Why does Tony Roig call return of serve the most important shot in pickleball?

Because it sets the texture of every rally that follows. A short return forces your partner into a defensive scramble; a deep, dropping return pins opponents back and lets you walk to the line. Most rec players treat the return as a formality — Tony treats it as the first decision of the point.

What is the fourth-shot middle cover?

When your partner hits a short return of serve, they need time to walk up to the kitchen. Your job at the line is to slide toward the middle and cover the next ball, so the gap doesn't get exposed. It's the move that lets a returning team reach the line after a less-than-ideal return.

Why do women lose head-to-head hands battles against men in mixed doubles?

It's mechanics, not strength. Tour-level men typically use shorter, more compact counterattack swings. Longer-swing mechanics — common on the women's side — lose pure exchanges at the kitchen. The fix is to avoid the centered hands battle and instead make the male player extend, then go behind him.

What does it mean when a male player is 'getting too big' in mixed?

He's poaching too aggressively, reaching across the middle, and extending past his side of the court. That opens his backhand side and unbalances the team. Mixed doubles requires both players to participate — when the male takes over, his partner gets stranded.

What's the 60–70% rule?

There are no 100% shots in pickleball. If a speed-up or attack hits 60–70% of the time, it's a keeper. Stop hunting perfection and trust the percentage — keep going to the shot until opponents prove they can defend it.

Where can I take Tony Roig's PIQ Challenge?

Head to /coach-iq/tony-roig/ on DinkFlow. The 15-question challenge is built directly from his bronze-medal commentary and covers the full range from 3.5 to 6.0 mixed-doubles decisions.

What Tony Roig Saw: 10 Mixed-Doubles Lessons From One PPA Bronze Match

Sunday afternoon. PPA Atlanta. Bronze-medal mixed doubles. Christian Alshon and Rachel Rohrbacher against Gabe Tardio and Catherine Parenteau on Carvana Grandstand Court. The match is good. The commentary is better.

Tony Roig spent 30 minutes calling that match — and he buried more useful strategy in it than most pros put in a paid course. He named patterns. He flagged failure modes. He called out percentages out loud.

Most of it was the kind of stuff you only catch if someone literally points at it.

So I’m pointing at it.

Below: ten lessons I pulled straight from his call. Each one is a real moment from the broadcast — and each one maps to a decision you’ll face in your next club game. At the bottom there’s a 15-question PIQ Challenge built from the same commentary. Take it. See if you can think like Tony.

Source: Bronze-Medal Mixed Doubles, 2026 Veolia Atlanta Pickleball Championships — commentary by Tony Roig .

1. The most important shot in pickleball is the return of serve

“Return of serve, most important shot in pickleball. If you’re not paying attention to return of serve, you’re leaving a lot on the table.”

Most players treat the return like a formality. Get it in. Walk up. Move on.

Tony watched two returns from Christian Alshon completely change the texture of points. Both kept Catherine and Gabe pinned. Both gave his team the time and angle to walk in and dictate.

A short return forces your partner to defend the line alone. A deep, low, dropping return makes opponents hit up — and lets you both reach the kitchen unhurried.

Apply it: Pick one return target — usually deep middle or deep backhand — and commit. The point is already half-played by the time the ball lands.

2. The fourth-shot middle cover is your partner’s job

“That middle cover fourth is so important in the game. It really helps your partner, the returner, get up to the line, especially on a short return of serve.”

You’re at the line. Your partner pops a short return. The serving team’s third comes hard up the middle. Who plays it?

You. The non-returning partner.

Tony pointed at this several times during the match — Gabe Tardio sliding in to cover the middle so Catherine could finish her run to the kitchen. Without that cover, the gap between them becomes a highway.

Apply it: Whenever your partner returns short, drift one step toward the middle. Don’t camp your sideline. The fourth ball is yours.

3. Women shouldn’t engage in head-to-head hands battles with men

“It’s very difficult in these matches usually for the the woman to go head-to-head with the man in a hands battle. It’s simply a function of strength is some of it, but also its mechanics. The men in the tour generally have very short counterattack swings. The women on the tour usually have a little bit longer swing.”

This is the line that surprised me most. I’d always heard the strength explanation. Tony went deeper: it’s swing length.

Tour-level men have compact, short counterattacks. Tour-level women — even the best in the world — typically use slightly longer mechanics. In a pure centered hand exchange, the shorter swing wins. Every time.

Apply it: If you’re the female player in mixed, don’t accept the centered hands battle. Move the ball. Make him extend. Then attack behind him.

4. Once the male extends, go behind him with off-speed crosscourt

“That shot he hit there with the backhand is what he’s known for — the reach down flick. Off-speed crosscourt shot. Very effective when the male player is extended like that.”

The follow-up to lesson 3.

A male opponent who reaches wide — or who poaches across the middle — momentarily can’t recover laterally. The space he just left is the opening.

The shot isn’t a hard drive. It’s an off-speed crosscourt that drops behind him before he can reset his feet.

Apply it: When you see the male commit to a wide ball, your next attack goes behind him. Slow. Crosscourt. Trust the geometry.

5. If a target is working, keep going to it

“They’re going to it twice, scored points, and they switch their target. It’s good to stick with the spot that’s working for you.”

Tony watched Gabe and Catherine score two points attacking Christian Alshon’s backhand. Then on the third opportunity, they switched. They switched a working spot.

Most players think variety hides their pattern. The opposite is true at the kitchen — variety wastes the rep you just earned. If the backhand is breaking down, ride it until it stops.

Apply it: Score twice on the same target? Go there a third time. Stop only when they prove they’ve solved it.

6. The middle attack beats the sideline attack in transition

“A lot of times when you have both players moving through the transition zone, that middle attack is so powerful. Amateur players don’t use that nearly enough. Go out to the sidelines too much. Whereas that middle attack is going to get the job done. Less risk of sideline-out.”

Both opponents are mid-court, moving forward. Where do you attack?

The instinct is the open sideline. Tony says no. The middle attack:

Pressures both players (who’s taking it?)
Has zero “sideline out” risk
Creates miscommunication

Apply it: Watch for both opponents in the transition zone. Your highest-percentage attack splits them, not the open court.

7. There are no 100% shots — 60–70% is a keeper

“If you’re a player, there is no 100% shot. You hit the shot that has been working for you. 70%, 60%, you’re good to go.”

This is the percentage line every rec player needs tattooed somewhere visible.

Most players abandon a shot the first time it misses. Then they hunt for “consistency” — meaning 100% — and never trust anything offensive.

A 65% speed-up is a weapon. A 60% drop is a weapon. The standard isn’t perfection. The standard is “better than the alternative.”

Apply it: Track your speed-ups for one session. Anything above 55% — keep using it. Above 70% — hunt for it.

8. The unwind-stack moment is where points get lost

“This is a very dangerous spot for Gabe and Catherine if they keep unwinding the stack. Christian in particular has a really nice drive that he can put some pressure on them when they unwind.”

Stacking is fine. Unwinding is the danger window.

During the unwind, one player is still moving across the court. Their feet aren’t set. Their paddle isn’t ready. A clean drive into that window catches the team out of position.

Tony flagged it twice — both times the team that drove during the unwind won the point.

Apply it: If you stack, expect a drive on the unwind. As the driving team — that’s your moment. Don’t drop. Drive.

9. A drive is pointless without a crashing partner

“Fantastic drive by him, but usually in mixed doubles with the exception of Annaleigh Waters, most of the women players don’t really crash. If you don’t have a player crashing on a great drive like that, the drive becomes sort of pointless.”

Brutal honesty about mixed-doubles drives.

A drive isn’t a winner. It’s a setup — for a partner who crashes the kitchen and finishes the high reply. Without the crasher, the drive just gives opponents a high ball to attack you with.

In men’s doubles, both partners crash. In mixed, often only one does — and the one who doesn’t is usually the female partner playing the line.

Apply it: If your partner doesn’t crash, drop. Don’t drive. The third ball isn’t going to win the point on its own.

10. The “getting too big” failure mode

“If a mixed doubles, the man in the mixed doubles gets a little too big, it can cause an unbalance in their team. At the end of the day, it’s doubles pickleball. You need both players to participate, both players to be a part of it. It’s not singles.”

Christian Alshon got hot in this match. He started reaching across the middle, poaching every ball, taking shots from his partner’s side.

Tony called it: every time Christian over-extended, he opened his own backhand side. Gabe started attacking that gap. The team’s balance broke.

This is the most common failure pattern in club mixed doubles too. The stronger player tries to play singles inside a doubles match. They cover too much. They open their own court. Their partner gets stranded.

Apply it: If you’re the stronger player, your job is balance — not heroics. Trust your partner. Stay home on your side. Let the team work.

Take the Tony Roig PIQ Challenge

I built a 15-question DinkFlow PIQ Challenge directly from this broadcast. Same scenarios. Same decisions. Tier-spread from 3.5 to 6.0, so it’s playable whether you’re a club player or a 5.0+ tournament regular.

Start the Tony Roig PIQ Challenge →

If you want more of his teaching, his YouTube channel is one of the best free strategy resources in the sport — subscribe to Tony at @BestPickleballCoach .

And if you want to see the source material, the full bronze-medal match is here . Watch with the volume up.