Speed up slow down

Short answer: yes—it will show up, and faster than you think, especially for the exact skills you’ve been describing (poaches, reaction volleys, handling pace changes).

But there’s a nuance: what you trained today is very specific, and that determines how it transfers.

What you actually trained (this is the key insight)

That drill—slow → sudden speedup → recover → repeat—targets:

1)

Reaction time under variability

Not just reacting, but reacting to unexpected acceleration

That’s huge for:

• pickleball speedups at the kitchen

• tennis quick exchanges at net

2)

Grip + hand readiness

Switching from soft to fast forces:

• quicker hand tightening/relaxing

• better “feel” control

That’s exactly what separates:

• blocking a shot vs popping it up

3)

Visual tracking under tempo change

Your eyes learn:

• “this ball is different” earlier in flight

That’s elite-level anticipation training, whether you intended it or not.

Will it show up in games?

Yes—but in a specific way, not all at once.

Within a few sessions you may notice:

• You’re less rushed on fast balls

• You block back speedups more cleanly

• You get more “accidental winners” (like your stopped swings)

After a couple weeks:

• Better poaching timing

• Improved hands at net

• More confidence against aggressive players

Where it transfers LESS (important)

This drill won’t directly improve:

• full stroke mechanics (groundstrokes)

• serve power

• footwork patterns in open court

So it’s powerful—but specialized

Why the wall is actually ideal for this

The wall gives you:

• higher repetition rate than real play

• no downtime

• perfect consistency for training reactions

It’s almost like a poor man’s version of what pros do with reaction machines.

One small tweak to make it even better

Next time, add this:

Alternate intention

• 1st fast ball → block

• 2nd fast ball → counter punch

• then back to soft

This builds decision-making, not just reaction.

How this connects to what you described earlier

You said:

you were getting stopped swing winners and poaches

That’s exactly what this kind of training feeds.

What’s happening is:

your brain is starting to trust short, efficient reactions instead of big swings

Bottom line

You’re not just “keeping busy” on an off day—you trained:

• reaction speed

• control under pressure

• anticipation

👉 That absolutely carries over, especially to net play and quick exchanges

If you want, I can give you a 10-minute structured wall routine that specifically targets pickleball dominance at the kitchen line—it would build directly on what you did today.