@enhancepickleball: Explanation ⬇️ In pickleball you never want to back up from the kitchen if you don't have to. Unless you are on extreme defense you don't want to back up more than one pivot step. There are situations where backing up is better than taking the ball in the air though. This mainly happens on higher drops that still are landing shallower in the kitchen. On these the ball with still rise up so you will be able to attack them much better off the bounce than out of the air. If the bounce height is similar to the out of the air height, you should favor taking the ball out of the air since it also takes time away from your opponent. #pickleball