Recycle Sunday - Service Drills

A blast from the past...

I have started a series called Recycle Sunday in which I repeat some old articles. This article was originally published December 26, 2015.

Drills to work on serving are very straightforward and can be done with 2 people or even alone if sufficient balls are available. All a player must do is set up the target, go to the other side of the net, and hit balls toward the target. Then gather them up and do it all again, moving to the next drill once the first is mastered. The drills can can be fun with the addition of competition. Most drills should have 10-20 serves per turn to be worthwhile.

Drill 1 Serves - Players line up to practice 3-5 serves from the right side; then 3-5 from the left side with a couple of players, if available, catching the balls.

Drill 2 Deep Serves - Place a rope or sidewalk chalk line about 3 feet inside the opposite baseline. Players line up to serve from both the right and left sides and aim for the area between the rope/chalk and baseline. 

Competition: Players count the number of deep serves that land between the rope and baseline. The player with the most successful serves is the winner.

Rule Changes - Serve (Update)

Rules were made to be broken, no, what???

In Tuesday's post, I wrote about the redefinition of "underhand" and my interpretation of what it meant to the service rules. I also mentioned that it was unconfirmed and I was not ready to state that the serve would change. While it remains unconfirmed from anyone on the USAPA rules committee, there is another interpretation gaining traction. It is also one that made sense to me as soon as I heard it. 

That interpretation is that the underhand definition was changed to clarify that the backhand serve is legal. Many debated whether the backhand serve fit the previous rules. This redefinition removes that argument. So, the serve rule implementation remains unchanged from previously, again, though, unconfirmed as of now. Luckily we have until January 31 to figure this out. I just wish the wording was clear to begin with - a simple "Serve may be made with a backhand or forehand" would have been clear.

Rule Changes - Serve

Rules were made to be broken, no, what???

The USAPA announced yesterday the availability of the 2018 USAPA\IFP Official Tournament Rulebook. The rulebook contains some significant changes that we will discuss over the next several weeks. We will start today with rules regarding the serve.

Service Motion

For the first time, the rules have defined the defined the service motion and, specifically when the service motion starts. From the definition section (Section 3):

Service Motion – Begins when the player’s arm moves to initiate the swing backward or forward to contact the ball.

Targeting: Practicing Serves and Returns of Serves

Be sure to positively identify your target before hitting the ball...

I mentioned yesterday about the priority order of implementing targeting strategies and that players should move down the priority list as their skills improve. In addition to the drills shown in Chapter 2 - The Serve and Chapter 3 - The Groundstroke and Return of Serve, this post discusses how to practice these shots to improve your skills.

We will start with a Keith Bing video - Serve & Return Serve Drill: Hit the landing zone. This video shows 2 players marking off an area 5 feet from the baseline with the objective of hitting both the serve and return of serve into that area. The video cannot be embedded so click on the link above to view.

Targeting: The Experts on Depth

Be sure to positively identify your target before hitting the ball...

The past 2 Mondays have covered targeting strategies for the serve and the return of serve. Today would ordinarily be reserved for the third shot since this series is written to coincide with the topic of my skills & drills clinic held on Tuesdays. However, tomorrow's clinic has been deferred to next week. Therefore, I want to spend today reinforcing my articles with advice from experts. The targeting strategies for the third shot will be covered next Monday. 

Before I get to the experts, let me reiterate the strategies and their priority order:

1. Get it in-bounds.
2. Get it deep.
3. Get it to the backhand or weaker player.

One of the most important factors to keep in mind is the limit of your skills. Move down the priority list only as your skills allow. That means practice and drilling to move down the list.

Targeting : Where and Why - The Serve

Be sure to positively identify your target before hitting the ball...

This is the first of my posts describing skills and drills sessions that I am leading with a group of experienced players. This week's post comes after the first session held on Tuesday. Future articles will be posted on the Monday preceding the S&D sessions. Tuesday's session focused on the serve targeting strategies. 

One reminder before starting - there is a set of premises that guide us in through the decision-making process. These were covered in the article Targeting: Where and Why.

Serve Targets

Beginners

The serve should be the easiest shot in the game. The ball is in your hand and is not moving. You serve only when ready and you have picked your target. That is why the targeting for a serve can get very specific. The first target is the service court, the rectangular area in which your serve must land in order to avoid a fault. Getting the serve in is a must. Player Red A must get his serve in the green area when serving Player Blue A. That should be the sole focus of beginning players.

Service Yips - a Novice Opinion

I describe myself as a simple blogger. No more. No less...

About a month ago, I decided to research the service yips due to a problem a partner had at a tournament. I have shown several views of the yips, including both psychological and neurological. We have now looked at the advice of pickleball experts as well as gold experts. The bottom line for me is...I don't have the right answer, but I do have a couple of thoughts.

Are the yips psychological or neurological?

I tend to think that the yips are psychological in nearly all cases. The discussion about focal dystonia in golf was mostly about small muscle failure. This is much more important in golf and music than pickleball. Certainly, small muscle issues can cause the ball hand to cause a mishit. But that doesn't seem to be the primary problem with the service yips. The issue is more related to the big muscles of the paddle arm. My logic is that focal dystonia wouldn't be very likely. Then again, I am not an expert so who knows.

What if the Yips are not Psychological

Have no fear. The neurologist is here...

The pickleball experts have told us their thoughts on curing the service yips. In summation, they believe that a change in routine to simplify, focus, and prepare will help to overcome the problem. The underlying premise is that the problem is mental and actions can be taken to alter the mental block.

But what if the yips are not mental-based? What if there is a physical source for the problem that a change in routine can never overcome? Some studies say that may very well be the case for some.

In my research, I ran across 2 names repeatedly that were cited for their work with golfers with the yips - Charles H. Adler, a professor of neurology at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale and Debbie Crews, a sports psychology consultant. The studies show that many cases of the yips are indeed mental-based and can be treated with psychology. But some cases are neurological, with a condition called a focal dystonia. 

I am not about to go into a detailed discussion of neurology, but I will define focal dystonia. It is:

a neurological disorder that involves involuntary spasms in the small muscles. It can result from overuse or repetitive stress, and it may affect musicians and golfers.

New Yorker Magazine had a long article in 2014 called The Yips that contained a lot of interesting information. Some highlights are shown below.

A Comprehensive Answer to the Yips

Life is like an ice cream cone. You have to learn to lick it...

Yesterday's post had the thoughts of 3 experts on overcoming the service yips. Their solutions were each somewhat one-dimensional without looking beyond one aspect of the serve. As usual, Sarah Ansboury takes a more comprehensive view in her RV Pickler article Oh Sh?%: Lost Your Serve.

I have seen many cases of the ball shooting in one direction or another. At times, it may land in the middle of the net. The next shot nearly sails over the fence. It lands in the neighboring court on the left, then the right. Frankly, for those that have had the serving yips, they don’t have any idea where the next ball will land. 

As always we want to be aware of where our paddle starts and finishes. So the very first thing to check, if this happens to you, is your finish position. Regardless of your level of embarrassment or frustration, hold your finish position and analyze where it is. Your paddle should be extended flat toward our target.

• You want to swing from your shoulder, not your wrist, not our elbow;
• You want to extend out away from your body…to often we become cramped, too close to our body;
• You want to be fairly upright so your hips and shoulders can naturally rotate into the shot.

Your goal is to allow your body to move effortlessly. Allow your body to turn naturally. Increase your range of motion. 

It’s All in Your Head 

Change Mechanics to Fix the Yips?

Pickleball is 100% mental and 50% physical...

Experts who advise on fixing the yips generally discuss 2 things - focus and simplicity. Both are centered on correcting the mental aspect. Increased focus is intended to eliminate all thoughts from the mind except the hitting the ball. Simplifying the motion is also intended to eliminate many of the thoughts that complicate the serve, such as target, speed, spin, etc.

One example of this advice is from Deb Harrison in her video Losing the Serve. Deb discusses getting a rhythm to the serve starting with a consistent pre-shot routine. Then, make it simple - get the ball from point A to point B.

Another example is changing the mechanics of the serve as discussed by Jeff Napier in Recovering From a Serving Problem:

Service Yips

The mind is your greatest weapon. Its also your Achilles heel...

After the Low Country tournament, I wrote about my partner having the service yips. She came into the tournament worried how it would impact her/our game. When mixed doubles rolled around on Sunday, she had already played in women's doubles where she got only about 50% of her serves in. In our first 3 games, she was nearly 100% but the serves were largely ineffective as they were soft and short. Then, in the playoff round, the referee called her for a service fault. Game over.

At the time, all I could do was offer support. Having partnered in the past, I knew she was very capable of the physical act of serving well. I figured it had to be a mental issue but was not sure how to help. I have been researching the issue ever since and we will discuss it over the next several days.

The Illegal Server - More Actions

I don't have to play by these rules, I actually have my own version...

Jeff Napier discussed using a psychological ploy to address an illegal server in a post several days ago. Calling someone for an illegal serve can be a delicate situation. First, the service motion is so quick that marginally legal/illegal serves are very difficult to judge. Second, servers may never had been told before and will not believe it. Mark Renneson has a video that addresses a couple of ways to handle the situation.

Mark explains his suggestions in more detail and I will not repeat it here. I will my additional comments, though.

Mark talks about taking a video to show the player. Obviously this must be done before the game. It should be part of the scouting evaluation done for potential opponents. Then it can be used at your discretion. My suggestion - in a refereed match - would be to show the referee the video and ask him to watch the serve for the illegal motion.

A Serve Test

I don't have to play by these rules, I actually have my own version...

We used a Keith Bing video to show some of the differences between a legal and illegal serve in yesterday's post.  While Keith's video is a good explanation of the basics, Mark Renneson has done a great video showing 10 different serves and explaining why each is legal or not. Be an expert before you choose to call another player on their serve.


Mark's video is called Pickleball Serving: Is It Legal?

What is an Illegal Serve

I don't have to play by these rules, I actually have my own version...

I occasionally run across a player who stretches the limits on serving rules. Most of the time there is no real advantage gained, but sometimes there is. We discussed one method to address an illegal server yesterday. We will get another method later in this series. Before taking these steps, we should be certain that the serve is actually illegal. Below is a video from Keith Bing called Legal & Illegal Serve that shows serves of both types.

Keith illustrates an illegal service motion that breaks all 3 rules - 
the paddle is not moving low to high, the paddle face is not below the wrist, and the ball is nor struck below the waist. While Keith illustrates all 3 rules being broken, a serve is illegal even if only one rule is broken.

The Illegal Server - One Tactic

Psychology in sports makes people crazy...

Last week I posted a Mark Renneson video about pickleball stereotypes. Readers probably thought that was a fun video but that nothing would come of it. Actually, a lot of discussions can be provoked by the behaviors shown. Today, we will start with a discussion of dealing with an illegal server. Jeff Napier has written about a ploy he successfully used on one occasion in his article A Bit of Psychology.

A Bit of Psychology

Correcting An Opponent’s Problem

Pickleball for me is normally about fun, and building skill, but I’m not above a psychological trick or two when it makes sense. A couple of years ago, I tried something that worked well, so I’ll pass it along:

This is going to cost you a point, but may win many points shortly thereafter.

There was a player who was going way too far with the “Arizona serve.” This is the kind of serve which is much more of a forehand than an underhand serve. As you know, the pickleball rules call for the ball to be hit below the waist, or more specifically, below bellybutton height, with an underhand stroke or at least with the hand below the wrist (if that can be done with anything other than an underhand stroke). In serious competition, a forehand serve would be called a fault, but in much of modern pickleball, it is considered OK. But today, this person was winning points on an aggressive serve. Or at least putting some players in a position where their returns were less than ideal.

So early in a game I purposely served a ball with a too-high forehand stroke, then immediately stopped the play, calling a fault on myself.

Read More >>>

Serving with Power

Power creates problems for opponents...

There remains at least one more step in the development of my serve - power. While my new service motion allows for harder, lower, and deeper serves, I have yet to try to generate the power created by top players. The reality is that I may never get to the next step, but it never hurts to learn about it.

Yet again, Mark Renneson has done the analysis and created a video he calls Pickleball Pro Serving Technique from which the following images were taken. Mark's analysis is that top players generate power with 2 techniques the rest of us fail to use.

Most players use only the dominant side of their body when serving. The "bowling" technique uses the right arm exclusively to generate power. By comparison, top players use their entire body to create power. The next series of images shows Morgan Evans opening his body from the beginning and then finishing with the paddle over his opposite shoulder.

Serving Focus

Concentrate on the work at hand...

This week's posts have centered on reinventing my serve by hitting it harder, lower, and deeper. A serve with those factors increases the risks...by a lot. I ended an earlier post by mentioning how a lack of focus often results in my serve carrying well beyond the baseline. Today's post will discuss the common elements used by pros in their service routines and how they can be used to improve our games.

Mark Renneson has a video that analyzes pros' serve routines called How to Serve Like the Pros, shown at the bottom of the post. The following photos are taken from the video.

The first photo shows Christine McGrath with her pre-service routine of bouncing the ball. It doesn't matter what the routine is. It can be as simple as staring at the ball. The purpose is to ensure mental readiness prior to serving.

Aspen's Advice: The Serve

Any tool in the bag can be turned into a weapon...

Aspen Kern is the creator of the Pickleball Forum and often adds his thoughts on pickleball topics. Aspen is a top player in the game and knows what he is talking about, especially with regard to the way the game is changing.

Aspen's Advice

If someone has told you that the serve in Pickleball doubles is not important, they are misinformed, it is very important. The serve can be a dangerous weapon and should be used to set up an advantageous start to the point, many times you can get points with just your serve being too difficult to return. The next time someone tells you the serve doesn't matter, tell them to keep walking and stop interrupting your serving practice time.

Reinventing my Game - The Topspin Serve

If I wanted a soft serve, I would go to Dairy Queen...

Yesterday's post Reinventing my Game - The Serve discussed how a new grip allows me to hit a lower, flatter, and harder serve. That post did not discuss one other tool that I have the potential to add to my service game - topspin. 

I generally have talked about spin in a negative way. That remains my position for players below 4.0 skill levels. There are other parts of the game for which additional practice will add a quicker and better return for the effort than practicing spin. But some of those parts of the game become second nature to players as they advance. This allows advanced players to practice more esoteric parts of the game - like spin.

Yesterday, I mentioned that my service motion vaguely resembles Rob Elliott's as shown below. I used Rob to make a point that the grip allows such a powerful serve.

Reinventing my Game - The Serve

The serve is the last time you will have full control of the ball...

My earlier post Reinventing My Game - The Grip discussed how a few small changes allowed me to make dramatic improvements in my game. Since then, I have mentioned some of the setbacks but have yet to get to the real improvements. Today's post will start the discussion with the improvement in my serve.

First, let me revisit the grip changes because they are fundamental to the new serve.

The photo on the left shows my original grip - called a claw grip - and the photo on the right shows my new grip - called a handshake grip. The difference is obvious as the handshake grip is much more aligned with the arm and seems to be a more natural extension of the arm. The claw grip forms makes the paddle form a right angle to the arm.