Pickleball isn't just won at the net: It's won at the net with the right grip.

Pickleball matches are won by doing three things: 1) hitting shots that cause your opponents to hit their shots high; 2) positioning yourself on the court so when those high balls come, you're where you need to be in order to; 3) hit a "put away" and end the point. Don't get me wrong, a lot goes into being able to do these three things effectively - knowledge, mechanics, fitness, etc. - but the game still comes down to these three things.

Put another way, pickleball is a game of downward angles. Joel Pritchard knew that when he created the rules of the game. If a player could stand directly over-top of the net, it would be too easy to hit down on the ball (downward angles) and dominate the game in one or two shots. So Pritchard created the NVZ (no volley zone) rule preventing players from taking the ball out of the air while standing closer than 7 feet from the net. But even with the NVZ, the strategy for winning games is still to force balls up high so you can hit down on them. You just have to do so no closer than 7 feet from the net.

Giving yourself the best chance to hit a downward angle on the ball is why it's so important to get to the NVZ as soon as prudently possible in a point.

And once you're up to the NVZ, you have to expect balls to come back at you fast. Afterall, your opponents, if in the proper position themselves (at their NVZ), will only be 14 feet away. If your opponent drives a ball at you from 14 feet away, you're not going to have time to change your grip to favor a forehand or a backhand. You're going to have to use whatever grip you have at that moment. It's important, therefore, that your default grip at the net be one that favors the shot you're going to hit most. And at the net, that shot is your backhand.

When you're standing at the NVZ, you have an area that you can reasonably cover. Of that area, the backhand is capable of covering roughly 75%. You can take all shots that are hit to your left with a backhand (if you're right-handed) as well as shots to your right that are chest-high or lower. These backhands on the right side are called "chicken-wing" shots. On the other hand, the forehand at the NVZ has limited coverage. You can hit shots that are hit to your right with a forehand but nothing to your left. But more importantly, the shots that are hit hard directly at you - say at your bellybutton - can only be hit with a backhand. There's no forehand equivalent to the chicken wing. It makes sense then that the default position at the NVZ is with the paddle in a backhand position protecting your stomach and with a grip that makes your backhand volleys strong.

If you're not familiar with the three main grips in pickleball - Continental, Eastern, and Western - here is a good primer from the Pickler.

If you've had a lesson with me, you know I'm a big advocate of using the Continental grip in pickleball. One reason is because it helps keep backhand dinks from popping up. The grip forces the paddle to be more perpendicular to the court rather than laying back with the face aimed at the sky (see the image above). The other reason I like this grip is because it gives you the most support and power on a backhand volley. The grip places your forearm behind the paddle rather than on top giving you more strength and quickness. If you want to play the best pickleball and you have the time to work on your game, and are willing to work through the uncomfortableness of changing grips, I encourage you to adopt a Continental grip. But regardless of what grip you use, what is most important is that when at the NVZ, you hold the paddle in a way that gives YOU the strongest backhand YOU have. You should hold the paddle as if you expect the ball to come to your backhand ... because it probably will.