Pickleball has many important factors to consider, and serving is one of them. You or your opponent starts the game through serving. It often helps you win a lot of points in the game.
You can’t expect to have a point after hitting a weak serve. Because your opponent is going to give a strong return, which you may face difficulty in handling.
The harder the serve you hit, the easier your third shots potentially will be, and the weaker your opponent’s return may be.
Do you want a stronger and more consistent serve? Then, you may want to play pickleball power serve, which is immensely popular among professional players.
In this article, we will share what is power serve in pickleball and how to play it correctly in the game.
Read more ” Best power pickleball paddles “
What Is Power Serve In Pickleball?
Power serve means hitting your pickleball serve in a low and hard condition. You try to hit the ball as deep as possible to the opponent’s weaker side.
So, why do people use power to serve in pickleball? The opponent faces difficulty returning the serve and struggles to come close to their kitchen line when you hit the ball again.
Generally, power serve is more practical when your opponent is standing a few steps inside the baseline. You can also utilize this shot when the opponent shifts to his forehand or backhand side.
By hitting hard, you are more likely to dominate your serve session or, at the very least, a weak return.
3 Tips to Play Pickleball Power Serve Correctly
Here we will share three important tips that are going to help you have a stronger serve and hopefully also help you become more consistent.
Tip: 1— Optimal Stance/Strong Positioning
So, the very first tip that we have for you for a stronger and more consistent serve is optimal stance. It is crucial because it is the foundation of your serve.
Plus, the stance will help you develop many good habits in the future. After all, you get a lot of power from it.
Make sure you really bend your knees without being super low. If you stand straight up and your knees are locked, you can’t get a lot of power.
It is better to keep yourself in a semi-closed stance or a closed stance position so that you can load your legs and react to the ball quickly.
Here is the perfect way to ensure an optimal stance:
- Place your feet shoulder-width apart to ball
- Keep the middle area of the paddle towards the ball
- When an opponent strikes the ball, weight is on the balls of the feet
Tip: 2— Moderate Loose Grip
So, the second tip that we have for you for a stronger and more consistent serve is a moderate loose grip. It is actually gripping pressure.
If you grip it as tight as you can, it’s like you are giving it 10 out 10 grip pressure. When you keep the grip pressure to 3 to 5, it is a moderately loose grip.
So, what is the benefit of it? The low or medium-end grip pressure gives a smooth and relaxed motion with your muscles in your arm and body as well as your whole kinetic chain.
This relaxed grip will loosen up muscles and relax your mind. You can play your preferred power serve effortlessly and smoothly by a swing through a loose grip.
In comparison, a tight grip may lead to abrupt swings. Even professional players use this approach for power serve and strokes.
Their relaxed grip lets them hit that ball really hard with the pace without muscling through the ball.
Be sure your grip is loose before you even start your motion. Plus, stay loose throughout the swing to keep the forearm and shoulder loose and moving freely. That’s how you should generate power!
Tip: 3— Low To High Motion & Relaxed Follow Through
The third and final tip for a better power serve to have a low to high motion with a very relaxed and natural follow through.
Many players make their power serve really tense. They either cut their follow-through short, or it’s just very awkward. And they are not relaxed and letting their follow-through go.
It doesn’t matter whether you want to have your follow-through finish around your shoulder or across your body around. You want it to be relaxed and natural. A particular envision is like throwing a ball.
So, how do you achieve a natural follow-through? You have to let your body be in a kinetic chain position.
You don’t want to cut it short because that’s going to make your serving inconsistent, and you’re not going to get the maximum amount of power.
How to Add 10mph+ To Your Serve
You can add more pace and power to your serve by following an effective technique.
Many beginners and intermediate players hit a very consistent serve, but there is not a lot of power or spin on their serve.
Read more ” 10 common mistakes intermediate pickleball players make “
Playing nice deep serve is appreciable. It is likely to give your more pace and more depth.
However, their serve is often just flat, and there is not a lot of action, power, and pace on them.
Instead of using your all arm, you should initiate your full body to serve. This allows you to maximize the power.
Many professional pickleball coaches agree that your pickleball serve should start at your legs —not your feet or arm.
After all, leg muscles are much bigger and stronger than arm muscles. But keep your leg muscles low and in a bend position to get the maximum power from your legs while serving the ball.
Additionally, you have to load your weight on your back foot before hitting the ball. Finally, you will release the ball while shifting your weight from the back leg to the forward leg.
Besides, you should initiate your core muscles while hitting the serve. It is essential to get the necessary action on your serve.
So, you start in the legs and then really turn your hips. While hitting the serve, your shoulders and chest should be faced more in the direction of the net instead of the right or left side.
Conclusion
Finally, that’s is the conclusion part. Your slight mistakes or actions can change the entire match drastically. So, every shot matters in a pickleball game. Your primary focus should always be to keep yourself ahead of the opponent in each shot.
Make sure you stay relaxed and have a good foundation in your stance. Also, keep your follow-through in a more natural position without abruption. Finally, you will finish it with a low to high motion near your shoulder area.
Hopefully, these tips will help you with your serve if you’re struggling and want to add more depth, power, and pace to your serve.
