These pickleball serve tips will help you improve your serving technique so you can score more points.
Of all the pickleball drills and techniques you can practice, none is as important your pickleball serve technique.
Serving in pickleball is usually considered the most important shot of the game – and for good reason!
Simply put, your pickleball serve determines how easy the return of serve will be and, ultimately, whether you score or not.
If you want to improve your pickleball serve, here are some simple pickleball serving tips for improving your technique.
Why your pickleball serve technique matters
One of the key scoring rules of pickball is that you can only score when you are on the serving side.
This is true whether you play pickball singles or a standard doubles pickleball game.
Since each player only gets one shot at serving, and the serve determines how the rest of the rally will play, your serve technique really sets you up for success (or not!).
Serve technique affects one crucial component: how a player hits the ball. Different angles and speeds help players control the ball differently, and this is important when serving the ball.
For example, topspin serves are harder to return than backspin serves. Some players prefer one spin over another based on their game style or personal preference.
15 ways to improve your pickleball serve
If you’re looking for a way to get better at the game of pickleball, then this article is for you!
So, now that you know why it’s important to nail your pickleball serving technique, here are 15 pickleball serve tips and things you can do to improve your pickleball serve.
1 – Pick Your Target
Before serving the ball, you want to know where you are aiming for. Picking your target will help you serve with focus and catch your opponents out.
For most pickleball players, their forehand shot is more precise and stronger than their backhand. Therefore, you can target your opponent’s weaker hand by aiming for their backhand when you serve. Even better if you can hit a power serve.
The exception here is if you are new to pickleball. To begin with, new players should try to hit the ball into middle of their opponents’ service area.
As your skill level improves, you can then try to go deeper (meaning more than halfway into the pickleball court) and attempt to catch the corners of their opponents’ box. However, for now, beginners should just focus on making sure the ball is in!
2 – Swing From Your Shoulder
Many pickleball players mistakenly start the serving movement from their wrist or elbow. But this could be a fatal mistake!
Not only do you put yourself at greater risk of injury by doing this, but it won’t set you up for the best chance of success either.
One of the best pickleball serve tips to always keep in mind is that serving starts from the shoulder.
You also want to make sure you follow the movement through, extending your arm and moving the paddle all the way through.
For anyone who’s ever played tennis or padel, this serving tip should sound familiar!
3 – Get a good grip
The best way to improve your serve and get total control is to increase your grip pressure on your pickleball paddle.
Take a deep breath and then try holding the paddle with more tension. Many people use too little gripping pressure, and that leads to inaccurate swings and poor returns.
4 – Hit the ball deeper
Once you are comfortable with your pickleball serve – and rarely make illegal serves! – try to play deeper serves.
Not only are deeper serves harder for the opposing player to return, but they keep your opponent further from where they ideally want to be: right on the non-valley zone line.
5 – Give yourself some margin for error
Even professional pickleball players don’t trust that their serve will land exactly where they aim. It’s impossible to control exactly where the ball lands, especially when playing on outdoor courts.
Whether you’re just starting out or already winning tournaments, it’s better to underestimate your serve than to overestimate it.
You should aim for a spot that’s close to the baseline but far enough away that if you miss the ball by an inch or two, you won’t go over the fence.
6 – Be consistent
Next we have a very simple but important pickleball serving tip for you: be consistent! There’s nothing wrong with serving from the same spot every time – especially if it’s where you’ve dedicated a lot of practice time No two serves will ever be the same but keeping the things you can control consistent allows you to build confidence in your game, which leads to better results.
7 – Forget Acing Your Serve
When serving in pickleball, you only get one shot (literally!). Therefore, going for an ace serve isn’t usually the best technique. Even the pro pickleball players rarely try to ace their serves, so it’s best to not even think about it. Instead of wasting your serve attempt, focus on aiming for your target, mastering deep serves and using good technique. It will serve you much better!
8 – Practice Practice Practice
As Malcom Gladwell famously said, it takes around 10,000 to master something. And the only way to clock up those hours is with practice! Fortunately, you don’t need to dedicate thousands of hours to pickleball to improve your serving technique. But a little bit of practice will certainly go a long way.
The more you practice your pickleball serve, the more confident you will be when it matters most.
If you’d like to quickly rack up those practice hours and improve your pickleball skills, why not check in to a pickleball camp or clinic to get those hours in?
9 – Choose the Right Shoes
Shoes are important when playing pickleball. You should give just as much thought to finding the best pickleball shoes as you do to find the best pickleballs and the perfect pickleball paddle.
When playing pickleball, you need shoes that give you extra support so you can hold a strong stance while serving. Your shoes should also be lightweight and comfortable.
If you don’t already have a good pair of pickleball shoes, buying some will make a noticeable difference in your serving technique.
10 – Use your legs and core to serve
Even though most of the movement in your pickleball serve comes from your upper body, don’t ignore your legs and core.
Pickleball serves should be done using a relaxed arm swing and a smooth follow-through in front of your body, using your legs and core to generate more speed, power and stability when hitting the ball.
Having a stable core and taking an athletic stance with your legs before hitting the pickleball ball with an underhand serve will help you get the perfect serve.
11 – Think about your feet
On a similar note, you’ll also want to stay conscious of your feet while serving.
You should always be sure to leave at least one foot on the ground when hitting the ball. This ensures that you are not moving backwards after making contact.
Remember: Neither foot should be touching the court, either on or inside the baseline until the serve is complete.
12 – Keep it simple
We realize that all these pickleball serve tips might be a little overwhelming, but we promise it’s not as tricky as it looks!
And, if you are feeling like it’s a lot to take in, remember that simple is always best.
Your goal should be to simplify your serve by learning how to play without thinking about what you’re doing so that it becomes second nature.
So much of serving is mental, so try to relax and keep it simple when in doubt.
13 – Mix up your serves
While consistency is key when starting out, more advanced players should be aiming to use a variety of serves if they want to throw off their opponents.
As you gain confidence and improve your serving technique, you can begin to keep your opponent guessing by mixing up the speed, spin, target, and arc of your shot.
Caution: It’s best to take risks and use this pickleball serving tip when you’re already at an advantage. Otherwise, you could jeopardize your game.
14 – Select a good pickleball paddle
An artist is only as good as his tools, and a pickleball player is only as good as his paddle.
There’s no one size fits all when it comes to choosing a pickleball paddle. The best way to one is to try out several and figure out which characteristics are important to you.
15 – Put spin on your serve
Spin serves are, generally speaking, harder to return from the opponent’s court. Therefore, mastering a spin serve can help you score points when it matters most.
If you are a tennis player, this might be easier than for someone who is new to racket sports. Either way, make sure you choose a paddle that's good for spin to get the best serve possible.