Anna Leigh Waters on lob serve strategy

Waters opens with something she sees from rec players all the time. They hit the lob serve without really understanding what they're doing: "They just think, oh, it's cool to hit the lob serve. But there is a strategy to hitting the lob serve." The rest of the reel covers that strategy, the swing she uses and how she gets ready for the return.

Quick version

• Why: depth delays the returner, and the high bounce makes a lot of players uncomfortable.
• How: same routine, then get low, drop your paddle and accelerate low to high, harder than on your hard serve.
• After: split step as you hit, because the return is often short.

Why hit a lob serve in pickleball?

The first part of her strategy is depth. If you can get it deep, she says, your opponents have to take time on their return before coming in, which delays them getting to the kitchen line.

The second is the bounce. Players like hitting balls in their strike zone, she says, but most of the time the lob serve bounces higher than that, and people get very uncomfortable.

How does Anna Leigh Waters hit a lob serve?

It starts the same as any other serve. Waters uses a very similar routine whether she is hitting a lob serve or not. She says it helps disguise the serve while giving her confidence and something like a mental reset.

The difference is in the swing. On a normal serve, she says, she just comes through and hits it hard. On the lob serve she really gets low, drops her paddle and accelerates even harder up.

Her rule for the swing: "You need to accelerate more than on your hard serve."

Here are the steps she describes:

1. Same routine. Bounce the ball a couple of times and look up at your opponent.
2. Same start. Begin the swing the same way, with a little take back.
3. Get low. Drop your paddle and drop your wrist.
4. Accelerate up. Swing low to high, harder than on your hard serve.
5. Split step as you hit. Move your feet and get ready for the next ball.

Common lob serve mistakes

Waters calls out two.

• Swinging softer. Some people think a lob serve needs "less acceleration and just up." Her verdict: "oops, terrible lob serve."
• Standing and watching it. She says this keeps you from capitalizing on the return, which is often short. More on that below.

What should you do after the lob serve?

Keep moving. Waters says that if she hits the lob serve and just stands and watches it, she won't be able to capitalize on the return, because a lot of times the return is short. If you're just waiting for it, she says, you basically shouldn't have even hit the lob serve.

She admits her mom gets on her about this all the time in tournaments, because sometimes she'll hit it and just watch. Her fix is to hit it, split step and get ready to capitalize on that next ball.

Later in the reel she points to her split step: "as I hit my lob serve, I split step." She adds that you want to prepare for that next ball really early.

Why does the split step help?

This part is general pickleball knowledge, not something Waters says in the reel. A split step is a small hop that lands you balanced on both feet, ready to push off in either direction once you see where the ball is going.

The usual cue is to time it with your opponent's contact, so you are settled as the ball comes off their paddle rather than caught flat-footed or still in the air.

Questions about the lob serve

Why hit a deep lob serve?

Waters says depth makes opponents take time on their return, which delays them getting to the kitchen line.

Does a lob serve need less acceleration?

No. She says you need to accelerate more than on your hard serve, low to high.

Does she use a different routine for the lob serve?

No. She uses a very similar routine for any serve and says it helps disguise the serve.

What happens after the lob serve?

She says to split step and move your feet, because the return is often short and you want to be ready to capitalize on it.

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