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The Erne is one of the most photogenic shots in pickleball: a player suddenly jumps or steps around the kitchen, materializes at the net post, and crushes a dink that the opponent thought was a safe ball. Done cleanly, it ends the point instantly. Done poorly, it gives the point away through a kitchen fault.
The Erne is named after pro player Erne Perry, who popularized the shot in the early 2010s. Despite its showy reputation, the Erne is fundamentally a positioning shot—it's about reading the rally and exploiting a pattern your opponent has fallen into. This guide covers the rule mechanics, the technique, the fake version (which is often more useful than the real one), and how to drill it without injuring yourself.
What an Erne Actually Is
An Erne is a volley hit from outside the sideline, next to or behind the net post, where your feet are outside the court but you're still attacking a ball that came over the net inside the playing area. Because your feet never touch inside the kitchen, you're legally permitted to volley.
Visually: you're standing essentially off the side of the court, with the net post next to you, smashing down on a ball that's drifting toward the kitchen sideline. The opponent thinks you're at the kitchen line in normal position—instead, you've moved laterally and are now blocking the angle their dink was traveling on.
The trick of the Erne isn't athletic—it's anticipatory. You read that your opponent is about to dink to a specific spot, and you arrive there before the ball does.
Why It's Legal (and the Failure Modes)
The non-volley zone rule states that you cannot volley while any part of you—or anything you're touching or wearing—is in contact with the kitchen. It says nothing about volleying from outside the sideline. The Erne is fully within the rules as long as your feet never touch the kitchen during, before, or after the volley.
There are two legal ways to execute an Erne:
The Step-Around
You step around the kitchen by going past the sideline. Your foot lands outside the court, beyond the kitchen line projection. Then you volley with both feet legally outside the kitchen.
The Jump-Over
You jump from behind the kitchen line, hit the volley in the air, and land outside the kitchen (off the side). As long as you don't touch the kitchen on landing, this is legal.
The Three Ways to Fault
- • Your foot touches the kitchen at any point during the volley—even after the ball is gone.
- • You hit the volley with one foot still inside the kitchen (the "around" wasn't actually around).
- • Your momentum carries you into the kitchen after the shot. Momentum faults count.
Reading the Setup
Erne opportunities don't happen randomly. They appear when your opponent has fallen into a predictable dinking pattern. Look for these signals:
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Your opponent is dinking cross-court to your partner repeatedly. You're standing on the opposite side, not really involved in the rally—that's exactly when you can shift wide and steal it.
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The dinker is looking at their paddle, not at you. If they're concentrating on placement and not tracking your movement, they won't see you shift until it's too late.
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They've established a rhythm. Three or four dinks to the same area means they're locked in—a sudden Erne breaks the pattern.
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The dink is trending toward the sideline. A cross-court dink that's drifting wide will land near the sideline corner—exactly where you'll be after the step-around.
Technique & Footwork
The execution looks athletic but the timing matters more than the speed:
Read the opponent's paddle.
The instant you see them set up to dink to your side—not your partner's—you should already be moving. Waiting until you see the ball cross the net is too late.
Take two quick lateral steps outside the sideline.
Stay behind the kitchen line (the imaginary extension of it past the sideline)—never cut through the kitchen itself. Your goal is to plant just outside the sideline at the net post.
Get your paddle up early.
Paddle should already be at shoulder height as you arrive. There's no time for a backswing—it's a punch volley, not a swing.
Volley down at an angle.
Target their feet or the opposite sideline—the ball should go down sharply because you're contacting it above the net. Don't try to crush it. A controlled angle wins; an overhit ball flies long.
Control your momentum.
Plant both feet before contact. Do not let your follow-through drag you into the kitchen. Many Ernes get called as faults because of momentum, not initial position.
The Fake Erne (Often Better Than the Real One)
Here's the secret most intermediate players miss: you don't have to actually hit the Erne for it to work. The threat alone is often more valuable than the shot itself.
The "fake Erne" goes like this: you take two quick lateral steps toward the sideline as if you're about to attack. Your opponent sees the movement out of the corner of their eye and panics—they redirect their dink to the middle of the court or rush it. The result: a pop-up, a net error, or a ball into the center where your partner crushes it.
Pros use fake Ernes more often than real ones. The fake creates pressure on every dink your opponent hits—because they now have to worry about you on every single shot.
If you only ever hit fake Ernes, you'll still win points. Your opponent's dinks get worse because they're distracted. Your partner gets easier balls. The real Erne becomes the occasional finisher—maybe one in ten attempts—while the fake does the heavy lifting.
Related Shot: The Bert
A "Bert" is essentially an Erne hit by the partner instead of the player who would normally cover that side. If your partner crosses behind you (or in front of you) to attack a ball on your side of the court from outside the kitchen, that's a Bert.
The Bert is much rarer because it requires extreme coordination: your partner has to read the situation, sprint across the court, and arrive at the net post on your side without you and they getting tangled up. Reserved for very advanced doubles teams that have drilled it specifically. Most players will never need it—but it's the kind of play you'll see in pro matches that suddenly makes sense once you understand the Erne.
When NOT to Attempt the Erne
You're not certain where the dink is going.
If you guess wrong, you've vacated your side of the court and given them an open shot. Erne only when you're 90%+ confident.
The opponent is looking at you.
If they see you moving, they\'ll redirect their dink to the middle of the court—where you\'re no longer standing. Wait until they\'re looking down at the ball.
The score is critical and you're on a streak.
Erne attempts are higher-variance than dinks. Don\'t introduce extra risk when discipline is winning you points.
You're still working on your dink game.
If you can\'t dink consistently, the foundation isn\'t there. Master the steady rally first, then add the Erne as a finisher.
Your partner is out of position.
Going for an Erne pulls you all the way to the sideline. If your partner is also wide, the middle is wide open if the Erne fails.
How to Practice the Erne
The Erne is a low-frequency shot. You can't drill it the way you drill dinks. But you can build the underlying skills:
1.Footwork-only drill
No ball. Stand at the kitchen line. On a partner's verbal cue, take two quick steps outside the sideline and back. Build the lateral movement until it's reflexive. Do 20 reps per side.
2.Fed-ball Erne reps
Partner stands at the opposite kitchen line and dinks toward your sideline. You step around and Erne it. Focus on legality—plant both feet before contact, no kitchen contact. Build the muscle memory before doing it under pressure.
3.Fake-and-real game
Play points where you must attempt at least one fake or real Erne per rally. You'll quickly learn which situations actually warrant the shot vs. which you forced. Most reps will be fakes—and that's the point.
The Erne lives inside the dink game
You can't Erne what you can't dink. Build the steady kitchen-line game first, then layer this on.
