Let’s focus on a better pickleball serve. There are two types of serves: drop and volley. Some people use one over the other. I like to mix it up. However, my main serve is a volley top spin. If you’re looking for a more powerful and harder to return serve, start here with the volley top spin.
This will all come down to personal preference and practice. Lots of practice. Find what works for you using the basic setup.
- Stand with your body open facing your opponents
- Lightly toss the ball upward with your non-dominate hand
- Once tossed, start swinging your paddle in an underhand motion following through all the way up to your opposite shoulder
- Make contact with the ball below your hip, and in an upward motion
Keep the ball about a half an arm's length in front of you.
For drop serves, almost anything goes. All the rules you had to follow for a volley serve no longer apply. The only thing you cannot do is impart force or spin to the ball while dropping it.
Hold the ball as high as you can above your head about a half or full arm’s length in front of your body and drop the ball. You will get the highest bounce possible so you can hit any shot to your heart’s content. I like to slice my drop serves.