Every pickleball match begins with a shot called “serve”. Most often, the team that is serving the ball has an upper hand to score as they can just smash the ball at their opponent. There is always a slight chance that the opponent might miss the ball and a point will be awarded to the serving team. So if you are someone that likes to play this paddle sport. Then you must work hard in order to improve your pickleball serve.
It is one of the most fundamental shots that one must be good at. While there are multiple golden opportunities to score a point right at the beginning of a game. There also lingers the fear of hitting the ball too hard and with a wrong placement that the ball finds its way outside the designated boundary of the pickleball court. Enhancing your pickleball serve is the key to winning the game.
Improve Your Pickleball Serve:
Serve the ball with maximum power, always go for deep serves, don’t be too predictable and lastly, don’t be afraid to miss the serve. These are only some of the multiple ways to improve your pickleball serve.
Fundamental Rules During a Serve:
Before we jump into the strategies and tactics to enhance the pickleball serves. We must learn how to properly serve the ball and avoid losing a point. In pickleball, the correct way to serve a ball is to stroke the ball with an underhand. Following are the basic rules to serve the ball:
- The contact between the ball and the paddle must be made below the belly button.
- The paddle must be moving from downward to upward motion.
- The paddle must not go above the wrist.
Problems & Strategies To Improve Your Serving Game
Have you ever suffered the loss of your skills in serving phenomenal balls? Your serves are going all over the places out of the blue for absolutely no reason whatsoever. Well! You don’t have to worry anymore. Because here we have come up with some of the most common problems that are stopping you from executing that perfect serve, along with helpful strategies on how to get better.
Problem #1 – Same Serve Over & Over Again:
One of the biggest issues that are getting in your way to serve the ball in the right manner is repetition. If you don’t change the way you serve the ball at each point the game begins then you’re gonna have a serious problem. Your opponent might spot this weakness and can easily get an upper hand.
Solution – Be Unpredictable:
The most efficient way to get better at serving the ball is to keep changing where to serve the ball. If you always pick one spot and one spot only to serve the ball then the opponent is going to get a hint of it. The opposing team can use this advantage against you or your team. So we suggest you mix your ways in order to stay unnoticed.
Problem #2 – Weak Serve:
Sometimes when serving the ball, players don’t put an adequate amount of strength behind their swings. This usually results in the ball ending up tangled in the net. Even if the ball does go beyond the net, it won’t land where the player intended it to.
Solution – Powerful Swing:
Another important determinant here is that you must muster up all your strength behind your serves. Don’t be afraid to go all in. And at the same time, always try to strike the ball by keeping the baseline as your target. One additional tip here is that you can use the strength in your legs to stand in a well-balanced stance to send the ball flying across the net.
Problem #3 – The Stance:
One other problem that can cause the player to serve the ball properly is their stance. We have seen quite a number of times that players chose to stand in such a way that is not very comfortable. Since they’re not in their dominant position, the outcome is a faulty serve.
Solution – Comfortable Posture:
We recommend the pickleball players to choose the way they stand in which they feel the most comfortable. Although one thing should be kept in mind during the serve, which is to stand with your legs apart from each other. In this way, you get the perfect balance to hit the opponent with the ideal serve.
On top of that, while serving the ball, make sure that the ball and the paddle are close to your body at the time of contact. It is better to have the ball right in front of the body so it takes less effort to stroke the ball.
Whereas if you keep the ball far away from the point you are standing. You’re gonna have to move your body which eventually will break your concentration. Plus the contact made between the ball and the paddle won’t be good enough.
Problem #4 – Too Much Twisting & Turning:
When serving a ball, it is pretty common to twist your body entire body unintentionally while back swinging. It is one of the biggest mistakes that most pickleball players make, especially the new ones.
Solution – Refrain From Over-Rotating:
We suggest not to over-rotate your feet or body in general as it might affect the serve. Over-rotating might result in miscalculation by which the ball eventually ends up in the wrong direction.
Problem #5 – Not Having A Preserve Routine:
Some players don’t understand the gravity of having a pre-serve routine before starting each game. They believe that it has no significant influence on the overall performance. Having a pattern of some sort, or a routine helps a lot to concentrate on the game. It gets you ready not only physically but also mentally.
Solution – Serving Pattern:
Many players find it useful to have some sort of pattern before each serve. This pattern or “pre-serve routine” helps the player get in the game. Bouncing the pickleball off the ground or on the face of the paddle, spinning the paddle, and adjusting additional clothing such as a cap or armband might be some of the most repeated preserve routines that we have observed in many pickleball players.
Another famous pattern that almost all pickleball players follow is that they like to call out the score before each serve. It is also one of the convenient ways to also learn how to keep scores. Not only that, but it also jogs the memory of not only the players but also of the audience regarding the game points.
Problem #6 – Not Enough Drills:
Few pickleball players have this misconception that whatever they’re doing on the court is enough. A Pickleball drill is essential to take your game up a notch. They don’t push themselves to their extreme limits by practicing their serves when they’re off the court. This only shows their unseriousness towards pickleball.
Solution – Practice Makes A Perfect:
There is no doubt in the fact that consistency and practice are the two most vital factors in getting better at literally anything. So is the case with pickleball serves. Make sure to go through a ton of videos available online. Also, try to keep the training as plain as possible for optimum results Have confidence and keep practicing at a steady pace. And soon you will be able to serve some of the most menacing balls.
In Retrospect,
Serving a ball is probably one of the most crucial elements of pickleball. We are of the opinion that one should be able to pull off several different ways to serve a ball in order to keep your opponent at their toes.
If you are successful in keeping your competitor guessing then you have already won the game. We at pickleballobby are confident that the tactics that we have mentioned above will definitely come in handy to improve your pickleball serve.
He’s an extreme introvert and that’s one of the reasons he’s never seen participating in tournaments, despite having a 5+ rating. He hates the spotlight so much that he’d stay in the corner writing all the tips, tricks, and lengthy explanations about the game but would never come in front to communicate with someone. That’s why he stays as low-key as possible, helping the players randomly without acting as a couch where you gotta deal with so many players.
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