical precision.
No wind-up. No tell. Just cold-blooded disguise and execution.
Here’s why it worked so well:
The 4th shot wasn’t deep, and the ball is bouncing up at midcourt
Nico’s paddle and body position scream backhand slice drop
The right-side opponent is hugging the middle, leaving his line wide open
🧠 When to Use This Shot:
You’re in the transition zone or midcourt (could even train this shot from the baseline too)
The ball is sitting high enough to slice drive with control and not float long
You’ve sold the drop (either with your current paddle/body positioning or from earlier patterns)
The opponent has left their sideline unguarded
🎯 Train It With Intention:
You want a ball that bounces just high enough to pretend you are going for a backhand slice drop shot—and then you backhand slice drive it.
Drill it like this:
Start in the transition zone
Feed yourself (or have a partner feed) medium-paced, topspin, or flat balls that bounce between knee and waist height on your backhand side
Practice hitting both slice drops and slice drives—same setup, different outcomes
Focus on minimal telegraph, clean contact, and laser line accuracy
🎯 Goal: 90% consistency + full disguise.
Make it look like a drop. Then rip it like a savage.
🗣 Got any other dangerously deceptive shots? Please do reply and share. I wanna collect and perfect them all.
#2📉 Is Your DUPR Okay? Because You’re Not.
📉 The DUPR drama is real.
They changed the algorithm. Ratings dropped. People freaked.
Some say it's more accurate now.
Others are rage-quitting tournament play.
And a few brave souls are… recalculating their self-worth.
🥲 Thoughts and prayers to anyone who dropped 0.25 overnight.
If you're wondering what actually changed in the latest DUPR update, here's the TL;DR:
Close wins ≠ automatic rating bumps anymore
Playing down and crushing lower-rated opponents? That’ll do less for your score
The system now penalizes “cheap wins” and rewards upsets
And it’s trying to fix inflation that’s been creeping in the past couple of years
So yeah, you can win 11–7… and still drop. Especially if you were “supposed” to win.
The new algorithm is designed to be more fair, but the rollout wasn’t exactly smooth.
Reddit’s on fire.
Facebook is in revolt.
But pros and data nerds say it's a step in the right direction.
🥲 In the meantime, just know: it’s not personal. It’s just math.
🗳️ Poll: How’d the DUPR Update Treat You?
#3💬 Is This Beautiful Pickleball—Or Just Unpunished Mistakes?
Have you ever seen a point that makes you go:
“Wow, that was fun to watch.”
…and then the internet tells you you’re wrong?
Fluid footwork. Solid dinking. Smart placement.
And then a baseline drop shot after a lob that actually lands.
I thought it was beautiful.
But Reddit? Reddit had other ideas.
Apparently:
– Too many dead dinks
– Missed Erne chances
– Too many missed speed-up opportunities
– “Circle-jerking dinks” (their words, not mine)
Sure, this wasn’t pro-level.
But it was fun, patient, human, and real.
🧠 Tactical Takeaway:
When I watch it back, sure—if you’re a pro, you might see a few missed opportunities to speed up and punish.
But honestly? I think there’s something beautiful about the patience on display here.
This style of play gets dunked on a lot. But these guys are clearly having a blast, working the point, waiting for a clean pop-up they can really punish.
And maybe—just maybe—they all have lightning-fast hands and no one wants to be the first to pull the trigger and risk mutually assured destruction.
Call it pickleball’s version of the Cold War. ☢️
So yeah… back off, Reddit.
I’d rather see players err on the side of patience than blow the point trying to be a hero.
Anyone can speed up and sometimes win the point. But those 4-out-of-10 “winners” don’t win matches.
Knowing when not to pull the trigger?
That’s the real chess match.
That’s the real skill.
What did you think of the 48-shot rally?
#4🧠 Real Talk from Reddit: Training Better Shot Selection
After getting exposed (read: punished) in some higher-level matches last week, I turned to Reddit to crowdsource answers to the question:
How do you actually train better decision-making on the court?
And wow—Reddit delivered.
✅ Drills like 7–11 and “One Up, One Back”
✅ Smart defaults like reset middle when you’re off-balance
✅ Active match-watching (guess the next shot before they hit it!)
✅ Record your games. Rewatch. Learn.
✅ And a mantra I now want tattooed:
“Aggressive at the baseline. Patient at the kitchen.”
If you’ve ever lost a point and thought, “Why on earth did I go for that?”… this thread is full of gold.
🧠 BUT, I wondered. . .
What would actual pickleball pros have to say about this?
So I texted Callie Jo Smith, Coach Kyle, and Zane Navratil to ask them the same question—
“How do you train shot selection and in-game awareness? Can you simulate it in drills, or does it only come from match play?”
How did their answers compare to Reddit?
Let’s find out. 👇
#5🎯 Game IQ, According to the Pros
I sent my same question to 3 high-level humans:
📈 Zane Navratil (pro player + stats nerd)
🏆 Callie Jo Smith (top 10 pro)
🧠 Kyle Smith (Callie’s coach + husband)
I asked:
👉 How do you train shot selection and in-game awareness?
👉 Can you simulate in-game decision-making—or is it just reps?
🧠 Zane shot us a video from the MLP tour in Dallas. It’s 2 minutes of pure gold that you can catch here:
Here are just a few of the nuggets that stuck with me:
• Treat every point like a feedback loop – Don’t just move on. Ask: Did I lose the point—and why? Did I hit the right shot and get a bad beat, or the wrong shot and get away with it?
• Results ≠ good decisions – Winning a point doesn’t mean it was the right shot. Start separating outcomes from decisions to build real awareness.
• Build your own decision-making model – There’s no universal “right” choice—only the right one for your skill set. Zane says every player needs to personalize their shot selection model based on patterns and feedback.
Watch the full video for additional drills and key takeaways.
Zane is one of the top pickleball players and coaches globally. Be sure to follow him on Instagram and YouTube for content that will take your game to the next level:
https://www.youtube.com/@ZaneNavratilPickleball
And, if you want to train with Zane, check out:
@thepickleballpros – for clinics and camps across the U.S. and abroad.
Now, let’s find out what Callie & Kyle had to say:
🏁 Bottom line: Game IQ isn’t just reps.
It’s reps with reflection. Reps with focus. Reps with feedback.
If you want more tips, tutorials, and actionable advice you can use to take your PB game to the next level, follow Callie on Instagram and check out her website for clinics, coaching, and apparel https://calliesmithpb.com/
Also, if you’re gonna be in Utah this coming weekend, you’ll be able to watch both Zane and Callie play in the MLP tournament —and if you ping me, we can play some PB together too!
Alrighty, that’s a wrap, Five Dink Fam. If you haven’t yet completed your reader survey, you should take it here. It only takes a few minutes, and it helps me learn all about you (it’s only mildly intrusive).
Also, don’t forget to send this to your smartest (or saltiest) pickleball friend.
See you next Friday. ✌️
– JP
P.S. Forwarded this?
Don’t rely on a good bounce—subscribe here so you never miss a dink.