Racquet sports come in different shapes and sizes. Nevertheless, the one constant about each game is that a quality serve is paramount. A well-placed and struck serve valuable skills, and this complete guide to serving in pickleball should inform you of the best practices.
Follow the Rules
Before we jump straight into strategies, goals, and advanced tactics, it’s worthwhile to learn the rules of serving in pickleball. If you are coming over from another racquet sport, you will realize several similarities between your sport and pickleball, although there are also a few differences.
Underhand & Waist Level
The first difference you’ll realize is that a pickleball serve must be underhand. An overhand tennis serve is not possible on a court nearly half the size of a regulation tennis court. It’s as if baseball moved the mound up 30 feet and threw a fastball from 30 feet away. No one is hitting that pitch, nor is another hitting an overhand tennis-style serve in pickleball. The serve must also go cross-court diagonally to your opponent.
Another element of understanding the serve is that it has to be at or below your waist. This rule is easy to follow once you acclimate to the game, considering that having an arcing underhand serve above the waist is quite difficult. But this rule eliminates any advanced players who experiment with attacking certain angles.
Know Your Lines
A pickleball court has three lines a player must acknowledge: the baseline, the centerline, and the sideline. As the server, the baseline is the first you’ll see, as it’s the one directly in front of you. The baseline is like the yellow line on a school bus—do not cross it. The centerlines and sidelines are similar to tennis in that the ball can land on the lines without a fault.
Stay Out of the Kitchen
If you are unfamiliar with pickleball, you will immediately notice a seven-foot box on each side of the net that covers the width of the playing area. This box is exclusive to pickleball, and it’s dubbed “the kitchen,” or the non-volley zone. The inside of the kitchen and the line border is off-limits from your serve. Any ball that lands there will be a fault.
Random Rules
Those are the most common and useful rules to know about serving, but there are other things worth knowing about the game, including the following:
• A server must keep at least one foot on the ground when they strike the ball.
• An opponent cannot disrupt a serve while in flight, or the serving team earns a point.
• If you swing and miss the ball while serving, it’s a fault. However, if the ball hits the ground without taking a pass at the ball, there is no penalty.
• The ball cannot hit you, your partner, or anything you wear.
Let It Be
The last rule worth covering is a let. The first time you may have heard the term “let” was possibly from an early morning viewing of Wimbledon as a child during summer vacation. A let is any serve that strikes the top of the net and lands in your opponent’s zone. If this instance happens during a match, players should shout “let” loud enough, so that everyone hears. With a let acknowledged, the serving team can re-do their serve without an issue. But if the let falls into the kitchen, it is a fault.
Strategies for the Serve
Now that you comprehend the rules of a pickleball server, you are ready to develop a service routine that will become second nature in due time.
Ready, Aim, Fire!
A novice, let alone their opponents, may not realize their strengths and weaknesses. Thus, keyholing an area on the court where you want your serve to go may not be your first thought. As you have more matches, you should better understand your capabilities, allowing you to develop a more strategically-placed shot.
You Become the Scoreboard
Regardless of what you do in your life, it never hurts to have the proper etiquette. The best way to get on the good side of your opponents is to call out the score before every serve. Unless you play in a professional tournament, you won’t have a scoreboard or an official to keep track of the match. During an intense battle, it is easy to space on the score, potentially leading to arguments.
Another reason calling out the score before ever serve is helpful is that it develops your pre-shot routine. A routine puts you in the right headspace, giving you a sense of consistency that helps you stay composed throughout the day.
Stay Balanced
Your feet are integral to your success in any sport, and pickleball is no different. Your plant foot will depend on your handedness. For the sake of the majority, a right-handed server will want to plant their left foot into the ground because you can generate power with a firm grip.
Moreover, a solid grip ensures that you remain balanced throughout the serve. Lastly, always leave enough space between your plant foot and the baseline. You don’t want to fault because you are inching too close for comfort.
Send Them Back
While having a serve lethal enough to get an ace is valuable in your arsenal, a pickleball serve isn’t as much about power as it is about location. Your goal should be a serve that keeps your opponent glued to the baseline. When an opponent is further back on the court, it reduces their chances of heading toward the kitchen promptly. You’ll quickly realize that most of your exchanges will be near the non-volley zone, and you’re worse off when you return shots from the back of the court.
Don’t Charge Immediately
Although we just expressed how important it is to rush the net and not stay back, you mustn’t charge it immediately after serving. The prototypical pickleball exchange doesn’t usually pick up steam until the third shot. After the serving team returns their opposition’s shot, you can confidently dart toward the kitchen. Otherwise, you leave yourself open to a soft lob over your head, leading to an easy point for your adversary.
The complete guide to serving in pickleball should clear up any qualms about the game’s rules and provide you with the best tips for success. If there are two things worth remembering from this guide, it’s that you should aim for the backcourt and attack their weaknesses. When you master these two skills and pick up the best gear from Fromuth Pickleball, you will be a force on the court.
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