The ATP Shot: Pickleball's Most Photogenic Cheap Trick

There is no shot in pickleball that produces a louder rec-court reaction than a clean ATP. Not an Erne. Not a roll volley winner. Not a 70-mph speed-up that ricochets off your partner’s ankle. An around-the-post shot — the ball hooking sideways past the net post, skipping into the corner of the opposing kitchen — is the pickleball equivalent of a between-the-legs tennis winner. People hoot. People film it. People text it to their group chat.

Which is funny, because the ATP is not actually that hard. It is mostly geometry, a little patience, and the willingness to keep swinging when every instinct in your body is screaming “this is going to hit the post.”

Let’s break down the most overrated, most cinematic, and most achievable highlight shot in pickleball.

The rule everyone gets wrong

Here is the one thing you need to understand before we go anywhere: an ATP does not have to clear the height of the net.

There is no minimum height requirement. None. You can hit the ball six inches off the ground, drag it around the outside of the post at ankle level, and as long as it lands inbounds on the other side, it counts. It can be lower than the net the entire flight. It can hit the side of the post on its way around — even that’s fine, as long as the ball stays in the field of play and the post is not part of the net assembly that includes the net itself.

The only restriction is that the ball must go around the post, not through, under, or over it via some impossible angle. If it lands in, you win the point. If it lands out, you look like an idiot. That’s it.

The number of rec players who let a perfectly winnable ATP go because they thought “wait, can I hit it that low?” is criminal. Yes. You can. Hit it.

How you end up in ATP position in the first place

You don’t manufacture an ATP. The ATP is given to you, usually by an opponent who got greedy with a cross-court dink.

The setup is always the same: someone hits a dink so wide and so cross-court that your only option is to chase it past the sideline. Your feet end up two, three, sometimes four feet outside the doubles line. The ball is low and skidding away from you.

Most players in this position do one of two things:

1. Lunge desperately and pop the ball straight up over the net, giving up the point on the next shot.
2. Reach across their body and try to scoop it back cross-court over the net, usually into the tape.

Both of these are bad. Both of these miss the fact that there is a giant empty highway on your side of the post called “outside the net,” and the rules of pickleball say you are allowed to use it.

If the ball is low, wide, and pulling you off the court — your default thought should not be “how do I get this over the net.” It should be: can I go around the post instead?

The geometry, in plain English

The post is roughly three feet from the sideline. The net sags in the middle to 34 inches and is 36 inches at the post. When you’re standing outside the sideline chasing a cross-court dink, you are already on a line that takes the ball around the post and into the open cross-court of the other side.

You don’t need to manufacture an angle. You don’t need to flick your wrist into some impossible curve. The geometry is doing the work. Your job is to not screw it up.

Three things screw it up:

Hitting the ball too early. The longer you wait, the lower the ball gets, the more open your angle around the post. If you take the ball while it’s still high, you’ll either lift it into the net or sail it past the baseline. Let it drop. Let it drop more than you think.

Going for power. This is the single biggest unforced error on an ATP attempt. You see the opening, you get excited, you wind up. Don’t. The ATP is a touch shot. A short, controlled swing with a brush of topspin lands the ball softly into the kitchen on the other side. A big swing sends it five feet past the baseline and you look like you’ve never held a paddle.

Pulling up at the last second. Your brain will tell you, mid-swing, that this is impossible and that you should bail to a safe shot over the net. Do not listen to your brain. The shot you committed to is fine. The half-commit shot is what hits the post.

Targets — because “just hit it past the post” is not a plan

When you have an ATP opportunity, you have two real targets:

Deep middle. The boring, high-percentage choice. Hit it about waist-deep into the court, aimed at your opponent’s feet or the middle gap between them. They won’t have time to recover, and even if they get a paddle on it, they’re hitting up off their shoelaces.

Sharp cross-corner. The highlight version. Hit it short and angled so it lands in the front third of their kitchen on the far side. This is the one that ends up on Instagram. It’s also the one that, if missed by a foot, hits the post and gets you roasted by your group chat.

Pick the boring one until your ATP percentage is over 70%. Then start auditioning for the highlight reel.

Drilling it without a partner

You don’t need a willing human to drill the ATP. You need a bucket of balls and the side of a court.

Stand outside the sideline, three feet off the post. Self-toss low cross-court bounces and work on the swing path. Brush low to high. Short stroke. Aim for a cone or a water bottle placed about halfway up the opposing kitchen on the cross-court side.

Do this for ten minutes. You will be shockingly competent at the ATP within a single drilling session. The shot rewards repetition more than talent. It is muscle memory plus the courage to swing.

When to bail

Not every wide ball is an ATP. If the ball is too high, the angle disappears — you’d be hitting straight into the post. If you can get a paddle under it and lob it back to give yourself a recovery step, that’s fine. If you’re sprinting and can barely stretch the paddle out, just chip it cross-court over the net and live to dink another rally.

The ATP is for the balls that are low and wide. Both conditions. If you only have one, take the safer shot.

A final note on style points

There is no shame in playing the high-percentage ATP into the deep middle every single time. There is also no shame in occasionally going for the sharp angle and missing wide. What there is shame in is being pulled wide on a cross-court dink, having the entire shot available to you, and chickening out into a weak floating return that gets put away in two shots.

The ATP is one of the only shots in pickleball where the easy version and the spectacular version look almost identical to spectators. They will cheer either way. Get into position, let the ball drop, swing through with a short stroke, and aim where the opponent isn’t.

Then point at your partner like it was their idea.