Have you ever wondered what pro pickleball players practice at home?

Ben Johns, Christian Alshon, and others revealed their favorite go-to drills.

“There’s at least 10 shots that you should be doing every day for 15 minutes. You should dink every day, you should do fast hands every single day, you should practice drops and baseline drives, and you should hit serves and returns every day. You should devote 10 to 15 minutes each day to each of those. You have to work on essentials before you work on specialized shots,” recommended Alshon.

“After that, you can get more specialized. Some days, I’ll just focus on counters. But there’s just so many things to work on, and you can’t physically practice everything every day.” 

Ben Johns said his drilling routine has evolved throughout his pickleball career.

At certain points, he spent more time drilling than actually playing, depending on his training partners and the skills he wanted to improve.

“I used to strictly drill 100% of the time with Collin and I didn’t play any games,” said Johns. “But currently I drill about 20% and play games 80% of the time.”

For the top players in pickleball, drilling is all about adaptability.

Grayson Goldin quickly realized that consistent drilling was key to reaching the pro level.

“The fastest way to get better is hyper focusing on your weaknesses or things that you’re least comfortable with. I adapt my drill routine depending on the previous week where I thought there were holes or things I needed to work on. I pick a specific shot and we’ll always start off with that, like hands,” he explained.

“I can never get enough dinking. Coming from tennis and being a more singles dominant game, I work on a lot of dinking. I also always hit serves and target work. I love hitting targets, so I’ll set up a water bottle and just hit it like five times in a different spot.”

He and his fiancée, Hannah Blatt, regularly work on target practice drills at home.

Mary and Maggie Brascia drill together for a minimum of two hours each day to keep their games sharp.

Their dad and coach, Vinnie, revealed what their training sessions typically include. 

“The girls try to drill at least two to three hours a day. Sometimes, we’ll add some playing on top of that as well. They have to have a routine. We always joke that it takes three hours to get through everything. On top of that, there’s specific shots you’re emphasizing and new things to learn, so we’re always trying to see how the game is evolving and what we can do to keep up with it,” noted Brascia. 

“For example, with the gals especially, the backhand side is becoming more and more important, so we’re constantly watching, seeing what’s working, and thinking about how we can stay competitive.”

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