The “serving yips” is a term that strikes fear into the hearts of pickleball players everywhere. This neurological phenomenon refers to a sudden loss of fine motor skills and serving confidence that can frustrate and embarrass even the most accomplished players.
Whether you’re struggling with the traditional volley serve (tossing or dropping the ball and hitting before bounce) or the drop serve (dropping and letting the ball bounce first), these proven strategies can help you regain your confidence and consistency.
1. Establish a Pre-Serve Routine
A consistent pre-serve routine acts as your mental anchor, helping to calm nerves and establish rhythm before each serve. Start by developing a sequence that feels natural–perhaps bouncing the ball twice, taking three deep breaths, and visualizing your target area.
Research in sports psychology shows that pre-performance routines significantly improve athletic performance in both practice and pressure situations. The key is to keep your routine simple enough to repeat under pressure but detailed enough to occupy your mind and prevent negative thoughts from creeping in.
2. Master Your Drop or Toss
The serve release is where yips often first appear. Whether you prefer a volley serve or drop serve, consistent ball release is key. For volley serves, practice your toss height and position–you can toss the ball upward but must make contact below waist level with your wrist above the paddle top. Focus on a consistent toss without any pre-serve spin or manipulation.
For drop serves, practice releasing from the same position each time, allowing the ball to drop straight down. While the bounce location doesn’t matter for drop serves, a consistent release point helps develop muscle memory.
3. Focus on Your Contact Point
When the yips strike, many players get lost in their thoughts about technique, score, or potential mistakes. Instead, train yourself to visualize your contact point–the exact spot where your paddle will meet the ball. During practice, experiment with different contact points to understand how they affect your serve’s trajectory and power.
This narrow focus serves multiple purposes: it prevents overthinking, reduces performance anxiety, and helps maintain consistent technique.
4. Practice Progressive Relaxation
Tension is the enemy of smooth movement, and it’s often at the root of serving yips. Progressive relaxation involves systematically tensing and releasing muscle groups to achieve a state of relaxation. Before serving, consciously check your grip pressure–many players unknowingly death-grip their paddle when nervous.
Practice releasing tension from your shoulders, arms, and hands while maintaining proper form. Start your relaxation sequence from your feet and work up to your shoulders, ensuring each muscle group is relaxed but engaged.
5. Use Positive Self-Talk
Positive self-talk helps get your head in the game. Make it a part of your pre-performance routine by replacing negative thoughts (“Don’t miss this serve”) with positive, action-focused phrases like “Smooth motion” or “Contact point.”
Create a personal library of positive affirmations that resonate with you and practice them during training. You can even write them down or use your phone’s note app to review them before matches. Remember, positive internal dialogue shapes your confidence and directly impacts your serving success.
6. Simplify Your Serve Motion
When the yips severely affect your volley serve, consider temporarily switching to a basic drop serve. This alternative removes the complexity of timing your toss and contact point, letting you focus solely on the fundamentals. Start with the simplest version: stand in a comfortable position, hold the ball steady, release it straight down without any extra movement, let it bounce, and swing through with a smooth, upward arc.
Don’t worry about power or placement initially – focus on clean contact and consistent motion. This minimalist approach helps rebuild your fundamental mechanics and confidence without the added pressure of toss timing.
7. Practice Under Pressure
To truly overcome the yips, you must practice serving under conditions that simulate match pressure. Create serving challenges with consequences–both positive and negative. For example, set a goal of making eight out of ten serves; if successful, reward yourself with a break, if not, do some fitness work.
Have practice partners create distractions or noise while you serve. Set up mock tournament scenarios where you need to serve under specific point situations. The more comfortable you become serving under pressure in practice, the better you’ll handle real match situations.
8. Master Your Breathing
Proper breathing is fundamental to managing anxiety and maintaining physical control while serving. Develop a specific breathing pattern for your serve routine–for example, a deep inhale during your preparation, followed by a controlled exhale as you execute the serve. Practice diaphragmatic breathing, where you fill your belly rather than your chest with air. This type of breathing activates your parasympathetic nervous system, reducing anxiety and promoting calmness.
Practice your chosen breathing rhythm until it becomes a natural part of your service motion. Many players find that focusing on their breath helps quiet anxious thoughts and maintain composure during crucial points.
9. Build a Rhythm Between Points
When the yips strike, players often rush between serves, letting anxiety build. Instead, create a steady rhythm for the time between points. Take a consistent number of steps back to your serving position, bounce the ball on your paddle a set number of times, or practice another repeatable pattern that helps you reset mentally.
This measured approach prevents rushing and helps maintain composure, especially after a missed serve. Like a basketball player’s free throw routine or a golfer’s pre-shot ritual, your between-point rhythm becomes an anchor during pressure situations.
10. Video Analysis
Regular video analysis provides objective feedback about your serve, helping bridge the gap between perception and reality. Record your serves from multiple angles during both practice and matches. Pay attention to your routine, drop, contact point, and follow-through.
Compare footage of successful serves with those affected by the yips to identify specific differences. Create a checklist of key technical points to review in your footage, and share these recordings with your coach or experienced players for additional feedback. Many players discover that their serving motion during the yips isn’t as poor as it feels, which can provide a significant confidence boost.
