Everybody hates a ballhog. There are few things more frustrating in sports than playing with one, whether it be in soccer, basketball, football, or other sports. Sadly, pickleball has these too. They’re called poachers. But pickleball poaching is not always bad. I’ve seen beginners ready to strangle their partner over it, while in tournament play teammates will rejoice over a well executed poach. It all depends on the situation.
Pickleball Poaching
Poaching occurs when you cross over the center line onto your other side of the court to hit the ball. These balls are intended for your partner and on their side but you step in and hit it anyway. As you might guess when this happens repeatedly over the course of the game it can be really frustrating for the player getting poached.
Why Does It Happen?
There is rarely a scenario where you should steal your partner’s shots.
A lot of times this just happens because of excitement. Let’s be honest. We all love pickleball, and we all love hitting the ball. Sometimes we just forget that our partner does too.
There are a few instances in game where poaching is actually a good strategy but we’ll get in to those in a minute.
Beginners
Let me be very clear. If you are playing outside of a competitive match or any tournament play, do not poach.
Given that you are reading an article about what poaching is, almost all of you fall in to this bucket.
In recreational play the goal is purely to have fun. It’s going to work best if you and your partner are equally involved in the game.
The one time this can begin to get frustrating is when your opponents are targeting the weaker player. The opponent might consistently hit every shot to your partner knowing they are more likely to mess up. Without poaching sometimes the only chance you’ll get to hit the ball is on your serve or when your opponent is forced to serve to you.
This is very common in competitive pickleball and can be a very effective strategy. It just sucks to be the person who isn’t hitting the ball. In these instances talking with your weaker partner and formulating a strategy is key. They may even feel overwhelmed and want you to poach to help them.
Beginners also often are unaware of the kitchen and its rules when poaching. They’ll let their momentum carry them into it when stepping in front of their teammate to hit the shot.
How to Poach Effectively
There are a few reasons to poach in a pickleball game. All of them are limited and for strategic uses only. Again, if playing for fun, best to let your partner hit the ball even if you risk losing the point.
Taking Advantage of Floaters
When you are at the kitchen line and your partner is in the back court, or vice versa, it makes perfect sense to poach a shot that has been popped up on your partner’s side of the court if he is the one in the back court.
These are mistakes that you want to take advantage of. The player closer to the net can react quickly, hit hard down on the ball and drive it at the opponents. This also gives the opponents less time to react. That is a winning shot. By the time the ball gets to your partner at the back court it will likely have bounced and they will he hitting up on the ball. The slam or volley at the net has a huge advantage.
This type of strategy when you and your opponent are staggered also works well on the third shot drop. Once you have satisfied the two bounce rule this is an easy way to get a quick poach from the kitchen on a volley that your opponents might not be prepared for.
Opting for Forehand
For most players the forehand is the stronger shot.
So if the ball is hit into the middle of the court, the forehand takes precedence. Whichever partner is in position to hit forehand should step over the middle if necessary and take the shot when the other would be using backhand. Be careful. These shots can cause miscommunications though. Just make sure you make it clear to your partner so they don’t accidentally try to swing at the ball too.
You see this especially in mixed doubles. The receiving team will align such that the guy’s forehand is in the center, so that any pop-ups and shots down the middle will be hit by the person who is usually physically the stronger player. It’s a perfect situation for poaching effectively.
Change-ups
Sometimes when either you or your opponents have developed a rhythm a quick poach can throw them off. Any time one team is expecting something on the next shot that doesn’t happen it can throw off their cadence and force an error.
This can also be used to help the weaker player who is being targeted by your opponents. The better player can step in to poach and allow their partner to a chance to catch their breath and gather themselves.
I’ve seen this done once where the two players switch sides so that the other player fills in the gap created by the poacher going to hit the ball. This can surprise the other team while ensuring they don’t get caught out of position leaving open court that can be exploited.
Dealing with Controversy
Poaching is the cause of so much controversy in pickleball, but most of it is entirely avoidable. Here are some tips to poach effectively, keep both of you happy, and still win the match.
- If you are playing with a new partner, its probably best to let them do their thing and stick to your own side.
- Communicate. It probably shouldn’t need to be said. But when with your regular partner make sure to talk with them about what they are okay with in game. Let them know your plans before a point. Use basic hand signals or call out when poaching a shot between the two of you.
- Hit the right ball. Poaching is a good move in the right situation. Too much of it when it offers no advantage is a surefire way to piss your teammate off.
- If you aren’t careful poaching can sometimes put you way out of position. Going too far over to your teammates side to poach can make it hard to get back to your original side in time. If your teammate didn’t ask for it this will really send them over the edge. You took their shot and still lost the point.
Wrap Up
Pickleball players almost universally have had one or multiple bad experiences with poaching. Yes there are pros that do it. Yes it can be done well. But at the end of the day we all play for the love of the sport. Just try not to be that one guy or gal taking all the fun out of it by leaving your partner out to dry.