Drill library · Partner

Dink Until It Sits

Partner3.5–4.0+15 minDinkingHands & speed-upsDoubles strategy

Why this drill

The highest-value decision at the kitchen line: which dink do you attack? Speeding up the wrong ball is the most common unforced error pattern at 3.5+. This game makes shot selection the whole contest.

Setup

Both players at their non-volley-zone lines, half court, straight ahead or cross-court by agreement.

The drill

Dink rally, live at all times: either player may speed up any ball that rises above net height, and the point is then played out at pace. Speeding up a ball below net height loses the point immediately — call it honestly. Games to 11, rally scoring. The scoring pressure teaches both halves of the skill: keeping your own dinks unattackable, and pulling the trigger the moment a dink sits up.

One thought to take on court

Attack the ball at its peak, above the net — if you would be swinging up at it, it was never attackable.