Gary Quantz, QC Pickleball Club Player Development Instructor
I recently watched a very exciting Women’s NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship tournament between USC and UCLA. The winner of three total matches would take home the trophy. The teams were deadlocked at two match wins apiece, and it came down to the final game where USC pulled it out and won the championship.
How does this relate to pickleball, you ask? The final game was tightly fought, but it boiled down to what often harms us in pickleball—needlessly serving the ball out! UCLA had several out serves in that final game, which cost them dearly. I also have competed in pickleball tournament matches where everything is close to being equal, but a couple of out serves by one team was the difference!
I have two serving “commandments,” especially for beginning and intermediate pickleball players: “Thou shall get the ball in” and “Thou shall get the ball deep.” Remember, when you serve, you are in complete control. You have the ball, and nobody is hitting it at you. By rule, you have 10 seconds to serve. Don’t be in a hurry! Consistent and reliable servers are relaxed, check wind conditions/direction when playing outdoors, make sure their partners are ready, check their court positioning, and then call out the score before they hit the ball. Remember, the swing must be a low to high swing, the ball must be hit below the waist, and the paddle face, when striking the ball, must be below the wrist. Whether you serve in an open, closed, or backhand position or drop the ball and hit it off the bounce or hit it in the air, inconsistent serving will be your doom.
Even the best players sometimes get the serving “yips.” When they start to lose consistency with their serve, it’s usually a basic, fundamental issue or rushing too quickly, and not some complex, technical problem. Getting back to the basics (head down, follow through to your target, and don’t leave the ball until it leaves your paddle) is a good place to start. Work on getting into a similar routine every time you serve, and practice, practice, practice!
Happy Serving!