You just learned about pickleball or maybe even played in a couple of matches already. Getting the basics down in anything is important before moving on to anything advanced.
In this article we will go over how to serve in pickleball and how you can increase your proficiency in the game.
Basic Serve Rules
Before getting into technique, you need to know where the ball is supposed to go. In pickleball you serve diagonally, crosscourt, into the opposite service court. The ball has to clear the net and also clear the kitchen (the non-volley zone), and that includes the kitchen line. A serve that lands on the kitchen line is short and counts as a fault. If it lands on any other line, like the baseline or the sideline, it is good.
You only get one attempt, so there's no second serve if you miss. If the serving team's score is even, you serve from the right side of the court, and if it's odd you serve from the left. Before every serve you also call out the score, which in doubles is three numbers: your team's score, your opponent's score, and whether you are the first or second server.
Where To Stand
Let's start from the very beginning: you will need to have both feet behind the baseline of the court. You can't step on the baseline or in the court at the moment you hit the ball, as that is a foot fault. Hovering your foot above the court is technically allowed but it's suboptimal, as you won't be able to generate enough power for a good serve.
It is better if both of your feet are behind the baseline and planted firmly at the moment your paddle hits the ball into your opponent's court, so that you can actually put your weight into the serve.
Types Of Serves
Pickleball has two main ways to serve, and they follow different rules.
The volley serve is where you hit the ball out of the air without letting it bounce. You have to hit it below your waist with an upward arc of your arm, so you can't serve overhead like in tennis. You can throw the ball up and hit it as it falls below waist level, but as a beginner I wouldn't recommend it.
The drop serve is a much simpler style of serving where you extend your hand forward, let the ball drop to the floor and hit it as it bounces back up. Since the ball bounces first, the waist and underhand rules don't apply to the drop serve, which makes it far more forgiving. As a beginner I would recommend the drop serve.
Once you are comfortable you can experiment with spin serves and lob serves, but those are for later.
How To Do A Drop Serve
If you are serious about the sport and develop a good kinetic as well as spatial sense, I am sure you can serve however you want, provided you stay within the rules. But when you are just getting into the sport or want to improve, you want to first achieve a level of consistency.
That means hitting the ball with control. You want to know "how" hitting somewhere takes the ball "where", and a drop serve will give you the greatest consistency as long as you fix the angle at which you set your arms before dropping the ball and the time you take to hit it to a targeted location.
Here is the form:
Stand a bit off-face to the opponent, with the foot opposite your paddle hand slightly forward. Hold the ball in your free hand and extend that arm out in front of you, about a shoulder's width from your body and at roughly waist height. Your paddle arm hangs back and a bit below, so that both arms almost form a right angle triangle with your body.
Then simply let go of the ball, don't toss it, and let it bounce once. As it comes back up, swing your paddle forward with a short, smooth motion and shift your weight onto your front leg as you make contact. Follow through toward the spot you are aiming at.
First try to get a feel for it till it becomes comfortable for you.
Serve Strategy
Now we get into the mindset of the serve. A good serve will keep your opponent on the back foot, returning easier shots to you which you can exploit.
What matters most is depth, more than raw power. A serve that lands near the baseline pushes the returner back and makes it harder for them to attack. A short, soft serve lets them step in and take control, so aim deep first and add power as you get better.
You would also want to serve to their backhand (offhand), as it is much more difficult to hit. Just pay attention to which hand they hold their paddle in. Almost everyone is right handed, but the off chance someone is left handed or ambidextrous could give you a difficult play.
Keep in mind that serving doesn't give you as much initiative as you might expect. Because of the two-bounce rule, the returner has to let the serve bounce and then you have to let the return bounce before you can volley. The first few shots are about setting up your position, not attacking, but a good deep serve still gives you a better start to the rally.
Common Serve Mistakes
- Foot faults: stepping on the baseline or into the court when you hit the ball.
- Serving short: the ball landing in the kitchen or on the kitchen line.
- Serving to the wrong court: forgetting that the serve goes diagonally, and which side you serve from depends on your score.
- Hitting above the waist on a volley serve: this is a fault, so stick to the drop serve until you're confident.
- Tossing the ball instead of dropping it: on a drop serve you just release the ball, you don't throw it upward.
Serve Practice Drills
It should be noted that it takes time and practice before any theoretical or technical skill takes precedence. A few drills can speed it up:
- Target drill: place a towel or cone in the back third of the service court and try to land your serves on or around it.
- Twenty serve test: take 20 serves from each side and count how many land in and deep. Write the number down and try to beat it next session.
- Same motion drill: drop and hit 10 serves in a row focusing only on making your arm angle and swing identical each time. Consistency comes from repeating the same motion.
The best way to improve is while playing, so even with all this information you may still not be able to execute this perfectly at first. As your body acclimates it will get easier and easier for you to serve with power and aim with precision.
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