Stop popping up your third shot — it's the order, not the spin
Stop popping up your third shot — it's the order, not the spin
By Sam Morris · 2026-06-16 · 3-min read
The story
The Dink ran a clean breakdown this week on fixing the popped-up third shot with a topspin drop — four fixes for spacing, weight transfer, and timing, built around a cue from Coach Cori Elliott: push and brush. Push the ball forward for depth, then brush up the back for spin. It's a good article, and the mechanics are right.
The coach's-eye view
Here's where I see it differently from how it usually gets taught. Everyone obsesses over the spin — "add topspin and it'll dip." But spin isn't the fix; it's the reward for getting the sequence right. The order is everything: push first, brush second. Push gives you depth and direction so the ball actually travels to the kitchen. The brush is what makes it dip on the way down so it can't be attacked. Players who lead with the brush — all wrist, no forward drive — either dump it in the net or, worse, leave it floating at chest height for the easiest put-away in pickleball.
I teach this in Olney every week, and the breakthrough almost never comes from "more spin." It comes from slowing the hand down and feeling the ball ride forward off the face before the wrist does anything. Spin you can add later, as your control improves. Depth you need first, or there's nothing to spin.
What 3.5s get wrong
The popped-up drop is the most reliable point-leak at 3.0–4.0, and it's almost always one of these three — none of which is a "spin problem":
- Lifting with the paddle face open. You scoop under the ball to "help it up," and physics helps it up too far. The face should stay closer to vertical; the lift comes from your legs, not from opening the paddle.
- Contact too late, behind your body. A late ball forces an upward, panicked swing. The drop is hit out in front, where you can push through it.
- All arm, no legs. Players try to manufacture a soft shot with a stiff lower body. The drop is a legs-and-shoulders shot with quiet hands — bend, then float.
If your drop is popping up, it's one of those three. It is not your paddle, and it is not a lack of wrist snap.
The fix
Here's the 30-minute-lesson version, in order:
- Get low before contact, not during. Bend your knees early so your eyes drop to ball height. You can't softly lift a ball you're reaching down at.
- Push the ball forward to a target, no spin yet. Aim for the kitchen line with a flat, low-to-low push. Just depth and direction. Hit 20 of these and feel the ball ride off the face.
- Now add the brush — last. Once the push is grooved, brush up the back of the ball at the end of the same stroke. Same push, plus topspin. The ball arcs and dips instead of floating.
Push, then brush. Depth, then spin. Get the order right and the pop-up disappears.
Drill this with us
→ Groove it before your next game with The 3-Target Serve Drill — same principle, different shot: identical motion, repeatable contact, no partner needed. → Next Pot Night: check the schedule — level-honest, player-funded brackets where you can test the new drop under real pressure.
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Tags: third-shot-drop, topspin, 3-5, technique, coachs-take, the-dink-reaction