For the longest time I neglected putting to much effort into a serve because I thought it was basically a shot to get the game going. All I did was try to do two things - get it in and get it deep.
I have been working and increasing the effectiveness of my serve so I had some time and thought I should video my serve to see what it looks like from different points of view. In this video there are 16 serves from different angles. I tried to keep everything as consistent as possible. Let me know what you think. Any pointers?
I will have another post about my thoughts on serves in general.
You mentioned that you used to focus on two things: “get it in and get it deep” and since then you noted:
How would you describe the things you have been doing/focusing on, to increase the effectiveness of your serve. Where do you think your pickleball serve was weak, before?
I’m completely unqualified to offer feedback but I think knowing what you’ve specifically been working on will help those more qualified to assess your respective progress.
I do like how you’ve slowed down the video to make it easier for those who have more experience with this, to offer constructive input.
In my experience (very little) once you’ve got your “basic” serve down you’d then focus on learning to figure out and isolate your opponents weaknesses so that you know how to better place your serves in game. For example I play with a guy pretty frequently that I know to have a weaker backhand return of serve so when we need a couple points I’ll start focusing his backhand knowing that it will put me and my partner in a more advantageous position throughout the duration of the point.
The higher up you go the serve plays a more tactical role rather than just starting the point. You push through the serve, but start playing around with rolling the wrist and getting more topspin and the hit more at a diagonal angle. I’ll see if I can get you some videos.
@jordan my serve was kind of like a lob and I wanted to flatten it out, speed it up and make it harder for my opponents. I want to use it more as a weapon and be more offensive.
I’m still working on getting my video of my serve, but location is going to be more valuable with the serve. It’s a risk by hitting harder because you are more at risk for losing the serve by hitting into the net or out. You will find YOUR sweet spot.
