How to Hit a Pickleball Harder? The Ultimate Guide

Knowing how to hit a pickleball harder can help you win more points. If you want to learn the secret of hitting the pickleball harder without the ball going out, you are in the right place. In this article, we will be discussing how to hit a pickleball harder.

We’ll discuss some different ways for generating more power on your shots. So, if that sounds interesting to you, let us begin.

Table of Contents

• Why Should You Hit a Pickleball Harder?
  • Avoiding Predictability
  • Exploiting Your Opponents’ Weak Spot
  • Playing Singles Game
• How to Hit A Pickleball Harder Through Forehand Drive?
  • Less Backswing
  • Balance is the Key
  • Hit the Ball On the Sweet Spot
  • Master the Topspin
• Should You Hit Hard In Pickleball?
• Choosing a Heavy Pickleball Paddle to Hit A Pickleball Harder
• The Bottom Line

Why Should You Hit a Pickleball Harder?

Before we tell you how to hit the ball harder, you should know why you should hit pickleball harder. There are multiple reasons for it, which we discuss below.

Avoiding Predictability

If you hit a pickleball softly each time, you’ll easily become predictable, and your opponents might use this to their advantage. To give a tough fight to your opponents, you need to become unpredictable and mix both soft and hard shots.

Exploiting Your Opponents’ Weak Spot

Every player has a weakness. Whenever you are playing against someone, try to analyze their movement to guess what strokes they are facing difficulty with while playing it. Many players face problems against hard hits, and by becoming a hard hitter, you will gain an advantage over them.

Playing Singles Game

During a singles game, players have to cover a much larger area by themselves. So by hitting the pickleball hard, you can make it difficult for your opponent to reach the ball and secure a point.

How to Hit A Pickleball Harder Through Forehand Drive?

Professional players use forehand drive to hit the pickleball harder. In case the ball is on the other side, you can switch hands to hit powerful forehand shots.

If you are excited to learn how to hit a pickleball harder through forehand drive, here are some tips.

Less Backswing

When playing the forehand drive in pickleball, avoid too much backswing. In shorter, the lesser the backswing, the better.

When taking the backswing, make sure that the paddle is by your side, and you are coming around the ball. The paddle shouldn’t go too much behind your body or very high. Smaller backswing reduces the chances of error and the ball going out.

Balance is the Key

While hitting a pickleball harder, make sure to keep in mind that balance is the key. So, when you are hitting a forehand drive, you want to make sure you are stepping in. It’s better to have a closed stance. But if you like to play with the open stance, make sure to be broad and stable. Bending your knees is also a key component in balancing.

Hit the Ball On the Sweet Spot

When you want to hit a pickleball harder, make sure to hit the ball from the sweet spot of your paddle. This will allow you to generate more power and help you to control the ball. Hitting the ball from the center enables all the force to gather in one direction, and then you can easily adjust the pace of the pickleball as well.

Master the Topspin

Mastering the topspin will also allow you to generate more power while making sure that the ball doesn’t go out. Topspin will enable you to hit hard and allow the ball to drop rather than sail.

Though it’ll require some practice to play forehand topspin, there are multiple tutorials available online. Composite paddles will help you master the topspin.

Want to become a pro? Read our guide about becoming a professional pickleball player.

Should You Hit Hard In Pickleball?

There is no specific answer to this question because it depends entirely on the person. We have seen players who love to be bangers and hit pickleball hard using forehand drives, and we have seen players who don’t.

But generally, pickleball is a game of placement and patience, so power alone won’t help you much until you learn to control and place the ball.

Especially, in a doubles game, hitting hard can be ineffective as the court is quite small and easily covered by two players. Therefore, it’s a must to develop control while getting better at the power shots.

Choosing a Heavy Pickleball Paddle to Hit A Pickleball Harder

To hit a pickleball harder, you should use heavy pickleball paddles because heavier pickleball paddles will generate more power with less effort. You can use a heavy, composite paddle to generate more power and increase the spin of the pickleball.

If you have a lighter paddle, you can add weight to your paddle using lead tape.

But everything has its cons, and a heavier paddle can impact arm muscles and sometimes cause arm injury, due to their heavyweight.

The Bottom Line

In this article, we’ve discussed everything you need to know about hitting a pickleball.

The best way is to master the topspin forehand drive, as it not only allows you to add more power, but also keeps the ball in the court. The ball drops when players think the forehand drive is going out, and the point is lost.

Though hitting the ball hard every time is frowned upon, by learning to hit the pickleball harder and knowing when to use power, you can certainly improve your game. You can also check out our guide on improving your pickleball game here.