Pickleball Magazine 1-6 | Page 27

UNDERHAND SERVE but as different as some of them may be, if all three of these elements are met, they can still be legal. #2 - BALL CONTACT BELOW THE WAIST Contact with the ball must be made below the waist. This is the one that gets a little tricky. There has been some confusion about what exactly constitutes the waist. It doesn’t matter how you wear your clothes. The waist is defined as navel level. And the point where the ball hits the paddle must be below the waist. X ✓ #3 - PADDLE HEAD POSITION BELOW THE WRIST The position of the paddle head must be lower than the wrist. This one can be the deal breaker. When the paddle head strikes the ball, the highest part of the paddle head must be below where the wrist joint bends. To clarify, the paddle head does not include the handle. In summary, all three of these elements must be satisfied in order for the serve to be legal: upward motion of the paddle head, contact with the ball below the waist, with the position of the paddle head below the wrist joint. There are many different types of serves including forehand, backhand, hard and soft, SUMMARY - ALL THREE MUST BE MET That’s your Pickleball 411 for today. We really hope this has been helpful. Now there’s only one thing left to do, and that’s Go Play!  • To watch the complete video version of this article and to see clear motion graphics of each element of the underhand serve, visit Pickleball Channel online. And consider becoming a subscriber of Pickleball Channel for free to receive weekly pickleball videos just like this one by going to http://www.pickleballchannel.com/subscribe. Rusty Howes is the Executive Producer and creator of Pickleball Channel. Rusty worked for the likes of Warner Bros and Disney before creating Pickleball Channel to develop and provide fantastic, professional video content for the pickleball community. He is deeply involved in promoting the sport of pickleball at home and across the country. DECEMBER 2016 | MAGAZINE 25