BEGINNER by SONNY TANNAN
START OFF RIGHT—
With an Effective Serve!
Every point that starts begins with a serve. The team that is serving has the unique opportunity to score a point( in traditional scoring). So, if you haven’ t thought about it, the serve is just that important in the game of pickleball. Why exactly is it that important? Think about this: While you might not always see a point won off an ace( a serve in which the return team fails to keep the ball in play), you may see the opportunity to score a point for your team disappear when you miss your serve( hit into the net or out of bounds).
So, the question you should ask is,“ Just how important is it to have an effective serve?!”
Before we answer that question, let’ s think about three common phrases that we have all probably heard on the pickleball court:
•“ Just get your serve in.”
•“ What happens when I get the service yips— what do I do?!”
•“ I don’ t think I hit deep enough, or with enough power or spin.”
Have you ever found yourself saying these things to yourself or others to you? If you have, or other variations of them, it might be helpful to understand some of the basics of the foundation of the serve first.
Let’ s even go a bit further by looking at what an effective serve might look like as you progress in skill level as well— which, as a recreational player, competitive player, coach, or even a first-time athlete, can differ from person to person. As my favorite military leaders used to say,“ Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.” So don’ t rush the process; take your time to learn at your own speed.
Basics of the serve
According to USA Pickleball, the serve is an underhand motion( or a low-to-high swing) and can be made with either a forehand or backhand swing. You must make contact below your waist( defined by the navel or belly button), and the highest point of the paddle head must be below your wrist( where the wrist joint bends) when you strike the ball. In 2021, a provisional rule was implemented to allow a“ drop serve,” which means the server may drop the ball and hit it after the bounce. However, it may only be released from any height with no additional force( i. e., throwing, tossing, etc.) added to bounce the ball.
Remember that you must hit the ball while at least one foot is on the ground behind the baseline, and it must land crosscourt within play and past the non-volley zone( also referred to as the kitchen).
Development skills of the serve
In a PPR( Professional Pickleball Registry) certification workshop, we typically cover four key development skills for the serve: hands, contact point, position, weight transfer. By linking these technical skills to your game, you start to build a foundation in your technique that ultimately can help you to develop improvement based on your own skill level:
1. Hands – This can include the type of grip you have when serving( the most common ones being the continental, eastern with a finger, and“ v” or table tennis grip).
2. Contact point – Service motion should be a controlled swing from your shoulder( not wrist flick or elbow) that provides a hit-through of the ball along with a follow-through after contact.
3. Position – Stay aligned( commonly known as semiopen vs. closed) in your stance, which will allow you to minimize over-rotation and keep a good point of contact in front of your body.
4. Weight transfer – Appropriately engage your lower body and core when you feel comfortable with the rest of your technique to effectively generate flow and power for your serve.
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SPRING 2026 | MAGAZINE 13