serve

Pickleball – Serve Yourself – Serving Styles and Options

Jeff

When I first started playing pickleball, the rule of the serve back then was to “just put the ball in play” and “don’t miss a serve.” The mantra was hit the ball high and deep; or some variation on that theme. Indeed this does work at the beginning levels of play. The emphasis on keeping the ball in play is a solid one because your team can only win points on the serve.

Since that time, I have seen a shift in attitude regarding the serve. New players entering the pickleball court are bringing skills from other sports like racquetball, ping pong, tennis, etc. There seems to be a bit more openness to trying something different on the serve and taking risks.

I too have adopted the more open philosophy in that I will take some chances during a game such as trying to serve the ball close to the line if it is to the backhand of the receiving player. I will also try to spin the ball once in a while just to keep the opposing team off balance a bit.

Here is my rationale. I don’t have a killer serve and most 3.5 and better players can get my serve back without a problem so the point needs to be won during a rally or volley.

There are times, however, if I take a risk and try one of the trickier shots mentioned above, I can often win one or two points a game on my serve by hitting an outright winner or forcing a weak return shot.

Because of this, I figure I can take a chance with my serve until I miss one or two and then I scale back a bit. This makes the game more fun for me and I hope more challenging for my opponents.

Mark Renneson of Third Shot Sports, who has been featured on JBRish many times, has a video addressing the serve. Interestingly enough, I recently had a pickleball coach watch me serve and he made the same points as Mark does. One key element I wasn’t getting quite right, was that I was not hitting the ball low enough on my serve. I was told it should be just above the height of my knee. Keeping this in mind has helped my serve.

Watch the video below and pay attention to the key points Mark makes about hitting the serve.

In Summary, I think these are the take-aways:

  • Pre-serve routine
  • Don’t throw the ball too high in the air
  • Make contact with the ball “out front”
  • Relaxed follow through

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Thanks to Mark and Third Shot Sports for allowing this to be presented on JBRish.com

Pickleball – Not All Serves Are Created Equal

Jeff

When playing pickleball, one way to gain the advantage when serving to a right-handed person when you are serving from the left service court is to hit the ball to their backhand. Most beginning and average players have a weaker backhand and will return a backhand shot that is easier to handle if they are forced to use their backhand. This is easier said than done in some cases, but you can try to stack the odds in your favor by standing in a better location before serving.

Look at diagram 1 below:

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If the serve hits anywhere near the red dot; even a foot or two farther back, the person returning serve (green square) will have great difficulty running around it to hit a forehand. They will most likely have to hit a backhand resulting in a weaker return.

Notice where the server is standing in this drawing. They are aligned fairly close to the center line and the angle to hit that spot is very narrow and unlikely to achieve the goal as the line of trajectory shows.

Look at diagram 2:

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In this scenario, the server has moved far to their left and has increased the angle and margin of error so they have a much better chance of serving the ball near the target area. This would make it very difficult for the receiving player to hit a forehand shot.

The video below from Third Shot Sports, demonstrates this in real time. Watch the demonstration and see if this is something you would like to try.

“Quick improvement of service by standing all the way to the side when serving from the “odd” court.”

 

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Pickleball: Let’s Talk About the Serve

Jeff

When players look at this diagram (below), I receive mixed reactions.

 

Diagram of a Pickleball Serve

Some think it is an illegal serve because it looks like a side-arm swing. Others think that it is legal because it meets all of the elements of a legal serve, but admit it is close.

What do you think? Watch the video below to find out!

Did you know the three main elements of the serve?

 

JBRish.com originally published this post

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Pickleball – Why Short Serves Are Not Good!

Jeff

Mark Renneson of Third Shot Pickleball and PB champion explains why it is generally not a good idea to hit a short serve.

This point was also made in a recent video I posted on JBRish.com which defines PB strategies for winning! If you missed that video with the top ten tips, you can see it here: Doubles Pickleball Strategy 101-How to Play Smart Pickleball, Ten Tips

Pickleball Serve: Is Variety the Advantage You Need to Win?

Jeff

Many of the essays, articles, books addressing the Pickleball serve will advise players to hit the ball high and deep and sometimes the word SLOW is used in conjunction with the advisory. The idea is twofold:

  • 1) Keep the opposing team away from the net and
  • 2) Make them supply the pace (power) behind any return shot

The two elements above may help the serving team get to the net as quickly as possible and it is true that the idea is to gain control of the net. All else being equal, the team “controlling” the net should win most of the points.

The popularity of Pickleball is soaring and more and more young people are finding their way to the Pickleball courts. This is great for the game. With their athleticism and speed, the serve is taking on more importance as a factor in the game.

Tennis and Pickleball Coach Mark Rennseson, with more than eighteen years experience, agrees with The Pickleball Show host Chris Allen that, once again, all things being equal, the team serving the ball only has a forty percent chance of winning the point. The receiving team has a 60-40 chance of winning the serve so why not try to change those odds?

Mark also suggests that since the serve is the only time you have complete control of the ball and where it is going to go, you should take advantage of it by doing more with the ball than “just getting it in play.” He doesn’t believe serving high and deep is the way to go for everyone.

Coach Rennseson encourages the more adventurous and perhaps intermediate to advanced players, to take more of a chance to gain the advantage. By varying the type of serve, the receiver’s potential for hitting a weaker return increases thus enabling the serving team to gain the upper hand. The issue of missing the serve a couple of times a game might not be that bad if the server(s) can cause the receiving team to make enough errors.

You can listen to this discussion via the podcast of The Pickleball Show, episode 7, starting at 13:19 into the show.

As a matter of fact, the Pickleball video (below), Pickleball 411: Three Serves and Why You Need Them, provides an explanation of what the three types of serves are and reasons for using them. NOTE: This is not an instructional video of “HOW” to execute these shots, but an explanation why you might want to use them.



“In this episode (above) of Pickleball 411, our host, Rusty Howes, is joined by Jennifer Lucore, Alex Hamner and Bob Youngren who demonstrate the different serves they use and explain when and why they use them. We hope this detailed episode will help all of you take your pickleball game to the next level!”

Deb Harrison also agrees that having “the ball in your hand” on the serve warrants doing more than just getting it in. You can listen to her explanation of what to do with the serve at 13:02 minutes in to The Pickleball Show podcast 11.

To summarize:

  • If you are just starting out playing Pickleball and you are playing with beginning to average players, keep the serve high and deep.
  • If you are playing among intermediate to more advanced players, i.e. 3.5-5.0, you might want to try to do more with the serve. Varying the serve keeps the opponents guessing and may cause an instant of hesitation in a very fast game. In Pickleball, fractions of seconds can make the difference.
  • High and Deep Serve can be used at any level and is used for a change of pace.
  • The Power Serve – This serve is low, deep and hard. This serve is varied by changing location. Right, left or in the middle of the appropriate service court. Of course, one needs to practice to be able to get this serve in consistently.
  • Soft Angle Serve – Once again, keeps the opponents guessing and, when done right, can force them to the outside of the court leaving a lane down which one can hit the ball.

What is your philosophy about the Pickleball serve? Have the above points changed your approach to the Pickleball serve?

Pickleball: Almost Just Like You

Jeff

The link below is to the Grand Canyon State Games 2015 men’s Pickleball finals in El Mirage, AZ between Justin Rodgers & Dave Weinbach and Steve Wong & Aspen Kern.

I would encourage you to watch the video. I wouldn’t say it is an exceptionally exciting match, but there are some good observations that can be made:

These are top notch players, perhaps best in the world, and they make the same mistakes we all make. They just make them less often.

  • Notice how much of the game is played in or near the non-volley zone.

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  • Also note how every once in a while the direction of the shot is changed by the player hitting the ball into the opposing non-volley zone. Angling the shot seems to give the offensive player better odds at getting the ball over the net and keeping it shallow and low. I have found this to be the case in my playing as well.

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  • Interestingly, the lob was NOT used to back the opponents off of the non-volley zone area. Beginners and some intermediate players use the lob quite often. This underscores the difficulty of making great lob shots and turning a defensive position in to an offensive one.

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  • The players do not serve hard, but try to serve in such a way that they can get to the net on the third shot or shortly thereafter.