Comparison

Pickleball Strategy 3.5+ Guide vs PB Drills

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

Head to head
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.

About

PB Drills

Enhance your pickleball game with over 200 drills, AI-powered coaching, and progress tracking. Get personalized workout suggestions and video demonstrations to improve every aspect of your play.

Highlights
  • 200+ pickleball drills
  • AI Coach Chat for custom sessions
  • Court Mode with audio cues
  • Skill Progression Tracker
  • Pre-Game Warmup generator
  • On-device video form analysis
Features
Read full description

PBDrills is your personal pickleball coach in your pocket. 200+ drills for every skill level — from beginner dinking patterns to advanced speed-up counters — each with a video demo, step-by-step instructions, and rating-based recommendations tuned to where you are today. WHAT'S INSIDE • AI Coach Chat — type "30 min, no partner, work on my drop" and get a custom session • Court Mode — full-screen drill timer with audio cues that survives backgrounding • Skill Progression Tracker — rating curve, category heatmap, monthly check-ins • Pre-Game Warmup — countdown-based AI warmup before any match • Drill of the Day + Streak — daily reminder, flame counter, monthly grace day • Self-Video Form Library — 10-second front-camera clips per drill, on-device only • 200+ drill catalog — dinking, third shots, resets, speed-ups, volleys, footwork, and more WHO IT'S FOR • 2.0–3.0: beginner fundamentals, dinking and serve basics • 3.5–4.0: structure and progressions to break out of the intermediate plateau • 4.5+: advanced shot drills, game-format play, drilling like the pros PRIVACY-FIRST • No accounts required • No data collection • Your form videos stay on your device • Push notifications opt-in only Built by pickleball players, for pickleball players. Drill smarter, play sharper.

Screenshots

Pickleball Strategy 3.5+ Guide4 screens
PB Drills4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: PB Drills at none against Pickleball Strategy 3.5+ Guide's 1. PB Drills also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.7). Pickleball Strategy 3.5+ Guide's advantage is ratings volume (46 vs 2) and device support (3 vs 1). On price, review sentiment and ads 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 Strategy 3.5+ Guide sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. PB Drills asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

PB Drills holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Pickleball Strategy 3.5+ Guide has 46 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Pickleball Strategy 3.5+ Guide versus PB Drills: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPickleball Strategy 3.5+ GuidePB Drills
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (46 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings46 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 5 days—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.6 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size111 MB5 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSmallbizBI LLCCory Brown

Customer experience

Pickleball Strategy 3.5+ Guide

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

PB Drills

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Pickleball Strategy 3.5+ Guide

One-time1
  • Full Strategy Unlock$9.99
None

PB Drills

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Pickleball Strategy 3.5+ Guide free?
Pickleball Strategy 3.5+ Guide is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is PB Drills free?
PB Drills is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Pickleball Strategy 3.5+ Guide or PB Drills?
PB Drills is rated higher. Pickleball Strategy 3.5+ Guide averages 4.7 out of 5 from 46 ratings, while PB Drills averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Pickleball Strategy 3.5+ Guide or PB Drills have ads?
Neither Pickleball Strategy 3.5+ Guide nor PB Drills shows ads.

Other comparisons