Five third-shot-drop mistakes you can spot on your own video
The third-shot drop is a lift, not a hit, and almost every drop that fails does so for one of a handful of reasons. Here are five of the most common, each one you can catch on a clip filmed from the side. The reframe that fixes more drops than any single cue: you are tossing the ball into the kitchen, not hitting it.
Five drop mistakes you can see on film
1. Hitting it, not lifting it
How you spot it: The drop sails deep past the kitchen, or pops up to chest height for an easy put-away.
The fix: Think about tossing the ball into a bucket. Slow, deliberate swing, and let the arc do the work. See the drill.
2. Backswing too big
How you spot it: Your paddle travels behind your body and the drop becomes a coin flip. Perfect one rep, into the net the next.
The fix: Keep the swing short and in front of you. Imagine a wall right behind you. See the drill.
3. Reaching for it
How you spot it: You are stretched out to the side with your arm extended, off balance, and contact is different every time.
The fix: Move your feet so your hips are behind the ball, then take contact out in front. See the drill.
4. Your chest rises
How you spot it: Drops sail deep, and on video from the side you can see yourself standing up as you swing.
The fix: Set your chest angle at setup and hold it all the way through contact. See the drill.
5. Cut-off finish
How you spot it: Your drops die in the net and the swing stops around waist height.
The fix: Soften your grip and extend the follow-through up to about shoulder height. A drop finishes higher than a dink. See the drill.
The common thread
Notice that four of these five are things your body does, not things your paddle does: a backswing that runs too long, a chest that rises, reaching instead of moving your feet, a finish that stops short. They are the reason a drop that feels identical lands perfectly one rep and in the net the next, and they are exactly what a skeleton over your footage makes visible.
See what you cannot feel
Dinklix draws a pose skeleton on a ten-second clip of your swing and names what your body did. It is coming to iOS. Join the early-access list and we will email you the day it is on the App Store.