The Singles Playbook (Part 2) feat. Fear the Fro

[00:00:00] Hello everyone, today is part two of the Pickleball Cheat Code featuring Fear the Fro. If you haven't listened to part one, go check out last week's episode before diving into this one. Thanks so much and as always, share the show with your pickleball community.

[00:00:29] Let's chat dropping then. How often are you dropping in a match and how important do you think that is? Are you doing it typically when people are bull rushing in and you want to catch them off balance? That's most often when I'm doing it. I usually go inside out low backhand, but there's so many opportunities to leverage that shot in singles. It's very important to have simply because you want to have another option.

[00:00:54] I still drive more than I drop when people come to the net, but them knowing that I can drop is what makes a difference in them being able to predict what I'm going to do. What percentage would you say you're dropping on a crash? Obviously, it's going to change from person to person and day to day, but at scale, would you say maybe it's 10% of the time? I'd say 30. Okay, nice. It's a lot.

[00:01:21] I'm driving 70% and I'm dropping a good bit. I definitely think it's important to drop. But I drop the most when they're already up at the kitchen and I'm defending, running left and right. I'm playing somebody who is covering the net really well. I am usually running side to side and just dropping the ball, just trying to find an opportunity to cut into the court, play cat and mouse.

[00:01:46] So a lot of times I'll drop two, three balls and then try to, once I see a really good drop, I'll just crash the net and try to cover the angle I think they're going to hit the ball to. So less so when they're coming for that initial close and more so when they're already fully set and you need to kind of mix things up per se. Yes, and you want to mix things up. Then I don't really, unless my drives are working perfectly, usually I'm running left and right and I'm usually just dropping maybe five and I might hit three, four drops.

[00:02:16] They might hit a shorter ball and boom, I might drive that one. So it does set me up a lot. But I'd say drips are what is the most on a crash. It's not even drips on a crash to the backhand side, like inside out forehand. That's where I go all, that's my number one single shot. That's what I was saying earlier is I have to run around it because my backhand is such doo-doo trash.

[00:02:41] So when I'm already behind it and I have that option to go down the line or inside out drip, it just cuts, it breaks ankles all day long and it's so fun to hit. And even if they get that, that's a backhand that they're hitting. It's stretched out. If you're fast enough, you can cover in and catch that out the air. That's a pattern I drill a lot is exactly what you're saying. Like I'll have somebody feed me a ball to my backhand. I'll run around it and I'll hit slap balls down the line, like a drive down the line, and then I'll hit a bunch of drips inside out.

[00:03:11] And then when I do those drips inside out, I'm trying to drill my tendency to follow that ball instantly and just go. That's something I need to do better. Usually I hit the drip and I'm kind of just like waiting. Yeah, because you're waiting and then it's like the whole advantage of you hitting that drop was for you to crash in. And most of the time, if you don't, they're going to be able to stay in the point. Because so many people want to slap that ball and it's like, well, when you do that, it's so easy just to reach and take it out of the air.

[00:03:39] But when that ball is dipping below the net, it's like you're just going to be pinning people in that corner. That's so nice about that drip shot. Oh my gosh. Yeah. That you can just, yeah. Really throw them off the ground. And just the fact that you have those two options, right? Like line and like that makes the amount of people I've scared from coming to the net. We're talking five, five plus players. Like it's crazy. And then, you know, you can keep them, you know, for me, the baseline game is so important.

[00:04:08] And you'll see this more on a pro level. For most people watching, it probably doesn't apply as much. Well, honestly, I'm going to say that if you're a woman's singles player, the drive game is going to be honestly a lot more important. We were watching the challenger final in Colorado between the women's finalists and their game. It's like you're watching tennis and they're so consistent. Yeah, baseline just insane drives. So much baseline and it's insane.

[00:04:34] But on a lower level of pickleball, men or women, I think if you have really good drives, like a lot of times people are just not going to come up. Because it happens even on a pro level. Like a lot of times, I played this one guy, Wade. Wade Turner? No, that's a poker of mine. Random throwback. Wade Hebroth?

[00:05:05] I'm probably butchering his name. But Lefty, I think he plays a lot in the APP, if I'm not mistaking. We had a tennis match in North Carolina. I mean, we were like, no one, neither of us wanted to come up because we were just slapping balls. And so there is a point where, like, if your drives are really good, people are not going to come up in the first place. I mean, same way it happens to me. When I play some really good level player, I've told myself, yeah, get to the net, Kevin.

[00:05:34] But I see a guy who's slapping. I'm not going to. And so that's where it becomes more about who has more balls to come up to the net. Because the reason I was – because I played this guy in the main draw at the Challenger. He killed me. And then I actually had my revenge against him in the back draw. And that's the one – exactly. And I saved a couple match points there. But – and the thing that – and you look at that match, it's like side outs left and right.

[00:06:03] And the second that I said, okay, Kevin, I took a timeout. I said, all right, you're coming up to the net. You're going to hit two, three drives, and you're going to go. And you're just going to hope that he doesn't pass you, and you're going to try and guess a side. And more often than not, he's hitting drives, and you're able to put a lot of these balls away. You're like, oh, shoot, it's a lot easier than – so having the courage – like sometimes you just have to have the courage to come up. That baseline, a baseline game, it's just whoever's more consistent. And it's like – So many people make mistakes in singles all the time, Dave. Oh, my gosh.

[00:06:31] I've been running a singles clinic on Sunday mornings at Pickle LA. Shout out if you're pretty close by, join the singles clinics. Anyway, the mistakes are just the most common thing. I mean, there's just these rallies so often, and even from solid players too. It's like three balls, five balls, and it's just dead from somebody just hitting net, hitting long. People are just trying to go for winners all the time. So I'm sure you're seeing much and much less of that the higher you're progressing, of course. But at the same time, you might be able just to grind some people out. I mean, same thing in doubles, right?

[00:07:00] You're just going to out-dink somebody just by hitting dead dinks. And the translation of that in singles is just consistent, simple drives where you're not trying to kill it. You're just getting it in and just getting it back and just playing the long game. Yeah. The last guy I played in Colorado, I lost him because I was trying to out-hit him because I was like, this guy's so much better than me.

[00:07:23] And I look back at that match, and the two points that I was able to get was just simple shots to the middle of the court or probably the two slowest drives I hit that entire match. Keep it in the middle of the court, come up, and just try to cover the net. And if I wish I could go back in time, I would do it a lot more. But it was kind of unintentional. I was more tight, and I just kind of pushed it. But I noticed this guy made an error on both of those balls.

[00:07:53] And so even on that pro level, all levels, people make so many more mistakes than we do. But we make one mistake, and in a match it feels like you're making eight. Yeah, for sure. Would you rather play against somebody, assuming they're equally well-rounded on all facets of their singles game, would you rather play against somebody that's consistently coming to the net against you, or just staying back and grinding? What would you rather play against in order for you to succeed?

[00:08:23] Somebody who's on a baseline, 100%. That's what I figured, yeah. Because, I mean, I figured you'd say that because I feel the exact same way. It's like you don't – the scariest players are the ones that are all rushing the net, and it creates so much chaos and randomness. Yeah. One of the guys I played who was a 5'5", super tall, he came up to the net two times, or maybe two, three times. And I passed him basically all of those times. He stopped coming to the net.

[00:08:55] And that – I would say, and still to this day I told him after the match, I would argue that that is the reason I won that match. Because – Because I backed him off the kitchen line. And so that gave me so much more freedom because if you're – you're giving me time to hit a better drive. If I hit an amazing drive, now I feel way more comfortable coming up to the net. And now I'm playing free. I'm all over the court. And, you know, quite honestly, I just have the confidence that there's not a lot of people that are going to beat me from the baseline.

[00:09:26] So it's – yeah. So I do think I would prefer to play somebody who's like at the net. So like if I'm giving advice to people that are playing against people like me who like – because I don't come up to the net much. And a lot of times I'll settle for them coming up and playing the game of who's just – I'm either going to be passing you or hitting good drops. Or you're just going to – you know, I'm going to miss a bunch of balls. I would tell people like just get up to the net against me. And in a tournament scenario, you know, you're hitting to maybe my weaker side. I'm really giving out secrets here.

[00:09:57] Some next challenger player who's going to watch this podcast and know exactly what to do. Yeah. Just get to the net. Like literally that pressure alone can get into people's heads. It gets into my head too. Dude, that's what happened to me. I was playing some singles this past weekend and the pressure of somebody getting there just forced me to make the dumbest shots. And it's just like I was scared. I was like this person's giant. They're flying at me. I'm like – I was like what do I do? I wish they stayed back. So – Exactly. Yeah. I get messages.

[00:10:27] You want to be the player then that's applying that pressure and coming in and making people fear you. Yeah. Because when you're the one running up, you're thinking, oh, crap. And you have to realize that they're thinking the same thing. Everyone's scared, Kevin. Literally everyone. So you're scared. They're probably scared. When they're coming up, they probably like – they're scared of your drives too. But they know and they're being smarter about it. Yeah. But they're just as scared as you would be if you wanted to come up. But you have to try and think from their perspective.

[00:10:54] Like just put that pressure on them and just be all over the net. And you mentioned this earlier in the crash. You were saying you're kind of guessing one side or the other. How often are you guessing? Are you typically only doing that when you're like shit, they're loaded. They can go either direction. Then you're like okay, I need to make a guess. Otherwise, you probably kind of have your angle set. Is that fair to say? Yes. Yes. That's probably perfect. Yeah, it's – when I – I mean you can tell.

[00:11:22] Sometimes I'll return and it's like I'll come up knowing it was a bad idea to come up. And it's like a high ball landing in the middle of the court. They're about to slap it. I'm like okay, well, I have to guess. And so it could be an educated guess. Like okay, they'd like to slap the ball down the line and whatnot. But you have to make a guess. Like just go. And you'd be surprised. I mean it's a 50-50 chance you might get the ball over. So yeah, but most of the time I'm coming up and I have a good idea of like my angles are set.

[00:11:51] I know where they're going to go and yeah. Yeah. I mean is it ever a good idea to guess middle? Like you know because sometimes you still might be able to get a stretch there. Are you kind of sending it one way or the other? Are you usually – You're usually making a decision, right? And kind of picking a side versus – Yeah. I usually – One to the other. The only time honestly I don't guess and like just sit in the middle and hope they just hit it to me or miss it is if the ball that I hit to them is in the middle of the court on their side.

[00:12:20] That's the only time I usually maybe don't guess and I might just like throw a paddle out. But usually it's like I've pulled them out to the side. They have a bunch of angles. It's a high ball and maybe a shorter ball, something that – that's when I'm just like take a guess. Yeah. Same thing with like cat and mouse. Like if you hit a ball that was really high and you're both at the kitchen line and they're really set and they could go line or cross, that's when you take a guess. But yeah, I mean I guess occasionally you just sit in the middle and just hope for the best.

[00:12:49] And it happened to me against – he was so pissed. But Chris Crouch. I thought you were going to say Hayworth. Oh, dude, I wish. I got to play him sometime. Did my doubles partner Omar – shout out Omar – took a game off him at the last PPA. He beat him game two. Yeah, I was blown away. He's such an – That's insane. That's enough to put in a resume. Omar is a freak athlete. He beat him game two then lost game three obviously. Wow. This was the first round of the PPA of Newport. But anyway, sorry.

[00:13:19] No, you're good. I had to give an Omar plug there, my boy. There you go. Omar Garcia. That's awesome. What a monster. Well, I was going to – so yeah, Chris Crouch. You beat him. Oh, yeah. Christopher Crouch. I beat him. This was on match point. Match point. And his match point. He gets to the net. So he comes up to the net and he gives me – okay, this wasn't match point, but I was serving. So technically it was – anyway.

[00:13:49] 13-14. It's games to 15. So 13-14. I'm serving. He comes up to the net. He hits it to my forehand. And for some dumb reason, I decide, let me lob this guy to his – and this guy's tall. Like he's tall. And it was the worst – because I hesitate. It was the worst lob of all time. And I'm at the kitchen line because that's kind of how short he hit the ball. I lob it. And I just run up and I'm like, okay, I'm just going to jump at a direction and just guess.

[00:14:18] And I ended up thinking – I genuinely had this thought process. He's going to go right at me. He's just going to go right at me. And he did. So he goes right at me and I just throw my paddle, barely get it, over the net. And then the next ball, same thing. He's sitting there in the middle of the court. It's a little bit lower. He let it bounce. And I'm just guessing a direction. I go right and he just chunks it into the net. And I'm like, oh, my gosh. That is heartbreaking. Like I can only imagine what he felt. And so it's 14-14.

[00:14:45] I'm about to serve and then I take a timeout to get in his head because he was already in it. Or I think – maybe I'm not – if you're watching this, listen. I'm sure he probably was. I mean how could you not be? You're nervous, right? So I take a timeout and I'm like hopefully he's like overthinking it. I'm about to serve the ball. It's 14-0. And I served the ball to – You let that marinate for him. So I served the ball to his weapon, to his forehand. Because I think I've been serving the ball like to his body or to his backhand. And I served it to his forehand. And he looked a little – could like, oh, shoot.

[00:15:13] Because he looked like he was going to go inside trying to go around it. And then he realized I was going to his forehand. He misses that return. And he didn't miss a return like the whole match. And I was shocked. So the mind games of pickleball in singles are huge, huge. It's insane. It's insane. I couldn't even imagine. Dude, this is all inspiring me to want to get back into singles. I mean I barely did it early in my pickleball career. It's funny saying that, my pickleball career. But early in my pickleball days.

[00:15:43] But like, I don't know. I've been having more fun with it, especially after running these clinics lately too. And I'm doing more singles reps in the UPL league that I'm in as well. So it's like, I want to grind this. So I'm going to keep reaching out to you. It's been fun. And yeah, I want to work on becoming like close to my doubles game if possible. I don't think I'll get there. Doubles, it's one of my goals like outside of playing pro, like locally here in Dallas. I'm actually trying to put a singles clinic together myself.

[00:16:12] Let's go. One of my big goals is to grow the game of singles on a national level, but right now on a local level for like the amateur players and like the 3-5s, the 4-0s. I mean, I think there's so much. I mean, a lot of people don't want to play it because it's tiring, if I'm honest. But I think there's so much. It's so fun. I think doubles is so fun and it's more social and whatnot.

[00:16:42] But I think a lot of people would enjoy singles if they gave it a try. So it's one of my, I think, kind of like if I were to quit my pro journey, I think that's something that like I'm kind of passionate about is growing the game of singles. I love that. And pickleball. I was going to say, for helping grow the game, like if you're going to be doing a clinic, I'm using this to take notes for myself. What would be some of the main drills that you'd focus on for people? What are some of the key drills?

[00:17:10] If you were to give like four key drills of the most important or even a top three, what would those be for people to better their games? Well, I mean, we talked about the importance of serves and returns. I think that would be a big one. I think I'd focus more on the return of serve and making it more aggressive. Obviously, most people are used to just tapping the ball over against it and that from doubles. So I think just drilling. So return of serves would be a big one that I would focus on.

[00:17:40] Net coverage. There's a lot of like fun drills you can do. But like, let's say if you're just working with one person and like I've done this several, it's just fun. I mean, I get a basket of balls and I'll sit in, you know, on the baseline and I'll just smack balls left and right. Just get people moving. I mean, get people learning to like cover the court. I mean, there's something that you don't, they don't really do in doubles much. I think for a few drops in there.

[00:18:08] And so it's footwork, I think would be a better word, like work on. And it's, it's really cardio as well, right? So much cardio. So much cardio. I think getting people used to moving a bunch of the court. I, I love, I love singles strategy. I talk about it all the time. Like, you know, with my clients, but if there's anything, like I had to tell a person to work on, uh, when they walk out, they want to work on singles. It's just footwork, like moving, learning how to move your feet properly.

[00:18:36] So footwork mainly from baseline to baseline. I mean, obviously also footwork at the kitchen too. Right. But it's probably baseline to baseline is going to be the most important part of like baseline to baseline, getting that plant leg out there, locking in that foot, pausing, loading, like, you know, those fundamentals. A hundred percent. And then one thing, I mean, maybe, I mean, you might've done it, but, um, something that I, one of the first things I explained to people on like the, the geometry of the court, when

[00:19:02] you are, when you, when you put, when you're playing singles and when you're driving or when you're hitting an approach shot, like you're hitting a shot to get to the net, you are going to follow that ball, right? You can essentially kind of shadow the ball a little bit, stick to the rights. Like if you're going down the line, you're going to be a little bit more covering that line, um, uh, still closer to the middle of the court, but you're on the right side essentially. Cause you're, you can cover that angle by simply cutting into, right? Cutting into that angle.

[00:19:31] And it's that ball has to come across your body. So on the other side of it, when you're playing from the baseline and you're staying on the baseline, my biggest drill I've done with, with people is if you're hitting, if you want, if you're hitting cross court, you have to stay closer to the side that, that is the worst possible angle. So it's the opposite of coming to the net.

[00:19:57] So if I hit cross court, I don't tell, don't, don't come to like, I see a lot of, uh, I guess coaches talk about, uh, when you're driving, it's more of a tennis thing too. You're driving the ball, get to the middle of the court, like recover to the middle, recover to the middle. I always say it, wherever you're driving the ball. And this is a, we're taking assumptions outside of like we're, we're assuming your forehand and backhand are rounded. Cause that's how you, I think you should drill, um, hit a four. If you're hitting a forehand cross court, you're going to be standing on the right side of the middle.

[00:20:26] Um, uh, and if you're hitting down the line, you're going to, you're going to shift over to the left side cause you want to cover that cross court, uh, shot. So doing drills that kind of, uh, uh, mimic that movement. I was going to say, so for that footwork, I just want to tap into that more cause that's something that I've never thought of. So it's when you're, can you mention that one more time? I want to understand that better. I want to see, hold on. I'm going to see if I can draw this out. Let's go.

[00:20:53] You're essentially opening up more room for them to go down the line than cross court. Is that what you're doing in essence? So if you can go, so like if you're over, let's say you're hitting a shot from here. Let me make sure. Okay. Yep. And you're going cross court, uh, cross court. Yep. You are going to recover to like right here. Interesting. More to the left or more to the left of center or more to, yeah, more to the, basically the

[00:21:22] side you just hit the ball from because what you don't with, cause the worst possible angles are not like these two corners, right? The worst possible angle from here is back cross. Is back cross. Like this is would be like the steepest, right? Like this would be this, right? And then the worst possible angle this way, they can't, they can't make the ball curve off the court, right? Yeah. There's less court to work with. And they're hitting down the line. Right.

[00:21:50] So you're actually have a lot more to cover this way. So if you get back to the middle, you're like, they have much more leverage on you going this way. So same, same way. Like if you go line now it changes, right? Now the worst possible angle is this way. So now that means your recovery has to be on this side. So you have to cover the cross court angle essentially. Yeah. That's interesting.

[00:22:16] So wherever the ball is, you're going to be slightly opposite to, uh, of center a little bit, a little bit. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So like, so, and that, the amount of things you can pick up from that. Cause it's like, if you want, for example, to hit, um, like if you're, if you're, I don't know, if you're tired and you want to just not have to move as much, just hit the ball cross court because then you don't have to cover up for the opposite angle. You're already on the side of the angle that you want to be on.

[00:22:44] If you want them to, if you want like a redirect or whatnot, and you want to like hit inside out forehands, for example, and you want to stand inside out, you're going around the backhand. Um, then you would hit, you know, you might hit your forehand down the line. Um, and essentially baiting that cross court shot. And you're, that's already going to be your natural point of recovery anyway, cause you have to go that way. So you're already going to be, so there's just so much to it. So I, I, I explained that a lot to, like I've brought up, I've brought out a whiteboard for this. Like I've, I've been like, listen, tell this.

[00:23:14] Yeah. So it's, it's, it's like, I, it's a big, it's a big tennis thing that I think I've picked up from tennis and started doing the pickleball a lot. So when I play a bunch of these guys on, even on a high level and when we get to these baseline to baseline rallies, this is like, like my sauce. Like this is like you, like I, I cannot get out hit from the baseline simply for this. Like I, I moved to the point where I can cover the court really well from the baseline essentially. How far back are you staying off the line?

[00:23:43] Oh, two feet, four feet. Yeah. Two feet. Um, yeah, I'm usually pretty far behind the line. I mean, well, I mean, yeah, you got some knowledge here. So when you start your singles clinic, when you retire from pickleball and you're starting your academy, I'm booking my flight to Dallas. There you go. Oh yeah. Um, well let's transition towards the end of the episode here. And so one of the last things that I wanted to touch on is what a lot of people don't realize and, and something that I need to do more of is, is grinding singles.

[00:24:10] Like I said, I'm genuinely going to now I'm, I'm like pumped about this. Um, but how singles truly helps your doubles game. And I've noticed that before, but there's so many parallels that, that really connect. Um, obviously one, the cardio aspect of being able to grind out and, and outlast people for a long tournament day. Your, your, your singles cardio can just be huge for that. Um, but you tell me, you know, what's really helped translate your singles. What's, what's helped your doubles game from being so mindful and dedicated for, for your

[00:24:40] singles game? Uh, you learn, uh, for me, the number one thing I think I've picked up from singles that's translated into doubles is reading, reading your opponents. Um, more reading like, like paying attention, like when you're at the kitchen line, I think paying attention to like when they're going to speed it up, when they're going to, um, uh,

[00:25:08] lob, you know, if they're going to hit a cross court dink, a, a just kind of, just trying to understand, you know, read what they're going to do. And in, in, in singles, it happens a little bit more like the other way around. You're coming to the net more. Like, so if I'm coming to the net and for example, trying to read what, which way they're going to pass me, whether they're going to go inside out, like inside in and putting yourself in that position several times, you start to pay, like I've noticed, I pay attention so much more

[00:25:38] to their paddle face and to their, like, just because I'm like, I need to figure out where they're passing me. And so something that I think I do in doubles is a lot now is, is, you know, when I dink, I'm, I'm really paying attention to, you know, the, the, their tendencies, the, the paddle, the angle of their paddle. So that's one, uh, maybe, and maybe that's a less obvious one. I think that's kind of develops a little bit more as you, as you, if you really get into singles, I think you start to see it.

[00:26:04] Um, but biggest one for me has been the important, like quick, like quick footwork. Uh, it's hard because I do think there's a difference in, in, when you're at the kitchen line and, and, and, uh, in, um, doubles, you know, you could argue that like being a little bit more steady when, when you're doing like hands, um, is important.

[00:26:32] But like for, for me, for what's helped me is like being really bouncy. And then like when, when I'm thinking the ball, not bouncy, but like, uh, active, I guess is a better word. Um, in like those cross court things, I think a lot of people get caught off, uh, you know, not moving really well and not staying active. You kind of stay still, you don't follow the ball. You just kind of sit there and then you get caught off an angle. Cause you know, you might've expected it going a certain way. Whereas if you're constantly staying active to, so for me, the footwork aspect has been

[00:27:01] really big. And then, uh, uh, uh, drops. I go for drips when I play singles. The drips. Yeah. Yeah. Go ahead. I was going to say, I start doing those so much in, in, in doubles where, so I, you know, I usually play the left side. So a lot of times if I have enough time to go, like, you know, they'll hit it to, so like middle, you hit them in the middle of the court. This is where I feel really comfortable.

[00:27:27] I feel very comfortable hitting drips to the backhand side, you know, to the opposing left side player, just because of that inside out, uh, drop or drip that I like to do huge, like probably. Yeah. That's, that's, I think a big one. Um, uh, topspin drops. Right. I think, I think, and, and like, and this is because I play tennis and, you know, play singles a lot, but like your two handed drops. I don't hit one handed drops and doubles ever.

[00:27:56] So like, I don't slice the ball on the backhand drop. Yeah. Uh, mainly because in, in singles, all I'm doing is hitting two handed, uh, you know, drives and drives and drips. So it's helped my doubles game. I mean, I do, I do slice. I mean, it happens occasionally, but I'm more of like a two, um, two, we kind of guy on a, on a, on a, on a drop, even in doubles. And so a lot of my drops are like topspin drops, which I think puts a lot more pressure on, on, you know, on your opponents.

[00:28:25] Um, dinks like rolls on the backhand side, for example, that's something I'm super, super comfortable with. Um, just because of that, again, that two handed backhand reps that I get in singles. Dude, I just noticed that for myself the other day when I was doing the, some reps in the singles clinic on Sunday. Um, I, I was forced to have to hit a backhand drip across court. I, I literally had to, it was my only option. And it's not something that I train in doubles really.

[00:28:52] I mean, I'm just doing more of like consistent, like shovel drops, kind of like Tom, that's how I hit my drops usually just like a push, which was great. But there are certain times then when I played last night, a couple of moments where they were, um, unwinding their stack and the guy was going to be a little bit late. And I came from the backhand and hit more of a confident cross court drip. And I was like, I never did that, but I just start, I, my singles game translated directly into that. I was like, Oh, no, it's look at that. Yeah. No, it's those little things. It's those little things. You like realize them as you're like, shoot, like I'm doing that. I do that in singles.

[00:29:22] And like, cause a lot of my game, like, I mean, I play a pretty aggressive doubles games. I would say for the most part, um, when I play the left side, like I'm very, you, you, you see me in the transition zone. If there's a ball that I can kind of drop or drip, like you could see like my drive, like my, um, form is very like intense and I'm really like Western grip. Sometimes I'm not even switching to the Eastern, dripping that ball, shaping it a lot. Um, just playing a little bit more, putting a lot of pressure on them, you know, kind of creating a lot of pop-ups when I'm in that transition zone.

[00:29:52] Uh, the kitchen, I'd say that's more of like something you have to drill separately, um, from, from singles, but yeah, anything, I mean like serves, returns, uh, transition game, um, drops, drips. I think those are things that are going to kind of interwine pretty well, uh, with each other. And I also wouldn't underestimate it the other way around too. Like I think doubles, like a lot of people that are scared to get into singles, like there's a lot of things that you're doing in doubles that are going to be very good for singles. Yeah.

[00:30:20] I mean, even like drops, I mean like, like that is going to be one thing that, you know, a lot of like your single, your singles warriors like myself hate, like I hate getting up to the net and a guy just can't miss a drop to my backhand side. Like I just, I hate that. And that makes me play completely differently than I like. Um, good to know. Noted for wanting to play. There you go. So it goes both ways. Love it. Um, dude, that's awesome. Um, yeah. So that's, that's good to know.

[00:30:49] So for the people that are listening and they're doubles enthusiasts, that's great and all, but just know that, you know, singles, singles is going to help your game more than you realize way more than you realize. And there's such an element of chaos to doubles that people don't, you know, that any match can turn into a freak show at times, you know, you're, you're drilling doubles and you're going to be working on your drops, your drives, your dinks, all the basics. But then when you get in a match, somebody is going to hit a stupid speed up a point's

[00:31:15] going to dis, like just, um, disassemble where players are flying all over and recovering and somebody is hitting a crazy drive that goes to a certain shot, certain spot in like a high backhand corner that you're, you're not used to covering and you're never drilling in doubles. But that's a shot that you might see a lot in singles, right? So you need to be able to make those plays and keep your game. Just, just really cohesive. I think it just rounds everything out and helps fix all the chaos that comes in and doubles as well that you're not ever training for. 100%. Yeah.

[00:31:46] Dude, what a session. We're going to have to break this into two episodes. This was great. I'm going to have to have you on again too. This, this is going to be two episodes. So, which is, which is awesome. Um, but yeah, Kev, thanks so much for joining here. Fear the fro. If you're not watching him on YouTube, if you're not subscribed, what are you doing? Best content on YouTube right here. I'm telling you, your stuff's so good. I love watching all of your videos. Whenever I'm having lunch, I'm like, dude, fro dropped a new video and I'm just sitting there and watching them on YouTube. So keep up the amazing work, man. Thanks for everything that you're doing.

[00:32:15] And, um, thanks for joining us here. Appreciate it. This was fun. Super fun. All right. See you on me.