Dinking patterns and strategy

The dink exchange is a chess game

Once all four players reach the kitchen line, rallies often turn into a dink exchange: soft shots that land in the opponent's kitchen. New players see dinking as waiting. Good players see it as a battle for one thing: the first ball that is high enough to attack.

Every dink you hit is either keeping the ball low, moving your opponent, or setting up an attack. When you dink with a purpose, your opponents feel pressure even though nothing is fast.

The default: cross-court

If you are not sure where to dink, go cross-court, to the opponent diagonally across from you. The cross-court dink is the safest and most useful dink because:

• The net is lowest in the middle. The net is 34 inches at the center and 36 inches at the sidelines, so a cross-court dink that passes near the middle has a little more room.
• The court is longer on the diagonal. You have more distance to land the ball in the kitchen, which means more margin for error.
• It moves your opponent wide. A good cross-court dink to the sideline pulls the opponent out of the court and can open the middle.
• It is harder to attack. A ball traveling across the court gives the opponent a less direct line back at you.

Most strong teams dink cross-court as their base and use other directions to break the rhythm.

Straight-ahead and middle dinks

Straight ahead

A dink straight ahead to the opponent in front of you travels a shorter distance over the higher part of the net. It is riskier, but it is useful:

• To catch an opponent who is cheating toward the middle.
• To change the rhythm after several cross-court balls.
• When the opponent's paddle is out of position on the backhand side.

The middle

A dink into the middle, near the feet of both opponents, can cause confusion about who should take it. It also takes away their angles. Aim low and soft; a high ball in the middle is an easy put-away.

Building a pattern

Dinking well means stringing shots together. A few patterns to practice:

1. Wide, wide, middle. Two cross-court dinks pull the opponent toward the sideline. The third goes to the middle, where the gap has opened.
2. Cross, cross, straight. After a run of cross-court dinks, a straight-ahead dink catches the opponent leaning the wrong way.
3. Backhand pressure. Keep dinking to the opponent's backhand until they lift a ball. Many players' backhand dinks float higher.
4. Feet, then shoulder. Dink low at the feet to force an upward swing, then attack the first floating reply toward the paddle-side shoulder.

Watch what each opponent likes to do. Some always dink back cross-court. Some always try to speed up a backhand. Patterns you spot are free information.

When to speed up

Attacking a dink, often called a speed-up, is how dink rallies end. The trick is choosing the right ball. Good speed-up balls:

• Are at or above the height of the net when you contact them.
• Are in front of you, not behind you or at your feet.
• Come from an opponent who is off balance or stretched wide.

Bad speed-up balls are low, below the net, or far to the side. Attacking them usually means hitting upward, which gives the opponent an easy counter.

Where to aim the speed-up

• The paddle-side hip or shoulder of the opponent, where it is hardest to get the paddle in position.
• The feet, especially if the opponent is standing tall.
• Behind the opponent who just moved, down the line they left.

Keep the speed-up compact: short backswing, firm wrist, aiming slightly down. A fast, low ball is harder to counter than a big swing. If you are sending a ball at an opponent's body, aim for the paddle side, not the head or face.

Patience is a skill

The team that loses the dink battle is usually the one that gets bored first. A few habits help:

• Count your dinks in practice. Aim to hit ten in a row without lifting the ball before you even think about attacking.
• Stay low. Bend your knees rather than your back. A low body keeps the paddle under the ball and the ball under the net tape.
• Reset your feet after every dink. A small split step keeps you ready for a speed-up.
• Treat a high ball as a gift, and a low ball as a reason to dink again.

Resets when the dink goes wrong

Sometimes you lose the exchange: you get pulled wide, a dink lifts, or an opponent speeds up. That is when you need a reset.

• Absorb the pace. Loosen your grip, open the paddle face slightly and let the ball rebound softly into the kitchen.
• Reset to the middle or cross-court. A soft ball back to the center gives the opponents fewer angles.
• Do not counter every speed-up. If the ball is fast and you are off balance, a soft block is safer than a counterattack.
• Recover your position. After a reset, move back to the kitchen line and get your paddle up.

Being able to reset turns a lost exchange into a neutral one, and that is often all you need.

Partner coordination

Dinking is a team pattern. When your partner dinks cross-court wide, shift slightly toward the middle to cover the gap. If your partner is pulled out wide, take more of the middle and be ready to poach a floating ball. Call "mine" on middle balls early. See communication.

Drills

1. Cross-court only. Two players dink cross-court for five minutes. Count consecutive dinks and try to beat your record each session.
2. Three-zone dinking. Place three targets in the kitchen: wide, middle and straight. Call a target before each dink and hit it.
3. Dink to speed-up. Dink until one player gets a ball at or above net height. That player speeds up; the other tries to block or reset. Play to five points.
4. Skinny singles at the kitchen. Play half-court cross-court games where only dinks are allowed until someone attacks a high ball. The court is narrow, so patience and placement win.
5. Reset ladder. One player feeds hard speed-ups from the kitchen line. The other resets each ball into the kitchen. Ten in a row moves you up a level.

A simple dinking plan

• Dink cross-court to start.
• Keep it low and make the opponent move.
• Change direction only with a reason.
• Attack only a ball at or above the net in front of you.
• When in trouble, reset and go again.