Quick Answer: The pickleball drills worth your time split into two groups: solo drills — wall forehands/backhands, wall dinking, and the “paddle up” ball-control drill — that build consistency without a partner, and partner drills — the cross-court dink ladder, third shot drop targets, skinny singles, and two-tap kitchen volleys — that build the shot selection and touch a real match demands. Running a mix of both, roughly 20 focused minutes a few times a week, moves most recreational players past their plateau faster than just playing more games.
Pickleball’s popularity has outpaced court access in most cities — with 24.3 million Americans playing in 2025, up from 4.2 million in 2020 according to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association’s 2026 Pickleball Single Sport Report, open court time is harder to find than ever. That scarcity makes structured drilling, especially the solo drills below, one of the most efficient ways to keep improving between the games you actually get to play.
Solo drills (no partner needed)
1. Wall forehands and backhands
Hit continuously against a wall or garage door, focusing on clean contact and a low, controlled shot just above where a net would sit. Move closer for faster reflexes, farther back for more power control, or alternate forehand and backhand for a more game-realistic rhythm. This is the drill to default to any time you have five minutes and a wall.
2. Wall dinking
Stand 5-7 feet from the wall and hit soft, arcing dinks, aiming to keep the ball low and controlled rather than hard and flat. Coaching guides recommend mastering 50 consecutive clean reps before moving on to power drills — the soft-hand touch this builds transfers directly to kitchen-line rallies, which is where most points in a real match are actually decided.
3. Paddle up (ball control)
Bounce the ball continuously off your paddle face without letting it hit the ground, alternating the paddle angle to keep the bounce controlled rather than wild. It’s a basic drill, usually the first one new players are taught, but it builds the same hand-eye feel and soft touch that dinking depends on — worth revisiting even once you’re past beginner level.
Partner drills
4. Cross-court dink ladder
Rally cross-court dinks with a partner, both trying to keep the ball soft, low, and in play. The Dink Pickleball’s coaching guides use 20 consecutive cross-court dinks as the target before a miss resets the count — it’s a simple number to chase that turns a soft drill into something competitive.
5. Third shot drop targets
Set a towel, cone, or paddle case in the cross-court kitchen corner and drop your third shot from the baseline at it, 10 reps per side before switching. The third shot drop is widely considered the most mishit shot in pickleball, and practicing it from slightly different angles each time prepares you for the messier version you’ll actually face mid-game — see our full third shot drop guide for the shot mechanics this drill is built around.
6. Skinny singles
Play a crosscourt rally using only one service box’s width per side, which removes the safe, wide-open shot and forces tighter placement and faster decisions. It’s widely rated one of the best two-player doubles-skill drills specifically because it exposes shot-selection habits a full-width court lets you hide.
7. Two-tap kitchen line volleys
Stand at the kitchen line directly across from your partner and volley the ball back and forth, focusing on softening your hands to control fast exchanges rather than muscling the ball back. This drill builds the reflexes and touch needed for the fast net exchanges — often called “hands battles” — that decide a large share of competitive rallies.
8. Deep return targets
Practice serving and returning deep, aiming to pin your partner near the baseline rather than letting them advance easily to the kitchen line. A deep, well-placed return buys you the time to get to the net yourself before your opponent can attack — a foundational habit that a lot of recreational players skip in favor of just getting the ball in play.
How much should you drill?
Coaching resources such as Pickleball Playbook commonly suggest roughly a 40% drills / 40% live play / 20% hands split of your practice time for players actively trying to improve. Live play alone tends to reinforce whatever habits you already have — including the bad ones — while dedicated drilling is what actually rewires a stroke or a decision pattern. Running both together, rather than picking one, is what moves your game.
| Drill | Needs a partner? | Builds |
|---|---|---|
| Wall forehands/backhands | No | Consistency, clean contact |
| Wall dinking | No | Soft-hand touch |
| Paddle up | No | Hand-eye control |
| Cross-court dink ladder | Yes | Kitchen-line patience |
| Third shot drop targets | Yes (or a target + wall) | Baseline-to-net transition |
| Skinny singles | Yes | Shot placement, decision-making |
| Two-tap kitchen volleys | Yes | Fast-hands reflexes |
| Deep return targets | Yes | Serve/return depth control |
The right gear makes drilling easier
A forgiving, control-oriented paddle rewards the soft dinks and resets these drills are built around, while a stiff, power-first paddle punishes them. The 16mm Vatic Pro Prism Flash (~$85) is our value pick for exactly that kind of forgiving core; see the full breakdown in our best pickleball paddle for control guide. If you’re drilling alone more often than not, a rebound board also solves the “no partner” problem for most of the drills above — our best pickleball training aids roundup covers the Dink Master 3.0 and cheaper alternatives.
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Pickleball drills, by the numbers
- 24.3 million — Americans who played pickleball in 2025, up from 4.2 million in 2020, per the SFIA 2026 Pickleball Single Sport Report.
- 50 — consecutive clean reps coaching guides recommend before moving from wall dinking to power drills.
- 20 — consecutive cross-court dinks used as a target in The Dink Pickleball’s dink-ladder drill.
- 40/40/20 — the commonly recommended split between drilling, live play, and fast-hands practice for improving players.
The bottom line
Solo drills — wall forehands/backhands, wall dinking, paddle up — build the consistency and touch you need without depending on a partner’s schedule. Partner drills — the cross-court dink ladder, third shot drop targets, skinny singles, and two-tap kitchen volleys — turn that foundation into real match skill. Mix both rather than just playing more games, and pair it with a control-oriented paddle like our best pickleball paddle for control picks so your gear isn’t working against the soft shots you’re drilling.