Advanced Pickleball Partner Drills: A new video highlights the best two-person pickleball drills to improve faster than by just playing matches. The drills, demonstrated on court, focus on targeted skill-building through competitive, yet structured routines. Each drill helps players sharpen accuracy, pressure response, and movement in real game scenarios.
Creative Drills Replace Basic Routines
In the video, the host criticizes standard warmups. “It’s an absolute pet peeve of mine when people just warm up their dinks by sitting in the same spot and hitting to the same spot.” Instead, players are urged to use Battleships, a game where four cones act as targets. Partners score by moving each other and “sinking ships.” A rally win earns one point; hitting a cone is worth three.
“We’re going to take that ship away,” the instructor explains after scoring. “Then they keep going until someone reaches 10.”
Pressure and Prediction with Tug of War
The second drill, Tug of War, adds pressure. Players begin with 5 points and only use dinks. If one wins a rally, they gain a point while the other loses one.
“It is just dinks only… now the score is 6-4,” the demonstrator notes after one exchange. The game continues until someone reaches 10, while the other hits zero. For added challenge, players may allow only air volleys as speed-ups.
Calling Shots with Confidence
The third drill, Winner, encourages players to call their putaway shots before hitting them. This builds patience and strategic decision-making.
“You have to call winner before the winning shot,” the host explains. A correct call earns a point. A wrong one deducts a point. “Winner,” the player calls and then fails, saying, “Because I called winner and it wasn’t the winning shot, I get negative one.”
The game runs to seven points, sharpening judgment.
Simulating Real-Game Trouble
The fourth drill, Trouble, simulates defensive play. One player starts at the baseline while the other smashes an overhead from the kitchen.
“This is going to teach you how to know when to just get the ball over the net and when to get the ball over the net and advance forward,” the host says. Once at the net, play continues until one wins. Then the roles switch.
Baseline Challenges with 7-11
In 7-11, one player at the baseline tries to win rallies and advance. The baseline player must score 7 to win; the opponent at the kitchen must score 11.
“If I miss, he gets one point,” the host explains. “Now it’s one-zero again.” The point continues as players switch between offense and defense.
Combining Serve, Return, and Movement
The final drill, Serve, Return, Slide, links serve accuracy with transition. One serves crosscourt and immediately slides into a straight-up skinny singles match.
“This is what it’s going to look like,” the host says. “Once we get to the kitchen, everything is fair game.” Only the server can score. Games go to 11, with sides alternating.
Why These Drills Matter
Each drill targets core parts of pickleball: dink placement, reaction, pressure, patience, and court control. While games are fun, focused repetition with purpose leads to faster improvement. These partner drills help players get more reps and better feedback than casual play.
Players can expect to see improvement in game awareness, footwork, and control if these drills are practiced consistently.
News in Brief: Advanced Pickleball Partner Drills
A new video shares top two-person pickleball drills, including “Battleships,” “Tug of War,” and “Serve, Return, Slide,” to help players build game-ready skills like shot selection and movement. Each drill mimics real play while focusing on repetition, pressure, and strategy.
ALSO READ: 6 Essential Pickleball Drills to Fix Common Mistakes and Win More Matches