Pickleball Magazine 2-2 Courtesy of PickleballTournaments.com | Page 61

Around
THE Post
R
GET RHYTHM AND GET BETTER!
BY ALEX HAMNER AND JENNIFER LUCORE
hythm—some players have it; some players don’t.
Improve your service rhythm and you could get better.
A rhythm or routine for your serve can drastically
improve your serve’s consistency, power and placement.
This can apply to any skill level, and once you master your
rhythm it will become second nature – and a habit you are
happy to have.
Your serve’s rhythm comes with several sequences to
complete the shot.
1. As you approach the baseline to serve, decide in your
head exactly where you will be placing the ball and
what type of serve you will use. So the bubble above
your head says, “I am serving a power serve deep to
the backhand.” Once that mental note is made you
turn off your brain and you know that exact serve
will happen because you’ve done it hundreds of
times – your muscle memory takes over. There are
a variety of serves and one great video that shows a
few is on Pickleball Channel’s “Pickleball 411” – www.
pickleballchannel.com/2015/07/pickleball-411-
three-serves-and-why-you-need-them/.
2. You’re on the line and your opponents are in place.
3. You or the referee says the score (wait for the entire
score to be called).
4. Take a breath, relax (be in a relaxed state before
you go to contact) and wait about two seconds to
serve. Do not rush. When you rush, errors get made.
Remember: you have 10 seconds to serve the ball
after the score is announced. Another video from
Pickleball Channel shows just this: Pickleball Quick
Tip, Two Second Rule – www.pickleballchannel.
com/2014/06/pickleball-quick-tip-two-second-rule/.
5. Start your service motion. For us, we start our
service motion by first bouncing or hitting the ball
on the ground once or twice and catching the ball.
Then we start the actual swing to hit the ball. You
may have seen Alex’s additional motion – she actually
takes two steps as she’s hitting the ball. Jennifer just
shifts her weight from her back foot to her front foot
as she swings. Find the motion that works for you
and practice your rhythm.
6. The sequence is now complete. Practice these steps,
do them a hundred times, get your rhythm and watch
your serve improve. •
MARCH/APRIL 2017 |
MAGAZINE
59