The truth is that when it comes to these sports, there are a whole host of different serves that your opponent could throw at you, including soft, angled, deep, or short.
If you’re new to the sport, you’re going to need to learn about each of these different serves, so that you can prepare yourself before you’re faced with them, and so that you can throw them yourself.
With so many different serves to learn however, it can seem daunting for new players. Don’t worry though, because that’s where we come in.
To get you started on your journey, we’ve compiled a handy guide that tells you everything you need to know about the famous underhand serve.
This includes showing you how you can hit one yourself in order to defeat your opponent.
To find out more, simply keep reading below, as we take a closer look.
What Is An Underhand Serve?
Now, before we jump straight into telling you how you can hit an excellent underhand serve, first we need to cover what it actually consists of.
An underhand serve is something that’s used widely within the context of tennis and pickleball, and chances are that if you’ve watched a match before, you’ve heard the commentators remarking on a player’s ‘excellent underhand serve’.
Put quite simply, an underhand serve is when you hit the ball in an underhand stroke. Instead of reaching your arm around overhead, and creating an aggressive and forceful move, you can make fast and swift shots using this move.
With an underhand serve, you’re pushing your wrist forward, and moving your hand in an upwards direction. You’re also using the highest portion of your pickleball paddle in order to make the shot.
How To Make The Perfect Underhand Serve
Now that we’ve taken a closer look at what an underhand serve consists of, we can move on to discuss how you can deliver one yourself.
There are a few key tips that you’re going to need to keep in mind when attempting to make an underhand serve, the first one being to make sure that you’re hitting the ball below your waist.
This means keeping your racket low.
In addition to this, when the ball hits your paddle, you’re going to need to make sure that you’re arching the ball in an upwards motion. This means that you need to be flicking your wrist in this direction in a fluid manner.
When it comes to pickleball, there are also a few things that you’ll need to take into account before you deliver an underhand serve.
For example, if you’re planning on using this particular kind of serve, then you need to make sure that it’s landing inside the opposing service box.
If it lands outside of the service box, then you won’t get your point.
Sometimes, you may find that when you’re performing an underhand serve, that you’re finding it difficult to hit it all the way through to the other side of the playing field.
Your ball might instead keep getting caught in the net on its way over.
This essentially means that you’re driving the ball up high enough during play. The way to fix this is simply by angling your paddle in a more upward direction. This should help the ball to travel higher up.
Why Do People Frown Upon Underhand Serves?
Some of you reading this article may have been wondering why underhand serves seem to be so frowned upon by many people. This is especially true within the context of tennis.
But, with the underhand serve being such a popular and effective move, why would it possibly be viewed in a negative light?
Well, that’s exactly why. Not all players, pickleball and tennis alike, are very effective at delivering underhand serves.
Many are good at making powerful overhand serves that help to drive the ball over the net, but they can’t make swift and speedy underhand serves like other players can.
An underhand serve is considered more of a rare skill.
This can then be frustrating for many players, who aren’t adept and performing this particular move.
Why Is The Underhand Serve So Famous?
Some of you reading this article might also be wondering why the underhand serve is so famous in the first place.
Well, this is simply because many professional tennis players have made it so throughout the years.
One of the world’s most famous tennis players is none other than Andy Murray. His coach is actually his mother Judy, who is also an incredibly gifted tennis player.
She has been known to describe the underhand serve as a ‘genius’ move that can take a player to the next level.
Final Thoughts
To sum up, an underhand serve is when you drive a ball upwards, with the back of your wrist facing the front.
In order to make sure that you deliver the ball over the net, you need to make sure that you’re hitting it on the top portion of the paddle. An underhand serve should also always be executed by hitting the ball lower than the height of your waist.
Hi, I’m Michael Walter, and I am a Pickleball enthusiast. I work as a High School Physical Education Teacher, so I have an expansive knowledge of sports and its impact on physical health.
When I first took a position at my current school, one of the many things I wanted to implement in the curriculum was Pickleball.
Pickleball is a fantastic sport to keep yourself active, healthy, keep your blood pumping, and to start a good sense of competitiveness and team work.
