One great thing about having your own pickleball court is that you can actually play some competitive games without actually playing a pickleball game. Since out court is in our driveway, any winning shot may wind up in the street behind us or in a part of our landscaping euphemistically called our jungle. We do. However, play a cross court game called “no blasting the ball at each other.” It forces you to engage in dinking and lobbing.
Anyway, one competitive game you can play is a serving game. Set up a line about 3-4 feet in front of the back line and, if you like, lines 2 feet to the side of the side lines and the center line. One person will serve, let’s say 10 times, and you will count points. A serve that is out or lands in the NVZ is worth 0 points. A serve that is in but not behind the 3-4 foot line is worth 1 point. A serve that goes past the 3-4 foot line is worth 2 points, and serves that land in the two-foot boxes are worth 4 points.
I have been told that soft and deep serves are better than hard and short serves, but that hard and deep serves are the best. So – deep serves should be your goal.
This video shows my wife’s serves. Note that a vast majority of them land behind the line. You will see that there is a bush at one corner of our court. She has an uncanny ability to serve right into that bush when she is playing against me. Our four-foot lines are actually the wood dividers that have disintegrated. She also has an uncanny ability to hit those lines when we are playing a game.
You will also see my first uses of a two-handed backhand. I like it and am going to concentrate on using it more. I think a two-hander requires you to turn your body more so you get more power behind your shot.
Here is a link to the video: