Decoding Your Opponent: A Guide to In-Game Adjustments for Intermediate Players

The intermediate plateau in pickleball is a familiar landscape for many players. You’ve mastered the basic strokes, you can sustain a dink rally, and you understand the fundamental strategies. Yet, you find yourself hitting a ceiling. You win against players you know you’re better than, but you consistently fall short against evenly matched or slightly superior opponents. The missing piece of the puzzle, the key that unlocks the next level, often isn’t a new shot but a new way of thinking: the art of the in-game adjustment.

For many intermediate players, a match is a pre-programmed event. They enter with a default strategy—”drive the third, get to the net, dink until you see an opening”—and execute it relentlessly, regardless of what’s happening on the other side of the net. This is static pickleball. Winning pickleball, however, is dynamic. It’s a fluid conversation, a chess match on a 44-foot court where every shot is a question and every response reveals a clue.

This guide is your decoder ring. We will move beyond the “what” of pickleball strategy and dive deep into the “why” and the “when.” You will learn to transform from a player who simply executes a game plan into a dynamic problem-solver who reads the game, identifies opponent patterns, and makes calculated adjustments to dismantle their strategy and secure victory.

Phase 1: The Pre-Game Reconnaissance (The First Five Minutes)

The process of decoding your opponent begins the moment you step on the court, even before the first serve. The warm-up is not just for loosening your muscles; it’s your first intelligence-gathering mission. Too many players waste this opportunity by mindlessly hitting balls back and forth. Instead, turn your warm-up into a diagnostic session.

Probe the Backhand: In a non-threatening way, hit a variety of shots to your opponents’ backhand side. Is it a confident, well-executed stroke, or does it look awkward and defensive? Do they slice it, punch it, or try to run around it to hit a forehand? Note any hesitation or inconsistency. This is often the most common and exploitable weakness.
Test Their Reach and Mobility: Send some shots wide. Move them side-to-side and then test their forward and backward movement with a few drops and lobs. Do they move fluidly, or do they seem labored? Are they quick to the kitchen line? Do they backpedal effectively for overheads?
Observe Their Shot Selection: What shots do they favor in the warm-up? Are they driving everything with power, or are they practicing their drops and dinks? This gives you an initial glimpse into their preferred style of play.
Listen to Their Communication (Doubles): How do they talk to each other? Is it confident and collaborative, or are there early signs of tension or mismatched expectations?

This initial five-minute investment provides a baseline hypothesis. For example: “Player A has a shaky, high-backhand volley, and Player B seems a bit slow moving laterally.” This isn’t a definitive conclusion, but it’s a starting point for your in-game strategy.

Phase 2: The In-Game Analysis (Reading the Live Data)

Once the match begins, your primary focus should be on observation and pattern recognition. Every rally provides a stream of data. Your job is to interpret it in real-time.

Decoding Shot Patterns and Tendencies

The Third Shot: This is one of the most revealing shots in pickleball. What is their go-to third shot? Is it a hard drive, a looping drop, or a dink from the transition zone? Do they have a consistent choice, or do they mix it up? If they always drive, you and your partner can prepare for a fast-paced volley exchange. If they always drop, you can hold your ground at the kitchen line, ready to pounce on anything high. A player who only has one type of third shot is highly predictable.
Dinking with a Purpose (or Lack Thereof): When in a dinking rally, where do they place the ball? Do they consistently dink cross-court? Do they favor dinking to one player’s forehand or backhand? Or are their dinks random and without clear intention? Look for the pattern. Many intermediate players have a “safe” dink they revert to under pressure.
The “Out” Ball: Pay close attention to which shots they let go. A player who confidently lets balls fly out that are only an inch or two wide has excellent court awareness. A player who swings at everything, including balls that are clearly sailing out, is likely anxious or lacks discipline. You can exploit this by hitting shots with heavy topspin that look in but land out.
Resetting Under Pressure: When you hit a hard shot at their feet or body, how do they react? Can they effectively reset the ball into the kitchen, or do they pop it up for an easy put-away? A player who can’t reset is vulnerable to aggressive, targeted attacks.

Decoding Court Positioning and Movement

Kitchen Discipline: Do they hold their ground at the Non-Volley Zone line, or are they chronic “drifters,” slowly backing away from the line during a dink rally? A drifter gives up crucial court position and creates angles for you to exploit.
Covering the Middle: In doubles, how well do they cover the middle of the court? Is there a clear understanding of who takes the middle shot, or is there hesitation and confusion? A “no-man’s-land” in the middle is a prime target.
Stacking and Switching: Do they stack? If so, are they fluid and efficient, or does it seem to confuse them? Can you disrupt their preferred positioning by hitting serves or returns to unexpected locations that prevent them from stacking easily?

Decoding the Partnership (Doubles)

Identify the Alpha and the Beta: In almost every partnership, there is a more aggressive, dominant player (the Alpha) and a more steady, supportive player (the Beta). The Alpha might try to take more than their half of the court. You need to identify this dynamic. Sometimes, the best strategy is to feed the Alpha’s ego, let them try to hit low-percentage “hero” shots, and force them into errors.
Find the Weaker Link: While it may sound predatory, effective tournament play is about exploiting weaknesses. Through your initial probing and in-game analysis, you should identify the player with the less reliable strokes, poorer mobility, or more fragile mental game. This doesn’t mean you hit every single ball to that person—that’s too predictable. But under pressure, on critical points, you should have a clear “target” in mind.
Watch for Negative Body Language: A roll of the eyes, a slump of the shoulders, a frustrated sigh after a partner’s mistake—these are cracks in the foundation of a partnership. When you see this, increase the pressure on that team. Hit a few shots to the player who made the last error to see if their partner’s frustration grows. A team battling itself is an easy team to beat.

Phase 3: Making the Adjustment (Executing the New Game Plan)

Observation without action is useless. This is where intermediate players often falter. They might notice a weakness but fail to adjust their own game to exploit it. You must be willing to deviate from your pre-planned strategy.

Tactical Adjustments

Change the Pace: If your opponents are thriving on hard-hit drives and fast exchanges, slow the game down. Instead of driving the third shot, execute a soft drop. Instead of banging a volley, reset it into the kitchen. This disrupts their rhythm and forces them to play a game they are less comfortable with. Conversely, if your opponents are patient dinkers, inject pace. Drive the ball at the player who is drifting back or has a slow reset.
Change the Placement: Stop hitting the ball to your opponent’s “happy zone.” If you’ve identified a weak backhand, make that your primary target. This doesn’t just mean hitting every ball there, but hitting the most important balls there. Dinks, serves, returns, and volleys should be directed to that weaker side. Attack the middle to create confusion. Use lobs to push players off the kitchen line if they are slow to retreat.
Change the Shot Selection: Are your third-shot drops consistently finding the net? Stop hitting them for a while. Switch to a drive to back up your opponents and give yourself more time to get to the net. Is your cross-court dink getting attacked? Switch to dinking down the line. Don’t be stubborn. If a shot isn’t working, shelve it and try something else.

Mental Adjustments

The “Plan B” Mentality: You must have the mental flexibility to abandon a failing strategy. If “Plan A” isn’t working by the time the score is 3-3 or 4-4, you need to have a “Plan B.” This is where your in-game analysis pays off. Your “Plan B” should be a direct response to what you’ve observed. For example: “Plan A was to dink patiently, but they are out-dinking us. Plan B is to increase our pace, target Player A’s backhand volley, and drive the ball down the middle.”
Communicate with Your Partner: Adjustments are a team effort. Have a quick, concise conversation with your partner during side changes or timeouts. “They are killing us when we drive. Let’s try dropping the third for the next few points.” “Her backhand is weak. Let’s keep the pressure there.” This ensures you are both on the same page and executing the new strategy together.
Stay Disciplined: Once you’ve decided on an adjustment, commit to it. Don’t try it for one point, have it fail, and then immediately revert to your old habits. Give the new strategy time to work. It takes discipline to stick to a game plan that might feel unnatural at first, but this discipline is the hallmark of an advanced player.

Conclusion: From Player to Problem-Solver

Moving up the pickleball ladder is less about adding a fancy new shot to your arsenal and more about sharpening your mind. It’s about recognizing that every opponent and every match presents a unique puzzle. Your task is to use the first few games to find the puzzle’s border, identify the colors and patterns of the pieces, and then systematically put them together.

Start by actively observing in your warm-ups. During matches, shift a portion of your mental energy from just “hitting the ball” to “understanding why you’re hitting the ball.” Look for the patterns, probe for weaknesses, and have the courage to change your game plan when it isn’t working. By learning to decode your opponents and making intelligent in-game adjustments, you will not only win more matches but also develop a deeper, more strategic appreciation for the game of pickleball. You will evolve from someone who simply plays the game to someone who truly understands it.