Why Dinking Isn’t Always the Smartest Pickleball Strategy

“The Soft Game Is Always Better”: When Dinks Backfire

The soft game is often viewed as the gold standard of pickleball strategy. Coaches praise it. Players admire it. The dink rally, in particular, is treated like a rite of passage—something that separates the serious competitors from the casual hitters. And it’s true that soft play has a critical role in the modern game. Dinks build patience, control tempo, and create openings without taking unnecessary risks.

But here’s where things go wrong: the idea that soft is always better.

It’s not.

There are times when dinking is exactly the wrong choice—when it hands your opponent an advantage, stalls momentum, or even leads directly to losing the point. The key isn’t choosing between soft or aggressive play. It’s knowing when soft play works—and when it backfires.

When Dinking Becomes Predictable

One of the most common problems in lower to intermediate levels is blind dinking. A player receives a ball at the kitchen line and automatically sends back a soft dink, regardless of the situation. The logic is simple: “I’m at the non-volley zone, so I should dink.”

But when dinks become predictable, they lose their value. The goal of a dink is not just to keep the ball in play—it’s to maneuver your opponent, pressure their movement, and eventually create a ball you can attack. If you’re placing every dink to the middle or softly cross-court without variation, your opponents settle in. They stop moving. They get comfortable.

A comfortable opponent is a dangerous opponent. They’ll start speeding up balls on their terms. They’ll bait you into a soft rally, then pounce when you leave something a little too high. And all that dinking you thought was helping? It just became a trap.

Dinks should create discomfort. If they’re not forcing movement, exposing footwork, or setting up attackable balls, they’re just neutral. And neutral play doesn’t win many points at higher levels.

When the Soft Ball Gives Away Control

Not all dinks are defensive—but many become that way when used reactively.

Imagine a fast-paced exchange that ends with your opponent resetting into the kitchen. You’ve got time, your opponent is still off-balance, and instead of applying pressure, you float back a safe dink to their forehand. Now they’re back in the rally, settled at the net, and ready to reset the tempo.

You’ve just returned control to your opponent for free.

In situations where you’ve earned an advantage—whether through pace, position, or timing—using a soft shot can give away momentum. It’s not about whether the dink lands in. It’s about whether it maintains or builds pressure.

Sometimes the better option is a firm push to their feet, a controlled speed-up, or even a lob. The dink should be one of many tools, not the default setting when you’re unsure what else to do.

When Soft Play Covers Up Fear

There’s a subtle trap that many intermediate players fall into: they start using the soft game not as a tactic, but as a way to avoid taking risks.

Speeding up the ball can be intimidating. Drives can go long. Volleys can be countered. So players opt for the safe route: dinking everything. It feels like control. It feels like patience. But often, it’s just hesitation disguised as strategy.

Dinking becomes a form of hiding.

And when you’re hiding, you’re not learning. You’re not testing your ability to recognize opportunities. You’re not growing your offensive instincts. You’re playing not to lose, instead of playing to win.

The soft game works best when it’s used with intention. Not out of fear. Not out of habit. But because the moment calls for it. Using a dink to bait a pop-up or to move your opponent off the sideline is very different from dinking simply because you don’t want to mess up a volley.

When the Opponent Is Begging You to Speed Up

Some players love the dink game. They want it. They rely on it. They’ll keep you in 20-shot rallies, waiting for you to get bored, frustrated, or just plain tired. If you play into their strengths for too long, you're giving them exactly what they want.

Other opponents may not have great hand speed, or they struggle with blocks and counters. These are the players who don’t want a fast-paced point. They’re hoping you’ll keep dinking. And as long as you do, they’re safe.

In both cases, continuing to dink just feeds their comfort zone.

If you recognize that your opponents aren’t good at handling pace, then soft play might be the least effective choice. You don’t have to blast the ball, but even a controlled, well-timed speed-up can exploit that weakness. And that window may only appear once or twice in a rally. If you’re too deep into soft-mode, you might miss it completely.

Recognizing the Shift Point

Every dink rally has a moment—a shift—when the dynamic changes. Maybe your opponent’s reach is extended. Maybe they’re leaning or off-balance. Maybe you catch them with a short dink that pulls them wide. These are the moments the soft game is supposed to set up.

But too often, players ignore that signal. They continue dinking out of habit instead of seizing the opportunity to attack. The rally drags on. The advantage disappears. And the soft game that was creating pressure ends up releasing it.

Recognizing the shift point comes from awareness and experience. It means paying attention not just to the ball, but to your opponent’s body language, balance, and paddle position. It means knowing the why behind your dinks—and being ready to change gears when the chance appears.

When Dinks Work—and When They Don’t

None of this is meant to knock the value of the soft game. It’s essential. At high levels, the ability to dink with control and variation is non-negotiable. But there’s a difference between dinking as a tactic and dinking as a default.

The soft game is most effective when:

You’re using it to reset a fast-paced rally

You’re creating angles and pulling players out of position

You’re baiting a pop-up or a speed-up

You’re setting up your partner for an attack

You’re managing pace and disrupting rhythm

The soft game backfires when:

You’re dinking out of fear or habit

You’re ignoring offensive opportunities

You’re using it when your opponents are clearly stronger at it

You’re choosing it even when you have positional or pace advantage

You’re trying to win points with dinks rather than through them

Play with Purpose, Not Just Patience

The soft game is powerful—but it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution. Dinks are not magic. They don’t guarantee control or safety. Used the wrong way, they can hand away points just as easily as a missed drive or an ill-timed speed-up.

The best players don’t choose soft or aggressive—they choose purposeful.

They know when to slow the game and when to speed it up. They use dinks as a setup, not a safety net. And they’re always watching for that moment when control can shift with a single shot.

So yes, work on your dinks. Master the soft game. But don’t fall into the trap of thinking soft is always smarter. Sometimes, the smartest shot is the one your opponent isn’t expecting.

And often, that’s not a dink.