One of my all time favorite movies was “Tombstone”, which just celebrated its 20th anniversary. Wyatt Earp (Kurt Russell) and his brothers, Morgan (Bill Paxton) and Virgil (Sam Elliott) become targets of the ruthless Cowboy gang as they try to restore order to Tombstone, AZ. But, my favorite actor wasn’t an Earp, it was Wyatt's best friend, Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer); all shooting it out in Tombstone’s (that real life firefight only took some 30 seconds at very close range) OK Corral.
 

To us Glen Park pickleball players it might conjure up some very real images of *firefights we may have experienced at the NVZ or kitchen when we begin trading shots at very close range in our own firefight, only to come out second best the majority of the time.
 

This dilemma is never more apparent than when the pressure is on and we go for a speed-up long before its time. Yes, if you watch these top elite players on the Tennis Channel, Pickleball TV, Fox Sports, or YouTube playing their dink games, all four at the net, they are being very patient, just waiting for that perfect ball...then, bang!  Too many of us, especially me, lose our patience and blister the ball ASAP, regardless of the height of the ball or our position on the court. We tend to think the dink shot is only for sissies, weaklings or children and certainly not a shot that any man’s man or woman’s woman would ever hit.
 

Dinking instead of banging is a powerful strategy that better members will use against you.  As a defensive strategy, if you can’t at least return a dink shot with another dink without hitting the ball into the net or giving your opponent a cream puff, you’ll quickly lose the game.
 

But, it’s also an excellent offensive strategy, which you can use against weaker opponents to goat them into hitting the ball into the net or giving you that sought-after cream puff.  Against players of equal-or-higher level, the dink shot gives you the opportunity to take control of the point, by defining the speed, angle and location of the ball. It also takes a huge advantage away from all the bangers we have in our membership by taking them out of their comfort zone.
 

What should us members be doing? We should be mimicking these top pro players. Patiently move your opponents back and forth in the kitchen (aiming for a right handed players left foot) until you have created an opening where you win the firefight at the NVZ by neutralizing your opponent’s advantage just like the Earp's and Doc Holliday.  Soon, much like in the 20-year-old movie classic, you’ll be able to respond; "I’m your huckleberry".

 

* Firefight definition in pickleball: A hard hitting exchange of rapid fire pickleball drives … most often occurring close to the kitchen line.