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Pro Coach Susannah Barr works with Thomas on taking his forehand dink from consistent to genuinely aggressive. Thomas already dinks reliably. What he doesn't have is pressure: the ball comes back safely, but it never makes his opponent uncomfortable. Susannah spots the reason in his very first few dinks. His paddle tip drops straight down toward the ground. Coach Susannah rebuilds the shot around one idea: drop your knees, not your paddle head.
❌ What's costing him pressure:
• The paddle tip drops straight down between his legs, so every dink becomes a lift-and-roll
• He short-hops the ball instead of letting it rise and start to come back down
• The ball gets jammed up in front of his body, with no room to swing
• The paddle opens late, after the bounce, which forces a bigger takeback
• He rolls with the arm from a low paddle instead of dropping his body
✅ What Susannah changes:
• Point the end of the paddle toward the sideline, corner down, more parallel to the ground
• Drop your knees to reach a low ball — the body drops, the paddle head doesn't
• Pull the right foot back to buy space, and move your feet instead of dropping the paddle
• Open the paddle as soon as you read a forehand dink, before the bounce
• Make contact out in front, where you can still see your paddle and the ball
• Accelerate through the ball with a short, compact follow-through
• Firm wrist, grip pressure around a 4 or 5
• Cut the ball off out front for the sharp cross-court; let it carry past you when you want the line
• When you're pushed back and off balance, take pace off and reset to the middle or their inside foot
• Take it out of the air and attack it whenever you can
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⏱️ Key Moments
0:00 The fix, in 60 seconds
1:16 Meet Thomas — a consistent dink with no pressure
1:53 His forehand dink before any changes
2:20 The problem: the paddle tip drops to the ground
2:38 Spacing — let the ball rise, then fall
2:55 Point the paddle at the sideline, contact out front
4:03 Drop your knees, not your paddle head
5:15 Pull the right foot back to create space
5:44 Adding pace by accelerating at contact
6:31 What the change feels like
7:54 Catch it before it gets past you
8:28 Cross-court vs. down the line
9:13 Grip pressure and a firm wrist
9:33 Open the paddle early, before the bounce
10:15 Taking the dink out of the air
11:05 Susannah at full speed
11:25 From consistent to a weapon
11:46 Join The Flying Pickle Academy
🎥 Watch Next — fix the other side: Two Handed Backhand Dink Masterclass → https://youtu.be/rdzIGT4SGxA
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