Jack Munro’s Pickleball Speedup Strategy: Pickleball player Jack Munro recently broke down how players can win more speedup battles by learning where to aim during fast exchanges. Speaking to an online audience, Munro explained why the popular strategy of targeting the right hip doesn’t always work—and how players can improve their aim by understanding body movement during play.
Understanding Strong and Weak Spots
Jack Munro began by explaining how every pickleball player has spots on their body that are strong and weak when countering a speedup.
“If I have a one-handed counter, I’m very, very strong when the ball is making contact in front of my body. But when it’s cross body, it’s very tough for me to open especially when I’m sliding and I tend to get jammed in this spot.” – (Munro)
He introduced a new way to think about where to aim: pre-slide and post-slide positions. Pre-slide is the position a player is in before they move or shift to react. Post-slide is after they’ve shifted.
“If I’m static then my spots are the same. And when my opponent who’s about to make contact with their speed up knows my spots are not going to change, then that’s where right hip is bad. That’s where right shoulder is weak.” – (Munro)
Why the Right Hip May Not Be a Weak Spot
Jack Munro explained that many players are taught to target the right hip because it’s believed to be a weak point. But this only works if the player is standing still.
“When Ethan speeds up at my right shoulder, that’s very weak when I’m static just staying here. But if I slide, now that shoulder spot then turns into the center of my chest, and that is a very strong point for me to counter at.” – (Munro)
Sliding turns once-weak spots—like the right hip—into strong ones.
“Right hip is going to be a very weak point when I’m countering statically. But if I slide then that turns into being right in front of my belly button. Very strong point.” – (Munro)
Even cross-body shots change.
“If I slide now my spot changes. I don’t even have to open if I can get there in time and hit it in front of my body.” – (Munro)
How Sliding Affects Aiming
Munro pointed out that amateur players often forget to slide while playing, which limits their ability to defend or counter strong shots.
“What sliding does is it changes your weak points and turns them into strong points.” – (Munro)
Players must also be careful not to slide too early.
“You shouldn’t slide early or else the opponent’s going to know where your weak points are going to be before they make contact with the ball.” – (Munro)
“When you’re making contact post slide… you’re going to change your right hip… your right shoulder… or crossbody… you’re going to turn it into a strong point because now I’m sliding into the counter.” – (Munro)
That means if someone speeds up toward your right hip expecting a weak return, but you slide into the shot, you could hit back with strength.
“Now my opponent is less likely to get that ball back.” – (Munro)
Rethinking What “Right Hip” Means
According to Jack Munro, when someone says to speed up to the “right hip,” it doesn’t mean to aim directly at it.
“If Ethan hears that he should speed up to my right hip and he looks at my right hip and speeds up to my right hip but then I slide and counter it in a very strong point, that’s going to be a disadvantage to him.” – (Munro)
Instead, players should aim about two feet away from that spot. This also applies to cross-body shots.
“Cross body is not right here. Even though that is across my body if I’m sliding into it, cross body is more like over here rather than here.” – (Munro)
Players need to watch how their opponent slides and change their shots based on that. If they see someone sliding to hit more backhands, the line shot may now be open.
“Now line is open. So because pre-slide I have that covered but now post-slide I don’t.” – (Munro)
What This Means for Future Play
Jack Munro wants players to understand that sliding changes the game.
“So keep in mind your spots change based off of how your opponent slides.” – (Munro)
Being able to predict how someone moves can help a player place their shot in a stronger position. Even defensive coverage changes.
“If I’m in the middle of my box which is what most of the players set up for pre-slide, okay I have line covered pretty well. I have body covered. Maybe cross body is going to be a little bit weaker. Post slide I’m going to want to slide to now cover cross body… but now line is completely open.” – (Munro)
He ended the talk by highlighting that sliding opens up more space for opponents to attack if not done properly.
“When I slide now that opens up two extra feet down the line that my opponent can work with that wasn’t there when I was pre-slide. So this is a new concept that I haven’t seen anyone talk about yet.” – (Munro)
News in Brief: Jack Munro’s Pickleball Speedup Strategy
Jack Munro explained why speeding up toward the right hip doesn’t always work in pickleball. He introduced the concepts of “pre-slide” and “post-slide” to help players understand how body movement changes weak and strong spots during play. His tips can help players win more speedups and react more effectively.
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