A pop-up happens when a player accidentally lifts the ball too high in the air, allowing their opponent to smack it down hard. Although your opponents may enjoy receiving pop-ups (and even write you a nice thank-you note), we assume you would prefer not to hit them. To reduce your number of pop-ups, you first need to understand what causes them. There are currently six major “scientifically” proven reasons that players pop up the ball. (Confession: Our “scientific” method results from years of teaching and observing students. Hey, that doesn’t mean the six reasons aren’t true.)

• Standing in an improper ready position: If an opponent hits a ball towards a player who is not ready, and possibly not even awake, they'll have to quickly raise their paddle up to intercept it. This rapid raising of the paddle means the ball can go in only one direction: up! If you ever see a player standing like this, hit the ball right to them. Meanwhile, keep your own paddle up and stay in the good ready position.
• Dropping your paddle head: Dropping the tip of your paddle down toward the ground so that your paddle is mostly vertical, is another major cause of pop-ups. First, it encourages “wristiness.” You won’t find that word in a dictionary, but in pickleball talk, it means you’re using your wrist too much. When you flick at the ball with your wrist rather than use your larger joints, you struggle with accuracy. Dropping the paddle head also encourages you to swing upward in a “scooping” motion instead of pushing forward through the ball. This scooping motion makes it difficult to get any topspin on the ball. Instead of a nice, low shot that arcs over the net, you get a shot that flies straight up into the air – a tasty treat for your drooling opponents looking to slam.
• Hitting behind you: The only time you should be hitting the ball behind your body is when you’re dazzling the crowd with a trick shot. Otherwise, you want to hit every ball out in front of you. After the ball gets past your “V,” you’re already late and will have to use your wrist to make up for it. At that point, your odds of hitting an accurate shot are very slim. Starting from a good ready position, with both hands out in front of you, makes intercepting the ball earlier and out in front much easier.
• Swinging too fast: When you swing too fast, especially at a low “red light” ball, you add too much energy to the ball. The ball continues to rise as it crosses over the net rather than dying (running out of energy) and dropping low. A ball on the rise looks a lot like a pop-up – because it is one! Remember this phrase: “When it’s low, go slow.” Most players don’t need nearly the amount of power they bring to each shot. Swinging too fast is the most common cause of pop-ups at intermediate and advanced levels. Slow down and hit carefully, guiding the ball to your intended target.
• Incorrect paddle face: Using too “open” of a paddle face on volleys and groundstrokes can cause the ball to rebound off your paddle with too much loft. An open paddle face points up in the air, so that’s exactly where the ball is going to go. Try to keep the paddle face mostly flat at the point of impact so that the ball travels forward instead of upward.
• Running through your shot: If you were trying to catch an egg thrown at you, would you sprint toward it as fast as you can? We hope your answer is “no.” (We also hope nobody in your life has a habit of tossing eggs at you.) If you want to stay in control of your shots, you need a pause in momentum. Hit your shot with a forward weight shift and then move in behind your shot. If you combine running forward with trying to hit your shot at the same time, you’ll probably deliver an out-of-control pop-up. A ball that you’ve hit with your entire body mass traveling at high velocity simply has too much momentum behind it.