The Diagonal Dink

As a player becomes more advanced, there is a certain move that is hard to execute accurately. That is a diagonal dink. For right-handers, that would be when you are on the right side of the court.

The tendency is to stand to the left of the incoming ball as it bounces, and return it with a soft forehand stroke. If you are typical, you’ll find the accuracy is just terrible, with most of your returns going into the net, too deep, or too high. You might try imparting spins to fix the problem, and then it only gets worse.

The way to resolve this is to stand right behind where the ball bounces, or maybe just a bit to the left, and return it with an underhand stroke, the same as you would for a straight dink perpendicularly over the net.

The only downside is you have to move fully into position, which can require quickness and agility during play.

When warming up before games, or whenever you’d like to practice techniques, I’d recommend working on this one quite a lot.

For intermediate and advanced play, skill in diagonal dinking will win many rallies, because your opponents will still be having the trouble you once had.