Tipbit #42 – Depth is Crucial (Part #2)
In last weeks Tipbit #41 I focused on the importance of depth in your return; this week I’m concentrating on service depth. In pickleball, the depth of your serve is considered one of the most important aspects. A deep serve is one of the most underrated and overlooked aspects in pickleball. A strong deep serve can lead to easy thirds and make the rest of your skill set irrelevant. It forces your opponent to stay back near the baseline, making it harder for them to return your serve aggressively and as I said in Tipbit #41, it gives you a better opportunity to control the point. Essentially, a deep serve limits your opponent's ability to quickly attack the net, providing you with a tactical advantage. If you can create a lot of depth on your serve, it's going to put pressure on your opponent.
Even though Depth is Crucial, power, spin and location are also important. Personally, I use at least four different serves. I have my flat hard serve, a heavy topspin serve, a low slice serve and my occasional rainbow serve. With each of these serves my goal is to put the returner on the defense, even though technically the returner has the advanatge in pickleball. By mixing up my serve I’m hopeful the returner doesn’t become accustomed to the same same depth, pace and location serve after serve. Another tactic is to change up your serve depending on the returner. Some members love a topspin serve as the ball sits up right into their wheel house. Others prefer a flat, even hard serve, as it doesn’t move in the service box and they can adjust to it quickly. Some fear the rainbow serve, as it falls deep vertically and has no pace.