How to Beat Bangers in Pickleball

We’ve all been there. You walk onto the court, and your opponent starts hammering every ball as hard as they can. Bangers can be frustrating to play against — but they’re very beatable once you know the playbook.

Understanding the Banger

A banger’s strategy is simple: hit hard, hit fast, and hope you make errors. Their game plan relies on:

• Overpowering you with pace
• Forcing you into defensive positions
• Making you uncomfortable with speed

The good news? This one-dimensional style has clear weaknesses you can exploit.

Strategy 1: Block and Reset

The most important skill against bangers is the reset shot. Instead of trying to return their hard shots with equal power, absorb the pace and drop the ball softly into the kitchen.

How to reset effectively:

• Soft hands — Loosen your grip to absorb the impact
• Paddle out front — Keep your paddle ahead of your body, not swinging
• Short backswing — Almost no backswing at all. Just redirect
• Aim low over the net — A reset that clears the net by 2-3 inches is perfect

Strategy 2: Take Time Away

Bangers need space and time to load up on their shots. Position yourself at the kitchen line and take that away from them.

• Move forward aggressively after serves and returns
• Hold the kitchen line — don’t back up when they drive
• Volley their drives out of the air — this gives them less time to set up

Strategy 3: Use Their Pace Against Them

A banger’s power can actually be your advantage. Their hard shots mean you need less swing to redirect the ball. The harder they hit, the softer your touch needs to be.

• Block volleys cross-court — the ball will travel fast with minimal effort from you
• Redirect angles — use their pace to send the ball to spots they can’t reach
• Drop their drives — let the ball’s own energy die in the kitchen

Strategy 4: Target Their Feet

Hard hitters love balls at chest height — that’s their attack zone. Force them to play balls at their feet, which is the hardest spot to generate power from.

• Keep your shots low — everything should be below the net when it crosses
• Dink to their feet when at the kitchen line
• Hit deep returns that land near the baseline and bounce low

Strategy 5: Be Patient

Bangers want short rallies. They want to end points quickly with their power. Your job is to extend rallies and make them play more balls. The longer the rally, the more likely a banger makes an error.

• Don’t try to match their power — this is exactly what they want
• Dink until they pop one up — then attack
• Stay calm — their intimidation factor drops when you don’t react to their pace

The Mental Game

The biggest mistake players make against bangers is getting frustrated and trying to out-hit them. Stay disciplined. Trust your soft game. Every banger has a breaking point — it’s usually around the 8th or 9th dink when they try to speed up a ball they shouldn’t.

Remember: power is exciting, but control wins games.

New to the soft game? Start with how to master the dink shot and build your reset skills with our third shot drop drills.