John Cincola’s pickleball tips are quickly becoming some of my favorites.

Cincola provides bite-sized knowledge that is easy to understand and take to the court. 

Personally, I would love to level up my spin game. I don’t have a tennis background, so intentionally hitting a shot with spin is not in my repertoire.

Cincola started his spin lesson with three basic terms: square, open, and closed. 

“We would consider a square face angle to be straight up and down, so if you’re looking at your paddle and it’s vertical, that’s square,” he demonstrated. “If you’re open, the side of the paddle that you’re hitting the ball on is pointed more up to the sky. And the opposite would be closed, where we take the hitting side of the paddle and turn it down towards the ground.”

Next, Cincola discussed the three types of swing paths: high to low, level, and low to high. 

“The key to making this work is understanding that face angle and swing path work together, and that’s how you control the ball and control the spin. Our face angle matters in relation to the swing path,” he shared. “For example, any time my face angle is square to my path, I’m going to hit the ball pretty flat and have very little spin. The same occurs when you follow a low to high swing path with an open angle. There will be very little spin.”

Next, Cincola showcased top spin to further explain. 

“We need a face angle that’s slightly closed in relation to the swing path,” he said. 

To get a feel for the different angles, Cincola recommended trying a few drop hits and focusing on the spin you’re putting on the ball based on swing path and face angle. 

“You’re going to notice that my face angle is actually open, but because I’m swinging very vertically, the paddle is still closed in relation to the path I’m swinging,” he mentioned. “Even though I have an open face, you can see the ball rolling forward with top spin because I’m swinging up the back of the ball.”

Once you get the hang of it, Cincola recommended to grab a partner and dink back and forth to practice spin. Alternate between top spin and underspin, pay close attention to your swing path, and be aware of the face angle.  

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