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What do we all think of the spin serve?
MFargy
asked over 2 years ago
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This is certainly a touchy subject and probably does need to be addressed by governing bodies. It's normal for there to be innovation in sports so that top players can gain competitive advantage. But it is up to the governing bodies to keep things in check to make sure the sport retains its essence and spirit and doesn't evolve into something so different that it is barely recognizable.
With pickleball, it's pretty clear that the serve wasn't meant to become the focal point of the game because the rules put substantial limitations on it.That said, we can probably assume that pickleballers have been putting spin on various strokes including the serve since the earliest days. As a hybrid sport with elements of tennis, badminton, and ping-pong, it's only normal that players would apply successful techniques from the parent sports.
Personally, I think that spin should be natural spin gained simply from the contact of the paddle face with the ball on a serve that is patently legal (i.e. it looks completely normal other than an angled paddle face to impart spin). Beyond that, we are getting away from the sport's essence, in my opinion.
Coming to pickleball from tennis, I understand spin and am able to use it effectively. I've also experimented with both a chainsaw type of serve and the spin toss serve during practice sessions. As a rule, I only purposely apply spin on capable opponents. When I'm playing in open play with beginners or less skilled players, I hit simpler, slower serves so that they have a good chance to return and play more multi shot rallies. There's no need to be a jerk to those who are not well rounded players.
I'd be good with seeing the rules allow for more advanced serving for pros and perhaps 4.0 and above. Below that I believe the focus should be on improving fundamentals. Or, to put it another way, if you're able to create heavy spins on purpose, you probably need to be playing in a higher division.
With pickleball, it's pretty clear that the serve wasn't meant to become the focal point of the game because the rules put substantial limitations on it.That said, we can probably assume that pickleballers have been putting spin on various strokes including the serve since the earliest days. As a hybrid sport with elements of tennis, badminton, and ping-pong, it's only normal that players would apply successful techniques from the parent sports.
Personally, I think that spin should be natural spin gained simply from the contact of the paddle face with the ball on a serve that is patently legal (i.e. it looks completely normal other than an angled paddle face to impart spin). Beyond that, we are getting away from the sport's essence, in my opinion.
Coming to pickleball from tennis, I understand spin and am able to use it effectively. I've also experimented with both a chainsaw type of serve and the spin toss serve during practice sessions. As a rule, I only purposely apply spin on capable opponents. When I'm playing in open play with beginners or less skilled players, I hit simpler, slower serves so that they have a good chance to return and play more multi shot rallies. There's no need to be a jerk to those who are not well rounded players.
I'd be good with seeing the rules allow for more advanced serving for pros and perhaps 4.0 and above. Below that I believe the focus should be on improving fundamentals. Or, to put it another way, if you're able to create heavy spins on purpose, you probably need to be playing in a higher division.
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