Pickleball Fourth Shot Strategy: Block, Roll or Attack?

The fourth shot is the returning team’s first chance to decide whether the serving team earns the Kitchen or has to keep fighting through transition. The best fourth shot depends mainly on what the third shot gives you: a hard drive, a high/attackable drop, or a genuinely low drop.

Instead of memorizing one “fourth-shot technique,” use three reads: contact height, your balance, and the serving team’s movement. Those reads tell you whether to block, counter, roll, dink or simply keep the ball low.

Fourth-shot decision matrix

Third shot you receive	Your contact	Useful fourth-shot default	Main objective
Fast drive at your body or paddle-side hip	Rushed / neutral	Compact block	Absorb pace and make the servers hit up
Fast drive you read early	Balanced / in front	Counter	Redirect pressure while servers are deep or moving
Drop sits above net height	High and balanced	Roll or controlled attack	Keep servers back or force a low fifth
Drop reaches you around net height	Neutral	Controlled roll/push or soft pressure	Maintain Kitchen-line advantage without overhitting
Good low drop below net height	Low	Dink/neutral ball	Respect the shot and avoid giving an easy counter
Ball bounces to a better contact point than the volley	Higher after bounce	Let it bounce and play the higher contact	Avoid forcing a low volley

The matrix is a starting framework, not a rulebook. The fourth shot is a strategy decision, so ball height and balance matter more than the label “third-shot drop” or “third-shot drive.”

First read: drive or drop?

The receiving team usually arrives at or near the Kitchen line after a good return. That gives you the positional advantage before ball three. The serving team is trying to use its third shot to neutralize that advantage and move forward.

USA Pickleball’s third-shot guidance makes the same sequence clear from the serving team’s perspective: after a quality third shot, advance; if the shot is not good enough, hold back and use a later ball—often the fifth—to continue the transition. Your fourth-shot job is therefore to read whether their third actually earned forward movement. See USA Pickleball’s third-shot instruction.

Against a drive, your main question is whether you have enough time and balance to counter. Against a drop, your main question is whether you can contact the ball high enough to pressure it without lifting from below the net.

Against a third-shot drive: block or counter?

A hard third-shot drive often arrives while the serving team is still near the baseline or beginning to move forward. That makes the fourth ball a strong opportunity—but only if you do not donate an error by taking an oversized swing.

Block when the ball takes your time away

If the drive jams your body, arrives faster than you can prepare, or catches you slightly off balance, use a compact block. The goal is not to hit a winner. It is to absorb enough pace that the next contact is difficult for the serving team.

Our pickleball block-volley guide covers the technique in detail. On the fourth ball, a useful target is often the servers’ feet or the space in front of them rather than the back line. A low ball into transition forces them to hit from below net height.

Counter when you are balanced and early

If you read the drive early, meet it in front and are stable at the Kitchen, you can redirect the pace more aggressively. Keep the swing compact; the incoming drive already supplies speed.

The target should solve a positioning problem. A counter at a moving player’s body, inside foot or open seam can be more useful than a hard ball aimed at the sideline. For the technique choice, see how to counter in pickleball.

Against a third-shot drop: attack the height, not the label

The hardest fourth-shot decision often comes against a drop. A “drop” is not automatically a ball you should dink. Some drops arrive high enough to pressure; others force you to contact below the net and should be respected.

PlayPickleball’s fourth-shot coaching uses a useful contact-height comparison: if letting the ball bounce gives you a higher, more controllable contact than taking it out of the air, allowing the bounce can be the better choice. If you can take it earlier at a clearly higher contact point, a volley or roll can preserve more pressure.

High drop: pressure it

If the ball arrives above net height and you are balanced, the serving team has not fully neutralized you. A compact roll or controlled attack can keep them deep, make them hit from their feet, or force a rushed fifth ball.

Low drop: respect it

If contact is below net height, trying to “punish” the drop often means lifting the ball. That can hand the serving team a counter as they move forward. A low, controlled dink or neutral return is often the better response.

This is the receiving-side mirror image of our third-shot drop vs drive guide: the serving team chooses a third shot based on the return; you choose the fourth based on the quality of that third.

Target the feet when the servers are moving

The most useful fourth-shot target is often not the open sideline. It is the contact point the opponent least wants while trying to transition.

• Opponent still deep: keep the next ball low enough that they cannot attack comfortably while moving forward.
• Opponent in transition: target the feet or inside hip to force low contact and disrupt forward movement.
• Partners split at different depths: use the gap created by their different positions rather than forcing a small sideline target.
• Both servers already established at the Kitchen: the positional advantage is gone; treat the rally as a neutral Kitchen exchange rather than forcing “fourth-shot pressure.”

Tyson McGuffin describes the fourth-shot objective similarly: the returning side wants to make it difficult for the serving team to walk freely to the Kitchen.

When should you let the fourth ball bounce?

Taking every fourth ball out of the air sounds aggressive, but it can lower your contact point. Let the ball bounce when the bounce is likely to give you a better strike zone and the serving team cannot exploit the extra time immediately.

A simple comparison is:

1. Estimate where you would contact the ball as a volley.
2. Estimate where the bounce would rise to.
3. If the bounce gives you a clearly higher and more balanced contact, consider letting it bounce.
4. If the volley lets you contact high and in front while the servers are moving, taking it early may preserve pressure.

This is a decision framework, not a mechanical rule. Pace, spin and opponent position still matter.

Four common fourth-shot errors

• Attacking a good low drop. The ball is below net height, so the “attack” becomes a lift that gives opponents time to advance.
• Dinking a high sitter. You voluntarily give the serving team the transition it was trying to earn.
• Over-swinging against a drive. The drive already has pace; a large swing makes timing harder and can send the counter long.
• Aiming at lines instead of movement. The serving team’s feet and body often create a larger, more useful target than the sideline.

The 12-ball fourth-shot decision drill

This drill trains the decision, not just one stroke.

1. Two players start at the Kitchen as the returning team; one feeder starts near the baseline.
2. The feeder sends a randomized set of third balls: four drives, four high/attackable drops, and four low drops. Do not announce which is coming.
3. The Kitchen player must call “block,” “counter,” “pressure,” or “neutral” before or at contact and then execute the corresponding fourth shot.
4. A decision scores 1 point if the chosen response fits the contact height/balance, even if execution is imperfect.
5. Execution scores a second point if the ball lands low enough that the feeder’s next contact is below net height or clearly uncomfortable.

Score the set out of 24: 12 possible decision points and 12 execution points. Separating the two scores tells you whether the problem is reading the ball or hitting the chosen shot. Repeat the same feed pattern later and try to improve the weaker score.

A four-question fourth-shot check

1. What did they hit—drive or drop?
2. Where is my contact relative to the net?
3. Am I balanced enough to add pace?
4. Where are the servers now—deep, moving or established?

If you answer those four questions, the fourth shot becomes much less mysterious. The goal is not to attack every third ball. It is to preserve the positional advantage you earned with the return and make the serving team earn its way forward.

Sources & Further Reading

• USA Pickleball — Mastering the Third Shot
• PlayPickleball — How to Hit the Fourth Shot
• Pickleball.com — Fourth Shot with Tyson McGuffin