Getting better
Common Pickleball Mistakes Beginners Make (and How to Fix Them)
By the TennisCourtFinder team · Updated June 29, 2026 · 4 min read
Everybody makes the same handful of mistakes when they start playing pickleball. The quicker you spot them in your own game, the faster you climb. None of these are about talent. They are habits, and habits are fixable once you know what to look for.
Camping at the baseline
The most common beginner mistake is standing back near the baseline and rallying from there. Points are won at the kitchen line. Fix it by moving up to the non-volley line as soon as you safely can, ideally right behind your return of serve.
Trying to smash everything
Hard is not the same as good. Swinging for a winner on every ball produces a lot of errors and hands free points to the other team. Fix it by learning the soft game, dinks and drops, and only attacking a ball that has popped up high enough to put away cleanly.
Volleying from inside the kitchen
Beginners drift into the non-volley zone out of habit and then volley a ball out of the air, which is a fault. Fix it by knowing exactly where that line is and stepping back behind it before you hit anything out of the air.
Blasting the third shot
Driving the third shot hard from the baseline usually sails long or comes back at you fast. Fix it by practicing the soft third shot drop into the kitchen, which lets your team move up instead of staying pinned back.
Not talking to your partner
Silent teams leave balls for each other and collide going for the same one. Fix it by calling mine or yours on balls down the middle and taking a second between points to agree on a simple plan.
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Frequently asked questions
- Standing at the baseline instead of moving up to the kitchen line. Points are won at the net, so getting to the line with your partner is the habit that helps most.
- Usually because of unforced errors from over-hitting, poor court position, and not communicating with a partner. Cleaning up those habits wins more than adding power.