Pickleball Serve Rules & Techniques

Pickleball is one of the fastest-growing sports in America, with participation rates having risen by a staggering 21.3% in the last year. And the boom isn’t just a fad thing, pickleball is part of a significant, long-lasting shift towards sports which are fun, social, and accessible. But with every new wave of players that stumble onto the court, there’s one thing that they find hard to figure out: the serve. Ahh, the serve, it’s not just for starting a play, it’s …

It’s everything.

Why is that? A good serve puts an opponent under passive pressure as it forces them to respond to the style of play that you throw at them. Conversely, a poor or predictable serve makes it easier for a more ‘aggressive’ rally player to develop an attacking strategy that will give them a favorable third shot option. After their third shot, your next shot may be difficult to hit and provides them with a run of easy points as you popup a ball for them to put away.

Every player should understand the ESSENTIAL rules of the serve so they can then interpret the situations in which they may sometimes hit a serve into the net or outside the court and why it happens. To avoid these situations, remember the basics of the serve: serve underhand, contact below the waist, and be sure the ball clears the kitchen.

Sure, we all do the easy ones, but what about the more tricky ones like the ‘topspin’ or the ‘slice’? You can acquire these types of serves with practice. Keep practicing until the shot feels normal because, we get familiarity via repetition. Once it feels normal, experiment with other serves like maybe take a step back after every three serves until you’re standing against the baseline almost beside the fence.

Essentially, that’s it. Enjoy your next game of pickleball even more knowing the subtleties of how to change your level of serve. A bad serve can get you into some rotten positions, a good serve can up-the-ante in your skill-set.

Understanding the Pickleball Serve

In pickleball, the serve is everything. It is the action that starts off each rally or the point. Essentially, it is you hitting the ball to your opponent’s side of the court, over the net, to get things started. And much like other paddle (racquet) sports, a player must serve the ball in a specific manner.

With pickleball, the serve differentiates from other sports in that it must always be an underhand serve. This is one of the more interesting points about the game of pickleball and results in each player developing their own “signature” or specific types of serves; sometimes a type of “soft, accurate serve” with a lot of spin, other times a “hard, fast serve” to catch your opponents off-guard.

The interesting part about the pickleball serve is the fact that it, well, actually starts the game. If you have a horrible serve, and it is constantly going into the net or “out”, then you can be sure that things won’t exactly be going to plan.

Furthermore, if your serve is weak or easily predictable, then your opponents can prepare a huge, powerful shot as their return which can instantly put you on the defensive and lower the chance of you scoring the point.

Think of that the next time you serve!

Pickleball Serve Rules

The serve is perhaps the most fundamental skill in all of pickleball. There are a number of important rules that every player must know to serve correctly, including:

1. Position: The server must stand behind the baseline and within the imaginary extension of the sidelines. Doing so extends the court by another foot or so, and the geometry ensures that the server is hitting the serve from the “right” place on the court. Both feet must stay behind this line (imaginary and baseline) until after the ball is struck; players cannot lift either foot until the ball has left the paddle’s surface.
2. Ball Contact: The ball must be struck below the waist. That is, the paddle must contact the ball at or below the height of the server’s navel. The serve must be struck underhand.
3. Service Area: The ball must land properly in the service area. This area is defined as the “box” on the other side of the net that is bordered by the centerline, sideline, and the beginning of the “kitchen” area. If it lands outside this box, the serving team will have committed a fault and will lose the serve. Landing on the kitchen line is considered “in the kitchen” and is also a fault.

Techniques for an Effective Pickleball Serve

Having a good serve in pickleball can totally change your game for the better. The three main types of serves are underhand, hit after bounce, and spin. Each type of serve gives you different advantages for your pickleball match. Knowing when and how to perform each serve is an art in itself. If you can perfect your serve and have your opponent hit a favorable ball for you, you’re creating all the advantages you need to win the point. Don’t be afraid to mix up your serves!

You’ll have to get better control of your paddle, but doing a spin serve can put you at a better advantage against your opponent. Simply flick your wrist, and the way you hit the ball will make the ball spin one way or another, causing it to bounce in weird ways that they didn’t expect.

Don’t have a tight grip when hitting the ball during a serve. A light grip makes it easier for your hand and the paddle to move around and allows your serve to be more snappy.

Advanced Pickleball Serving Strategies

Spin is a crucial component of serving in pickleball that can take your game to the next level. There is topspin, backspin (also known as slice or underspin), and sidespin. All of these spins can affect the trajectory and bounce of the ball and can make a player’s serve more difficult for their opponent to return.

By brushing up on the ball with a low-to-high motion during a player’s serve, they can add topspin to the ball. This type of spin will make the ball travel in more of an arc and will make the ball dip quickly, which often makes the ball land in a location other than where a player’s opponent expects the ball to land.

To add spin to their serve, a player should consider using a Continental grip or an Eastern backhand grip.

A player who can produce a quality spin serve can disrupt the rhythm of their opponent by changing up the location of their serve and by producing a shot that will make their opponent change their swing speed (as a different swing speed will often be necessary for their opponent to return a ball cleanly after it has begun to move in various, unpredictable directions following the ball’s bounce).

A serve with spin can make a player’s shot unreturnable (the serve could produce an ace or a service winner, assuming that a player is able to make the ball bounce in an unexpected direction).

A player who is proficient at hitting this type of serve can use their shot to force their opponent to return high balls or low balls.

The area of the service box or the baseline that a player chooses as their target for their serve is sometimes more important than the type of serve that a player hits. A player should consider using their serve to pull their opponent wide or to jam their opponent.

If a player is playing an opponent who loves pace, this player should consider taking some speed off of their serve with spin. Alternatively, to make their opponent uncomfortable, a player could hit a really fast flat serve at their opponent.

To make a weaker return from their opponent, a player who possesses a really strong slice serve could try serving out wide in the deuce court.

To make their opponent uncomfortable, a player could hit a body serve at their opponent. Depending on their opponent, a body serve could jam their opponent and could produce a weaker return. Again, it’s all about sizing up your opponent and knowing their game, their style, and their preferences.

Practicing Your Pickleball Serve

Developing an effective serve is crucial to gaining an edge in pickleball. After all, the serve starts each rally. And if you can start off on the right foot, and serve in a way that allows you to dictate play, you’ll be in an excellent position to control the point and generate some offense. One drill you can and should do to improve your service game is to work on your targeting. Just as you would do for other places in the serve, set up some targets in the service box area and attempt to hit them. Over time, you’ll get better at nailing your spots and will learn how to serve the ball with more control and precision.

In addition to serving the ball with control, you should also work on building up power behind your service. To do so, work on your hitting technique. Begin slowly and aim to hit the ball with a consistent amount of spin. As you gradually become comfortable, up the pace of your swing. Over time and with many good reps, you’ll be able to swing through with more comfort and will naturally generate the power you need to put the right amount of spin on the ball. If you’re looking to blast the ball like some of the pros do, find a partner who’s willing to give you his or her honest thoughts and who can give you valuable feedback. There’s no better way to learn how to blast a shot than by getting someone to critique you in a point play situation.

Learn how to generate different types of spins, from the topspin to the slice, in different amounts and with different (or less) amounts of depth. To do so, you’ll need both the basics of the targeting and the power strokes. Once you get those down and can mix them up with other types of serves, you’ll be almost unstoppable. To improve, start by adding spin to your serves. With multiple types of spin, you can get aggressive and won’t have to go for anything too fancy!

“Getting” the serve is one thing, actually serving and doing it well is another. Many players find the serve to be a tricky and sometimes confusing part of the game. If serving is something you find complicated or difficult, don’t worry, you’re not alone.

In fact, I made this post because I want to help you understand some of the rules. By rules, I mean all the very specific requirements that the official pickleball rulebook outlines on how the server start a point: what height to serve at, how you can move your arm, where you can stand, and so on.

For example, here is a quick run-down of all the requirements for the serve, taken straight from the Official Tournament Rulebook (2020):

4.A. Serve Motion

4.A.1. Underhand Defined. The arm must be moving in an upward arc at the time the ball is struck.

4.A.2. Contact. The highest point of the paddle head cannot be above the highest part of the wrist (where the wrist joint bends) when it strikes the ball (paddle head is that part of the paddle excluding the handle. The highest point of the handle is considered part of the wrist).

4.A.3. The Server’s Arm Position. At the beginning of the serve, the paddle needs to be below the server’s wrist and the top of the wrist (where the wrist joint bends) must be in a neutral position or lower.

4.A.4. Carry. The serve cannot be a “carry”. This means that during the serve, the ball can’t rest against or pass over any part of the line formed at the edge of the paddle surface (this includes the rubber edge guard) from the impact of the serve. The carry rule also applies to all other shots such as drops, drives, and volleys.

4.A.5. Follow Through. The Server must strike the ball with an upward motion and continue upward during the follow-through.

4.A.6. Paddle Drop. The Server must not use a “paddle drop” motion to generate an upward trajectory of the serve. This means that as the server prepares to serve and brings the arm back and down (to achieve a pendulum motion), the resulting upward motion cannot be used to generate the necessary upward arc of the ball.

4.A.7. Simultaneous Strike. The server must not use the “spinning serve” where the ball is struck simultaneously on the top and bottom. This serve is prohibited because it is not an “underhand stroke”.

4.A.8. Prior to the serve, the server is allowed to move their feet across the imaginary extension of the centerline, sideline, and baseline. The server can also jump or leap off the ground during the serve without violating any fault rules. It’s preferable that the ball is struck before both feet hit the ground to ensure a good underhand serve motion. When both feet touch the ground again, they are only allowed to do so behind the respective lines of the imaginary extension of the centerline, sideline and baseline. This rule would allow players to utilize a jump serve and have more clearance over the net from the ball.

4.B. Serve Position

4.B.1. Server. At the beginning of the server’s service motion, both feet must be behind the baseline. One foot may be touching the outside line of the court.

4.B.2. Service Motion. The server’s swing must be one continuous motion and there can be no pause in the service motion during the dropping of the ball.

4.B.3. Ball Contact. The serve must make contact with the ball below the server’s waist/navel.

4.B.4. Both Feet. The serve cannot be made by a walking, running, or jumping motion. Between the beginning and completion of the serve, both feet must remain in contact with the ground, even if carried by the momentum of the player after the ball is struck and before the ball enters the receiver’s service court.

4.B.5. Foot Faults. When the server’s paddle strikes the ball:

4.B.5.a. At least one foot must be touching the playing surface behind the baseline.

4.B.5.b. Neither the server’s feet nor the server’s clothing may touch the playing surface on or inside the baseline until after the ball is struck.

4.B.5.c. Neither the server’s feet nor the server’s clothing may touch the playing surface in any area other than the server’s side of the court until after the ball is struck.

4.B.6. Missed or “Whiffed” Serves. The service attempt is considered a fault and the server will lose the service opportunity if the server misses the ball when attempting to serve.

4.B.7. Ball Drop. Visualizing the court in front as a target would help the server to aim for a deep serve and aim for either closer or further away from the opponent, increasing the chances of an attack.

4.B.8. During the serve motion, the server must strike the ball prior to any other action of the body or contact with the paddle. The result is a rule that will include the serve motion as part of the serve, and with the overall aim to provide clarity for the referees, players and spectators.

Master Your Pickleball Serve Today

Your serve sets the tone for every point in pickleball, make it count! Whether you’re battling wind outdoors or dialing in your placement indoors, a consistent and strategic serve can give you an edge from the very first shot. Ready to stop double faults and start scoring confidently? Dive into our expert-backed tips, grip techniques, and footwork essentials to elevate your serve and dominate the court.

Read now and unlock the secrets to a game-winning pickleball serve.