Targeting your opponents’ backhands is a pickleball strategy as old as time! The vast majority of pickleball players have worse backhands than forehands. It’s natural–the backhand is hit from the non-dominant side of the body, so by nature it will be the weaker shot. At the amateur levels, most players are significantly less consistent, lack power, and are overall less comfortable on their backhands compared to their forehands. Most players also lack the ability to create offense on their backhands, which means that you will be safe if you dink, drop, reset, or hit another defensive shot to their backhand. In order to use this strategy, it’s very important that you locate your opponents’ backhands early on by taking note of their handedness!
