DALLAS, TX - Hot topic in the pickleball news world is whether the serving rules should be changed.

Rumor on social media is that the PPA is considering a rule where a new line would be drawn on the court, about four or five feet inside the court’s baseline, and that serves going past that line, but inside the baseline, would be considered a fault.

 

Let’s examine the current rule, possible issues with the current rule, and the pros and cons for various proposals to change the rule.

 

 

Under the current rule, serves must be underhand, and can be off the volley or bounce. They must also, if volleyed, be struck below the waist. Finally, the paddle must be below the wrist, again only if volleyed. If the server bounces the ball before serving, none of the other rules apply.

 

If a question arises under the current rules, it is almost always focused on whether on a volleyed serve if the ball was struck below the waist. Pros are given one warning about a serving violation and after that, point penalties are assigned. Violations are difficult to call, as the serving motion is so fast and the difference between a valid and invalid serve is typically a matter of an inch or two. One violation is called on some occasions, but referees call a second violation with great infrequency. Their reluctance is understandable, as a point penalty is quite severe. But, it does cause a situation where a player is called for a first violation, and the opponent insists that the violations continue but are not being called. Thus, referees are in a tough position in regards to calling faults, especially a second violation.

 

 

In addition to the difficulty of calling volley serve violations, a second issue with the current serve is the perception that serves are now more powerful, shifting the balance of power to the server and away from the receiver. One bedrock principle of pickleball is that the advantage on each rally goes to the person/pair returning the serve, with the server at a disadvantage.  As serves become more powerful, the balance of power shifts and the game can be in danger of at some point the server having the advantage.

 

The third commonly cited issue with the current serving rules is that, with serves becoming harder/faster, more space is needed behind the baseline. The player returning serve is forced to stand further back and many courts simply are not built with sufficient room behind the baseline to allow a player to stand 12-15 feet behind the baseline when returning serve. There have been PPA events where players returning serve are as far back as they can stand, with their feet back against a scoreboard or fence. This creates both a safety issue, plus a fairness issue in that the serve returner should have as much room as they need to comfortably return the serve. Further, if the PPA is encountering this issue at pro events, then certainly the situation is even worse for amateurs on local public courts, should they face an opponent with a big serve.

 

 

Obviously, one option is to do nothing about the current situation. Unfortunately, it is virtually certain that paddles will continue to become more powerful, and players will continue to get bigger, stronger, and more athletic. We can thus anticipate that just as 2024 serves are more powerful than 2023 serves, 2025 serves are probably going to be more powerful than 2024 serves.

 

The new proposal to draw a service fault line some four or five feet inside the baseline is designed to slow down the serve. If a player cannot hit the serve as deep, the only option is to slow down the speed of that serve. Players returning serve can move up closer to the baseline. Such a change would not help with the problem of refereeing the height of the volley serve, as players would be motivated to still hit the serve as hard as they can get away with. The proposal would slow down the serve, and would thus solve two of the three perceived issues with the current serving rules.

 

 

However, the proposed rule change would also create some new issues. Courts would have to be repainted to accommodate the new line. Another issue is whether amateurs would need to or want to copy the new pro rule. It is typically unusual for pros and amateurs to have different rules in terms of the court or equipment. Golf has wrestled with such issues for years, in that pro golfers have massively taken advantage of new golf equipment, with pros able to hit the ball increasingly far. More distance helps the amateur golfer, but more distance for pros creates problems with golf course design. For pickleball, will amateurs play without the new service fault line, but should they play in a pro event, they will have to adjust to a new line? 

 

 

There is another way to adjust the game to take care of the perceived issues, and that is to outlaw the volley serve. If players have to serve by first bouncing the ball, all three of the perceived issues are resolved. First, the drop serve is easy to referee. There are no issues about how high the ball is struck or where your wrist is located. Second, the drop serve is hit somewhat slower than a volley serve, in general. Third, using only drop serves would eliminate any issues with court construction. There would be no need to paint a new line, and slowing down the serve would eliminate any issue with depth behind the baseline.

 

 

Personally, I am not convinced there is enough of an issue with the current serve to warrant a change. However, as we have seen the serve speed up quite a bit in the last year or two, a reasonable argument can be made that the situation is going to get worse. If a change is needed, the easiest and simplest change is preferable. My own suggestion is that the PPA experiment with the drop serve. Perhaps ask pros to practice the drop serve and provide their thoughts, or maybe mandate drop serves for one tournament. The same, of course, can be done with the proposal for a new service line. After some experimentation and consideration over time, the best solution can then be identified.

 

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