3 Questions to Knowing When to Attack

Happy Friday!

Yesterday, I watched four 4.5 players attack at some of the worst moments I’ve ever seen.

Not only were their attacks not effective, but they were taking themselves right out of points.

In some of those points, they were in complete control until something in their head triggered them to attack.

It was a mess.

After the first couple of games, I couldn’t just watch anymore. I said, “Guys, it feels like your attacking decisions are kind of all over the place.”

Basically. . . what the heck are you doing?

They were ripping low balls from the midcourt. Attacking balls at the kitchen from two inches off the ground. And swinging big while being off balance. 

I kept track during the match, and EVERYONE’S attack success rate was well under 50%. 

Tyler chimed in first.

“I think I’m doing it because I think if I keep dinking, I’ll miss first. So I’d rather just take my chances with an attack.”

Okay. . . so fear of missing your opportunity. That makes sense.

Then JT jumped in: “The game just feels so fast right now.”

Ahh. There it is.

That sped up feeling.

Which, look, I completely get it. I've felt that same exact way, even recently. You’re out there, the points feel tense, and you just want something to happen.

So you attack.

Not because the moment was great or you thought you’d win it, but because you didn’t trust yourself to wait for the right one.

Maybe you’ve even had these thoughts when you’re playing.

Completely normal.

At that moment, I really wanted to figure out:

Why do we attack so much at the wrong time?

There are two main reasons we attack too early:

Now, before the next game, I told the guys to try waiting this time. Wait for the right time to attack.

Then something funny happened:

Nobody attacked.

At all.

Not a single ball.

😂

(Obviously, our conversation was in their heads)

They went from “swing at everything” to “swing at nothing” in a single game.

Which is also not the answer. But it’s super common.

It’s what happens when you start thinking strategically but haven’t quite built the recognition muscle yet.

And that’s the part that matters. Because:

Here’s the framework I gave them.

Before you attack, ask yourself three quick questions:

If you get all three, green light. Attack. ✅ You’re going to win a lot of those points.

If you’re missing #1 (your own balance), red light. Stop. 🛑 You’re gonna lose more often than not, even if the ball looks tempting.

If you’ve got #1 and #3 (you’re balanced and they’re off balance), yellow light. ⚠️ This is still a decent spot for attacking, because now they’re not in a good counterattacking position.

And how do you recognize those moments in real time?

You focus on core principles and teachings to train your brain on HOW to recognize them.

You build the skills from the ground up.

Starting with the most important things first.

Phase 1: The Early Game
This is your first and third shot when you’re serving, or your return (second) and fourth shot when you’re receiving.

Phase 2: The Middle Game
This is your transition into the kitchen after the serve, your defense in the midcourt, and your court position & reset execution.

Phase 3: The Kitchen Game
The kitchen is where many matches are won and lost as you play better players. 

Here, it’s all about:

The truth is, if you’re not comfortable in one of these areas, you’re going to keep guessing. And when you guess, you attack at the wrong time, out of panic.

Those guys I played with yesterday?

After we broke it down and they started seeing the right moments, it began to click.

They slowed down, stopped guessing, and when they did attack, they won more points.

Which is what I hope you’ll start to work on (after reading this newsletter).

So if you’ve made it this far, first of all, thanks for hanging out with me today 🙌

And second…

If you join ThatPickleballSchool on an Annual membership in the next 48 hours,
I’ll personally do a Virtual Match Breakdown of your game.

Here’s what that means:

If you’re currently a monthly TPS member and you’re reading this and you upgrade to Annual within the next 48 hours, I’ll do the same for you.

Why does this matter?

Members in the community have told us time and again that one of the most valuable things they did was get this virtual match breakdown done as soon as they came into the school.

This helped them know exactly what to watch and what to train FIRST to improve their game the fastest.

Imagine knowing:

That’s the power of these match breakdowns.

Since I have a few weeks off from tournaments, I will be starting on these immediately.

I hope everyone on this list takes me up on this.

I mean that. I’m committed to doing all of them myself ✊

Talk soon,

Kyle

P.S. The offer for a match breakdown from me ends Sunday night.

After you join or upgrade to an annual membership, reply to this email with your name so I can add you to my list.

From there, we’ll let you know how you can send in the video.

If you’re already a member, here is how you upgrade to annual: