The Serve: How to Do It Better

How to serve smarter and start every rally with control

We were playing the other day against Gary. Gary puts a lot of spin on the ball, particularly on his serve. But here’s the thing, once you hit the intermediate level, you can handle spin. So Gary’s serves tend to be spinny and short, giving us an easy trip to the kitchen, and harder point for Gary and his partner. 

If there’s one place pickleball players love to overcomplicate, it’s the serve. There are drills, gadgets, even whole YouTube channels promising to “unlock” the secret to aces and winners from the baseline. But pickleball isn’t tennis. The serve is not the star of the show. It’s the opening act. Think less Beyoncé headliner, more warm-up comedian, as server, your job is to set the stage, not steal it.

Rule #1: Make sure it goes in.
Sounds obvious, but it’s the single most important piece of advice. A missed serve is the fastest way to give away a free side-out, and nothing drains momentum like handing your opponent the ball without making them hit a shot. Play it safe. Add a little margin to clear the net, a little margin inside the sideline. Consistency beats flash every time.

Rule #2: Deep is better than hard.
Yes, you can put some pace on the ball. Yes, a little spin looks cool. But if your serve is shallow, you’ve basically rolled out the red carpet for your opponent to step right up to the kitchen line and start dictating. A deep serve, on the other hand, pushes them back, forces a longer return, and buys you extra seconds to get into position. Think placement, not power. Your goal isn’t to dazzle—it’s to keep them uncomfortable.

Rule #3: That amazing serve you just hit? It often leads to an amazing shot by them.
Here’s the cautionary tale, a few sessions ago I hit an amazing angled serve that my opponent had to really reach for…the result? Their shot came back at a sharper angle and since we were waiting at the baseline, it was a winner for them! The lesson? A flashy serve can backfire. And it’s pretty much impossible to hit a winner from a few feet behind the baseline after a deep serve.

So how do you get better?
Practice serving with a target, not just over the net. Mark off zones at the baseline and challenge yourself to hit them ten times in a row. Develop a reliable rhythm, same routine, same breath, same motion. And most of all, treat the serve not as a weapon, but as the steady hand guiding you into the point. Move the target around in the deep part of the service box so you can direct it at their backhand, or closer to the line if they are out of position. Use variety, as long as that variety includes depth.

Pickleball is about patience, precision, and positioning. Here’s another way to look at it…Joyce and I are hooked on cooking shows on Netflix, so think of your serve as an “amuse bouche”, a little palate taster before the main course…the rest of the point.