The best way to serve a pickleball is with both strategy and technique. Once you know the rules of the serve, you can become more competitive by improving your pickleball serve technique.
The pickleball serve is unique because it's the only shot where you're not reacting to your opponent.
You aren't rushed, and you have the time to set your feet, take your time, and place the ball before contact exactly where you want it. Since you start the point, a strong serve can lead to a weaker return, giving you an advantage.
In the Paddlespeed Program, we cover seven pickleball serve drills to help you improve your power, spin, and accuracy while ensuring you're following the correct pickleball serve rules.
You’ll also learn how to apply our 4 main concepts to hit with more spin and power on your serve. But first, here’s some strategy to consider.
Pickleball Service Strategy
Whether you’re executing a drop serve or a flat serve, the goal of your serve is to control the start of each point.
Exploit Your Opponent
You can use the serve to exploit an opponent's weak spot, whether that's their forehand or backhand. By varying placement, spin, and speed, you keep your opponents guessing.
Choosing where to serve depends on both you and your opponent. Do they struggle with forehands or backhands? You can often tell by how they position themselves on the court.
In singles, a deep, powerful serve pushes your opponent back, giving you more court to work with on your third shot. In doubles, fast and varied serves have evolved as a key strategy, keeping your opponents on their toes.
Consider the Environment
Environmental factors also play a role—wind, for example, can affect the effectiveness of different types of serves. If the wind is in your face, a heavy topspin serve will slow down, so you will want to hit a flatter ball.
If the wind is at your back, you can hit with more topspin to bring the ball down while taking advantage of the extra power from the wind.
It's essential to vary your serve to keep your opponent guessing. You should aim to hit a mix of serves—topspin, flat, to the backhand, to the forehand—to prevent them from anticipating your next move.
Service Mechanics and Technique
Now, let's talk about the mechanics of the serve. The serve starts with the toss. You control where you want to hit the ball, so the toss is critical. And how you want to hit the ball determines your toss.
We’ll be discussing two types of volley serves, as opposed to a drop serve in this article.
Volley Serve 1: Flat Serve
A flat serve is a fast, low-spin serve that travels in a straight trajectory with minimal bounce, making it difficult for opponents to attack but requiring precise control.
A flat serve requires the toss to be more out in front of you and lat a comfortable height since you're driving through the ball.
