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What Is the Ready Position in Pickleball?
The ready position is the stance you return to between shots. It is a balanced athletic posture in which you’re prepared to move in either direction immediately, stay focused, and play your next shot effectively.
Key Elements:
– Feet shoulder-width or slightly wider
– Weight in balls of your feet and bent knees
– Paddle held at chest position or slightly to your backhand side
– Relaxed but engaged elbows
– Eyes on the opponent’s body, paddle, and the ball.
The stance isn’t static, it’s dynamic. You should have the feeling you’re going to pounce, burst out of the blocks like a sprinter. It’s the “ready” stance for a reason: your next shot is always a split second away.
The Ready Position: How It Impacts Your Game
When done right, the ready stance influences several aspects of pickleball performance:
1. Improved Reaction Time
Whether standing in the baseline or the kitchen line, reaction time matters. A good split step with a ready stance enables you to respond a few milliseconds earlier, often the margin between hitting a winner or getting passed.
2. Greater Movement and Coverage of the Court
The ready stance allows you to move forward, side to side, or backward easily. It causes you not to hesitate and enables you to burst to the ball without becoming unbalanced. Drill practice without a solidly defined ready stance is building a house on quicksand.
3. Optimal Shot Execution
Your ability to hit a controlled dink, block a speed-up, or hit a reset depends on balance. The ready stance lets your weight stay centered, so you do not lean forward excessively or lose balance.
4. Mental Awareness and Concentration
Being in the ready stance is not only physical preparation but also concentrates your mind. It helps you stay mentally focused, observe your opponent, and anticipate their shot patterns.
Why Many Beginners Neglect the Ready Position
It’s surprisingly common for new players to overlook the ready position. Some common reasons include:
– Lack of Awareness: New players often focus more on paddle mechanics or where the ball is going. Later in the process, body and foot positioning come into play.
– Discomfort and Fatigue: Sustaining a half-squatted stance requires endurance in the lower body and core strength. New players tire easily and fall back into standing up straight and placing their feet flat.
– Over-Attention to Shots: Because the payoff for fancy shots is more rewarding than “standing properly,” new players may not value the instant payoff for understanding their stance.
Poor Game Rhythm: New players jump in prematurely or after the beat. Their timing and rhythm are off without a conditioned, ready stance, producing poor resets, dinks, or missed volleys.
How to Train the Ready Position
Developing an effective ready stance takes consistent practice, but the results are well worth the effort.
1. Shadow Drills
Stand on the court without a ball and practice the play movements. After noting each imaginary shot, return immediately to the ready stance. Practice lifting your paddle and keeping your feet moving.
2. Split-Step Timing
The split step is a slight hop you make right before your opponent impacts the ball. It makes you light on your feet and positions you to move in any direction. Incorporate it into all your practice drills.
3. Reaction Drill with a Partner
Have your partner provide directional commands (left, right, in, deep) or hit balls unpredictably to cause you to move off the ready stance. Practice quick, balanced movement.
4. Record Yourself
Record yourself during drills or match play. Are you dropping your paddle between shots? Are you standing upright after a serve? Analyzing this footage can help correct posture and timing issues.
5. Incorporate into Game Play
Practice resetting to your ready stance after every shot, even in casual games. It should become second nature, like breathing between points.
How Pro Players Use the Ready Position
Elite players make the ready position look effortless—but don’t be fooled. It’s a meticulously trained skill.
Ben Johns is known for his extraordinary hands at the net. He maintains an impeccable ready stance during kitchen exchanges. His paddle is almost always at chest level, slightly leaning forward.
Anna Leigh Waters uses a wider ready stance for quick lateral bursts and keeps her paddle face slightly toward her backhand, a clever tactic for frequent attacks in that area.
Tyson McGuffin’s explosive footwork is built on a rock-solid ready position. He resets to it constantly, playing high-intensity points without losing balance.
Key Takeaway: Professional players don’t just use the ready position—they depend on it.
Ready Position Differences for Women and Men
Despite the same good stance fundamentals for everyone, there are a few differences in how men and women might do it:
– Center of Gravity: Women have a lower center of gravity that favors balance and speedy direction changes. The top women players usually have a slightly broader stance to utilize this advantage.
– Paddle Height: Men tend to hit more powerful shots, so paddle height is kept chest-high or higher. Many women players will keep their paddle slightly lower in anticipation of drinks or shots to their feet.
– Style of Play: The dynamics of mixed doubles influence stance—women play more defense at the net, and men cover more of the court side to side.
Bottom Line: The stance is not one-size-fits-all; it should evolve with your game.
The Ready Position and Strategic Adaptability
The ready stance also allows the player to adapt to the varying conditions of the match.
– Pace Adjustment: As the rally speed increases, the stance may need to descend a little, and the paddle may need to change position.
– Opponent-Specific Strategy: For a banger, paddle up and body forward. For a soft game, ready to cover the low shots.
– Energy Conservation: An efficient stance reduces unnecessary motion and saves energy, especially in long games.
Long-Term Benefits of a Mastered Ready Position
Training the ready position builds:
– Consistency across shots and rallies
– Confidence in fast-paced exchanges
– Better shot selection through improved anticipation
– Physical endurance by optimizing body mechanics
– Fewer unforced errors, especially near the net
Over time, it becomes a hallmark of advanced players and a critical component of competitive success.
Final Thoughts
The ready position may not be as glamorous as a backhand roll or ATP shot, but it’s the foundation of great pickleball.
Whether you’re just starting or training for tournaments, integrating a dynamic, well-practiced, ready stance will yield faster reactions, fewer errors, and better overall results.
Before you make that perfect shot, ensure you’re ready to move.
References
1. USA Pickleball Official Training Guide – https://usapickleball.org
2. Johns Hopkins Medicine – Why Posture Matters in Sports – https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org
3. Ben Johns Instructional Series on YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@benjohnspickleball
4. Pickleball Magazine – Mastering the Split Step – https://www.thepickler.com
5. Tyson McGuffin Official Website – https://www.tysonmcguffin.com
6. NIH – Gender Differences in Sports Biomechanics – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7052071/
Picture Source: JOOLA Pickleball