Comparison

Pickleball Drills vs Pickleball Strategy 3.5+ Guide

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Pickleball Drills

Enhance your pickleball skills with daily drills and video instruction. Access a library of routines for all levels, including solo options for home or court practice. Improve your dinks, drops, volleys, and more with expert guidance.

Highlights
  • Daily pickleball drills
  • Video instruction for each drill
  • Drills for all skill levels
  • Solo practice drills (wall/ball machine)
  • Improve dinks, drops, and volleys
  • Monthly new drill uploads
Features
Read full description

The Pickleball Drills App by Pickleball Playbook is designed to help you improve your game every single day, no matter your level. With new drills uploaded monthly and videos for each drill, you’ll have the ability to work on what you want, when you want. No partner to drill with? No problem. We’ve got you covered with wall drills you can do at home, or ball machine drills you can do on the court. Gone are the days of wondering what drill to do to help you improve your dinks, drops, drives, volleys, and more. HOW TO JOIN & ACCESS THE PICKLEBALL DRILLS APP Download the App and subscribe to the Pro Membership or Basic Membership for unlimited access to all trainings and drills. PERKS Join the private Facebook group. Here you will get access to exclusive giveaways, trainings, and pickleball tips. DRILLS Each drill will take 30 to 60 minutes and will provide players with repetition & the mental skills needed for match play. Each drill includes video instruction and pro tips from some of the best players in the world! FEATURES "Drop" into trainings that help you improve your game every day, every day, every day, including the following: Beginner (1.0-3.49) Intermediate (3.5-4.49) Advanced (4.5+)

About

Pickleball Strategy 3.5+ Guide

Improve your pickleball game with strategic insights and decision-making guidance. Learn court positioning, shot placement, and partner communication to play more confidently and win more points. Content is structured for players at the 3.5+ level and beyond.

Highlights
  • 20+ strategy modules
  • 100+ scenario-based court situations
  • Animated court diagrams
  • Progress tracking
  • Serve and Return Strategy
  • Dinking Fundamentals and Advanced Dinking
  • Partner Communication
Features
Read full description

STRATEGY IS OFTEN THE MISSING PIECE Lessons, videos and practice build your strokes, yet many players still lose points without quite knowing why. Usually it comes down to where you stand, which shot you choose, and when you move. This app focuses on exactly that: positioning, shot selection, patience, and recognizing how rallies develop. Each scenario walks through a real rally situation with an animated court diagram: what's happening, what most players do, and what to do instead, and why. FOR NEWER AND EXPERIENCED PLAYERS Basic (2.0–3.0) sections cover foundational tactics and positioning. Advanced (3.5+) sections explore higher-level strategy, mindset, and competitive decision-making. If you're newer to the game, start with the Basic scenarios. If you've played a while, the fundamentals are still worth a look. Many points are lost on the basics we think we've mastered. The app assumes you know the rules and scoring, so every scenario can focus on strategy rather than stroke mechanics. INSIDE THE APP - 100+ strategy scenarios with animated court diagrams and clear explanations - 20+ modules covering serves, returns, third shots, the transition zone, dinking, stacking, poaching, defense, partner communication, and the mental game - Strategy by Section for a structured path through the content - A Visual Strategy Browser with filters to find the situations you want to study - Strategy Questions linked to related scenarios and articles, with a Focus checkbox to save the ones you want to work on - Scenario tracking to mark what you want to review, work on, or consider part of your game - A Dashboard that shows your progress at a glance - Strategy articles, including "The 3.5 Level: How to Know If You're There" STUDY AT YOUR OWN PACE Come back to a scenario before you play, review the ones you're working on, and watch the patterns start showing up on the court. Ideas that don't click yet become clearer each time you revisit them as your game develops. FROM THE AUTHOR Developed by Payton Bond, author of Pickleball Strategy: A Guide to 3.5 and Beyond and a regular contributor to The Kitchen. The book received The Kitchen Team's stamp of approval as "a clear and comprehensive guide that covers all aspects of the game." Download free and start playing smarter.

Screenshots

Pickleball Drills4 screens
Pickleball Strategy 3.5+ Guide4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Pickleball Strategy 3.5+ Guide at free with in-app purchases against Pickleball Drills's subscription. Pickleball Strategy 3.5+ Guide also leads on ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (100% vs 87%). Pickleball Drills's advantage is ratings volume (312 vs 46). On price, rating, update cadence and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Pickleball Drills sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $19.99 per month and Pickleball Strategy 3.5+ Guide sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Pickleball Drills against 4.7 for Pickleball Strategy 3.5+ Guide. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Pickleball Drills has 312 ratings behind it against 46, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 87% of Pickleball Drills's written reviews are positive against 100% of Pickleball Strategy 3.5+ Guide's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pickleball Drills ships an update every 6 days, Pickleball Strategy 3.5+ Guide every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Pickleball Drills versus Pickleball Strategy 3.5+ Guide: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPickleball DrillsPickleball Strategy 3.5+ Guide
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (312 ratings) — better4.7 (46 ratings)
Positive reviews87.2% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings312 — better46
Update frequencyEvery 6 daysEvery 5 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationSubscriptionFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.0.215.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size172 MB111 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPickleball Playbook LLCSmallbizBI LLC

Customer experience

Pickleball Drills

All ratings303 ratings
Positive95.0%
Neutral1.0%
Negative4.0%
Written reviews141 reviews
Positive87.2%
Neutral1.4%
Negative11.3%

Pickleball Strategy 3.5+ Guide

All ratings43 ratings
Positive95.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative4.7%
Written reviews16 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Pickleball Drills

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Scheduler does not work
  • Login issues and app not working
  • Billing and cancellation problems

Requested features

2 requests
  • Dark mode option
  • More strategy-focused content

Pickleball Strategy 3.5+ Guide

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Pickleball Drills

Subscriptions3
  • Monthly Subscription7 Days trial$19.991 Month
  • Biannual Subscription7 Days trial$89.996 Months
  • Annual Subscription7 Days trial$149.991 Year
1 purchases

Pickleball Strategy 3.5+ Guide

One-time1
  • Full Strategy Unlock$9.99

Questions

Is Pickleball Drills free?
Pickleball Drills is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Pickleball Strategy 3.5+ Guide free?
Pickleball Strategy 3.5+ Guide is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Pickleball Drills or Pickleball Strategy 3.5+ Guide?
Pickleball Drills is rated higher. Pickleball Drills averages 4.8 out of 5 from 312 ratings, while Pickleball Strategy 3.5+ Guide averages 4.7 from 46 ratings.
Do Pickleball Drills or Pickleball Strategy 3.5+ Guide have ads?
Pickleball Drills shows ads; Pickleball Strategy 3.5+ Guide does not.
Which is updated more often, Pickleball Drills or Pickleball Strategy 3.5+ Guide?
Pickleball Drills ships an update every 6 days, and Pickleball Strategy 3.5+ Guide every 5 days. Most recently, Pickleball Drills was updated on November 3, 2026 and Pickleball Strategy 3.5+ Guide on October 31, 2026.

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