5 Easy Tips for Improving Your Pickleball Serve
Serves are the starting point of each pickleball game. The serve in pickleball may seem like a simple shot, but it is an integral part of every point. There aren't many points won on ace serves in pickleball; however, many opportunities are lost on out-of-bounds serves. You may also be able to gain an edge over your opponents if you are able to perfect your serve on the pickleball courts.
This post includes vital pickleball serving tips and key pickleball serving strategy tips, as well as the best pickleball serving technique tips.
What are the basic pickleball serving rules?
Underhand serves are used in pickleball, in contrast to the overhand serves of tennis. According to pickleball rules, the serve must be hit below the navel with:
Move your arm in an upward arc, either forehand or backhand; and
Make sure the top of the paddle head is below the top of your wrist (where you bend your wrist).
Once contact has been made, your pickleball paddle can be used however you like.
Placing Your Feet While Serving
At least one foot must remain in contact with the ground behind the baseline when your paddle contacts the pickleball on your serve.
You may not place your feet on or inside the baseline or beyond the imaginary extension lines of the sideline or middle of the court. You can set your feet anywhere on the pickleball court after making contact with the serve, including on the baseline or outside the imaginary sides or centerlines.
Pro Serving Tip 1: Create a Pre-serve Routine That Works
Before you serve the pickleball on the pickleball court, you should find a routine that you are familiar with. Using your hand to bounce the pickleball, hitting it a few times with your paddle, or tightening your ponytail is an acceptable pre-serve routine.
Performing this pre-serve routine will ensure that you are mentally and physically prepared for the point. You can also improve your timing by performing this routine. Make sure you have a pre-serve routine, so you're ready before you play!
Preserve routines should always include speaking the score aloud before serving. If you said the score and served simultaneously, have you ever hit your serve out of bounds?
This can be avoided by saying the score before starting the serve. Don't say the score and serve at the same time. Thus, before serving, think first, state the score, and do your pre-serve routine.
Pro Serving Tip 2: Perfect Your Pickleball Serving Technique
Many pickleball players use their wrist and elbow to flick their serve during a serve on the court. In pickleball, flicking the wrist or bending at the elbow is not recommended because it can lead to inconsistent serves, as it is difficult to repeat accurately. Practicing a problematic serve motion leads to inconsistent, unreliable serves in pickleball, where the goal is to perfect a consistent, reliable serve.
If pickleball is to be played correctly, the service motion should emulate a pendulum swing rather than a wrist or elbow swing. You should serve fluidly and loosely, not stiffly. A fluid and loose motion will make a pickleball serve more reliable and consistent. It should be part of your pre-serve routine to just flow smoothly into the serve and follow-through.
This fluid, loose motion should also begin with a small backswing and be maintained throughout the game. Pickleball service motions don't end when the pickleball is hit but should continue in that direction as if the pickleball were shot several times in a row. Ideally, it should go to the crosscourt box or, more specifically, to an exact spot in the crosscourt box.
Keep your shoulders free and finish your pickleball swing while staying loose!
Pro Serving Tip 3: Keep Your Stance Semi-closed and Avoid Over-rotating
The non-paddle side of the pickleball paddle is often pulled open during a serve, meaning that the pickleball court is open to their bodies. Essentially, they may be turning too much during a serve. Your pickleball serve will likely be hit on its side, making it harder to control and more difficult to remain consistent when you rotate too much on the backswing or during the follow-through.
The key to avoiding this common pickleball serve mistake is to:
1. Avoid over-rotating on the backswing
Be cautious while taking your backswing so that your pickleball paddle does not get behind you. You might end up inconsistently serving pickleball, leading to unforced errors.
2. Practice a semi-closed stance
The semi-closed stance is where the crosscourt service box is partially open, and the end zone is closed. With a semi-closed stance, you can keep the pickleball and your pickleball paddle reasonably close to your body while preventing over-rotation and large backswings.
3. Keep the pickleball relatively close to and in front of your body when making contact
Contact with the pickleball should be made relatively close to your paddle side waist and a bit out front of your body. With this point of contact, you not only generate more power since you can use more of your body, but you are also able to shoot more consistently. The pickleball will lag behind your pickleball paddle if you contact it away from your body or behind your body, resulting in an inconsistent point of contact between you and the pickleball.
Pro Serving Tip 4: Serve with Power by Using Your Legs and Core
To increase the strength or pace of your pickleball serve:
Improve your pickleball delivery skills by mastering the pickleball serving tips mentioned above;
If you have perfected your pickleball service technique, try generating more speed through the motion of your pickleball serve; and
Use your legs and your core when you strike the pickleball, as these are some of your strongest muscles.
To implement this last tip, be sure to utilize an athletic stance on your serve to engage your legs and core, including compressing your legs during the serve.
Pro Serving Tip 5: Always Mix It Up
An incredibly consistent serve should be a minimum requirement for every pickleball player. Therefore, it is essential to practice pickleball serving drills until you have mastered at least one extremely consistent serve. An exercise could be serving a bucket of pickles to targets on the other side of the pickleball court or simply focusing on one of these techniques in each game until you have mastered each of them.
Takeaways
Keep your opponents guessing by mixing up your serves to keep them on their toes on the pickleball court. Mixing up your serves can give you an advantage over your opponents. You may even find that one serve is harder for them than another.
Once you have mastered one consistent serve, add all of these other unique pickleball serves to your repertoire to continue to improve your pickleball game.
