John, I really like the visual recap at the end of your lessons. Nice work.

Great technical advice, easy to understand. Thank you

Totally helped my game this morning! Thank you !!

FYI Counter attack video isn't linked -- just the title is in the description

Oh boy. Great instruction. Thank you. Lots to think about. I'll try - but I'm a 5'4" 66 yr old woman facing 6'5" men wearing headbands who love to bang. I see Viv David ( my hero) facing anyone - at my age I'm more trepadacious - but I'll keep trying. Love the vids!

One of the only correct videos on this topic on KZfaq.

thanks John screen, shot capture is a winner!

Great video I’m a new subscriber now

Question: I really appreciate this video as it opened my eyes to a new perspective on how to punish bangers and who doesn't love that! I'm also wondering when server side are trying to drive at receivers when both receivers are at the kitchen if a dead drop reset isn't just as, or more punishing. This shot often receives a mad dash to the net and a popup which is easily smashed. I know many say to keep the back and not give the an easy entry to the kitchen but at my level the dead drop reset is quite effective. Perhaps you just need a full quiver of options to apply. p.s. I did get in a overly serious discussion with a player on this very topic who insisted that slowing the game down with drops and dinks was the only way to deal with bangers. Its interesting/funny how set in our ways we can be about this stuff. TY!

Superbly done, JC!

I gotta practice my low, medium paced drives! I think controlled drives is a difficult skill-almost as hard as 3rd shot drops and resets.

My GB Pro Pwr can "punch volley" your "bang"back at your 10 ring when I play it right.

If I could hire this man for a month my game would go up 100%

Well done. Better than most on this subject. Liked.

Are you using the lightweight or mid weight version?

Many bangers prefer to stand near the back and in that case you DO want to slow it down because they often can't get to it in time. It's much harder to return their long range attack with a counter attack and aim it at their feet than to dink it over

I wish you linked the counter-attack video somewhere. really want to check that out. p.s. we lazy as shit man

John I know you know 10 times more than me but I still find the reset an effective shot. Once I slow it down and start moving them around by the kitchen they dont have the skill to play there.

I use to drive hard repeatedly until I found there are many other ways to score points. Against a tall opponent who can easily deflect any balls low, sideways, he has killed every attack shots. It frustrates me so much but it teaches me to learn to do the same and use it as my deflect 'reset shot' against other bangers. Most players don't realise it is 'we make them look good' by feeding them back the best return every time, knee height and to their forehand to keep banging us every time. Think backhand and direct to that area or play the net game. Bangers hate that, they have no patience and will pull trigger after a few play at net. Look for 'shoulder high, let it fly' balls.

5:08 now we cant unsee it. When zane said you have the best butt in pickleball. If pball does this to my glutes too, i am so following every word you say

@shipwreck8847 I totally agreed with you. Been trying to tell people that Pickleball is evolving with all the new powerful paddle technology that allows you to generate tons of topspin. Doesn't matter how good you are even at Pro levels... If a good banger / hard drives with good tennis background rips the ball at you full power in the transition area and you're at the kitchen line you're gonna be like a sitting duck. How fast can a human reflex be to consistently and successful react to a bullet going at you. In a split second you have to guess is it going to your right or to your left? And even if you guess right you're still on defend trying to survive that attack. You're not gonna have time to counter that attack. And these good bangers keeps the ball in 80% of the time. If everyone practice been a good Banger as much as they practice been a good dinker then their overall game will improve too. John and Zane played against the 5.5 where they can't hit into the kitchen and they have to bang or speed up and the 5.5 had a lot of problems dealing with the pace and reflex volleys. If these high level players have problems with the bangers your rec players will definitely have problems too. Especially if you are older players. Your reflexes are not as fast as you think anymore. So I think if you're an Older player and you practice getting really good at banging your older opponents they will have a hard time reacting to the hard drives. With all the new powerful paddle technology it's not hard to generate extreme power unlike the old days. It is what it is. Evolve with the game. John no offense, I love your contents and videos. I learn so much from it. How to beat Bangers... Easier said than done. Bangers doesn't have to be a bad word. Banging is another tool in your tool box to go to. So instead of... how to beat Bangers... become a good banger yourself. Add that to your tool box. If that strategy works and wins you points then that is an effective strategy. Not all bangers doesn't know how to dink. Bangers can be very good at dinking too cuz that's the first thing you learn when playing pickleball. But they're also very good at Banging cuz that's what they practice most. And if good dinkers don't practice been a good Banger then they are miss out on a very important skill. Banging or hard drives used by good players are very effective tool in your game. No more 90% 3rd shot drops. You see more hard drives 3rd shots then ever. You also see more Shake n Bake from hard drives set ups then ever before too. It is what it is. The game is evolving...

1. punish 2. leave (the out balls) 3. don't give it to them Great tips. Had someone ask me the same thing recently; my advice was 1. drill getting atracked, 2. relax your grip so you aren't popping up blocks and you can drop balls too low & close to the net to be driven hard without it sailing out, 3. drill letting it fly til you get good at judging which ones to leave, and most importantly, 4. target weak spots where they either aren't comfortable banging or they suck at it (lack control). E.g. deep sliders, jam them, backhand, avoid their banging comfort zone, making their decision to bang it lower percentage, higher risk. There are also points about paddle position & court position & watching the opponent's paddle, but this was someone troubled by 3.0ish old men's banging habits, not sophisticated precision attackers. Even absorbing pace & cushioning drops would be effective because they're not that mobile.

No offense John, but this information is so general. I don't think it helps when you're playing against tennis bangers who are hitting top spin bangs and driving a ball 70 mph at your chest or at your head. When the ball comes at you that fast, it's very hard to have time to process it to leave it or to hit it, so your instinct is to just hit it back, but a ball at your head is hard to defend. Especially if you don't hit it where the ball pops up and it gets crashed on. I would like to see a video where there's 5.0 level bangers Also when bangers are hitting a ball that hard in the middle, it's very hard to judge the contact point because the ball isn't directly in front of you, it's off to the side, so it's hard to know where the ball is going to hit.

This is the Counter Attack Video he mentions: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/jrmWl7metsinlIk.html

In summary, you beat a banger by possessing 4.5+ court skills.

I don’t see the link for counter attacking

So…it doesn’t mean you can’t dink, but if you do, the ball has to barely skim the net, right?

My favorite shot is when a banger tries to drive from the baseline and I do my stun volley, the ball just dies in the kitchen and they have no chance

It's funny, I don't think I've heard anyone refer to another player as a banger except the older crowd. The reality is in order to be good you cannot solely rely on either drops or drives, gotta do both. Acting like driving is a sin will pigeon hole people into staying at a low level.

There are tons of videos about playing bangers some from people you know - like Zane - and I have never ever ever ever heard the advice is to “slow it down” to beat bangers. What they do is what you did - they say that the advice is to slow it down but no one ever poojts to a video that actually suggests this. Because there are none. Every single video that talks about beating bangers says the strategy is to attack back.