🧠 How to Beat Better Players: 7 Dirty Tricks Smart Pickleballers Use to Win More Matches
- Tom Kiat
- Aug 12
- 2 min read
Let’s be honest, you're not always the best player on the court.
You miss more. You're slower. Maybe your technique isn’t textbook.
Good. You don’t need better hands. You need a better plan.
This is your ultimate cheat code guide, how to win more without being the most skilled player.
1. Target the Weaker Player (Relentlessly)
Pickleball is polite. But winning isn’t.
If one player is clearly weaker, hammer them until they crack. Every return. Every drive. Every dink.
Let the “nice guys” spread the ball around.
You? You're there to win.
2. Play the Long Game: Patience Beats Power
Better players want to end points fast. That’s their curse.
You? You’re the human metronome. Dink. Reset. Block. Repeat.
Stay in it. Make the game boring. When you outlast them, you outplay them.
“If you make one more ball than them, you win.”
Simple math. But most can’t do it.
3. Keep Your Shots Small and Smart
Forget hero shots. No one cares how hard you hit if the ball sails out.
Sharp angles instead of power.
Drops instead of drives.
Feet instead of hands.
Let them overextend. You just place the ball where it hurts.
4. Use the “80% Rule”
The biggest mistake weaker players make? Trying to play at 100%.
Swing at 80%. Move at 80%. Think at 100%.
You’ll be more consistent, less frantic, and way more annoying to beat.
That’s how you flip the script.
5. Watch the Feet, Not the Paddle
Most people track the paddle to guess where the shot’s going.
Smart players? They watch the feet.
If their weight shifts back, expect a lob.
If their stance is closed, it’s probably crosscourt.
If they’re leaning, they're about to speed up.
This isn’t guesswork. It’s predictive defense.
6. Set Traps, Not Winners
Here’s a move straight from the dark arts of pickleball:
Dink to their backhand crosscourt three times. On the fourth, hit a fast dink down the line. They’ll cheat middle. You’ll look like a genius.
Play patterns. Break patterns. Win points.
7. Stay Cool When They Start Cracking
The best moment? When the better player starts yelling at their paddle.
That’s when you know you’ve got them.
Keep your head. Keep your pace. Let them implode.
That’s how underdogs become assassins.
You don’t need a better forehand. You need better intentions.
This game isn’t always won with power.
It’s won with patience, patterns, and pressure.
The best player doesn’t always win.
But the smartest one usually does.
Want more cheat codes like this?
🔥 Special Offer: Next 50 Players Get Pickleball IQ Advantage E-Book for Just $1.99 - Before It Jumps to $14.99! And You also Receive the 4 Week Drills Program AND The Pickleball GamePlan BluePrint the strategy book for doubles play as an added Bundle BONUS!
Comments