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- The Best Serve to Hit | How to Beat Bangers | Best Drill for Serve Depth | 2026 Programs Are Here
The Best Serve to Hit | How to Beat Bangers | Best Drill for Serve Depth | 2026 Programs Are Here
Universal Rackets Weekly Pickleball Update: Coaching - News - Tips
Universal Rackets Weekly Update!
Let’s Talk About Your Pickleball Game…
Takeaways
🎯 The Bread-and-Butter Serve Wins Matches
📘 Instantly Improve Your Serve Is Live
👟 Drill of the Week: Serve Depth Progression
🔥 How To Beat Bangers
🏕️ Junior Tennis & Pickleball Summer Camps Are Open
🎥 Lesson of the Week: Low, Flat, Fast Serve
Learn when and how to apply pace without sacrificing consistency.
The Serve You Should Be Hitting 90% of the Time
Everyone loves talking about power serves, spin serves, and “aces.”
But here’s the truth most players don’t want to hear:
The best serve in pickleball isn’t flashy.
It’s reliable. You need a bread-and-butter serve.
The bread-and-butter serve is the serve you can hit:
• On big points
• Late in a match
• When nerves kick in
• When you just need the ball IN
If you master this serve, everything else in your game gets easier.
What Is the Bread-and-Butter Serve?
It’s a high-percentage, repeatable serve with three goals:
Consistency first
Good depth
Simple placement
Not max power.
Not low-margin lines.
Not “let me try something crazy here.”
Just a serve you trust.
Step 1: Prioritize Consistency
If your serve is out, the point is over.
Nothing else matters.
Too many players miss serves because they:
• Swing too hard
• Rush their motion
• Aim for corners before they’re ready
Your #1 goal is simple:
Get the ball in. Every time.
A slightly slower serve that lands deep is infinitely better than a hard serve that misses.
Step 2: Depth Beats Power
A deep serve does more damage than a fast one.
Why?
• It pushes your opponent back
• It limits their return options
• It buys you time to get set
Aim to land your serve within a few feet of the baseline—not the line itself.
Depth creates pressure without risk.
Step 3: Simple, Smart Placement
You don’t need to paint the lines.
For your bread-and-butter serve, stick to:
• Down the middle
• Slightly to the backhand
• Out wide (only if you’re consistent)
Pick one target, commit to it, and repeat it.
Consistency comes from clarity.
Don’t Rush Your Serve
One of the biggest serve killers?
Rushing.
Before every serve:
• Take a breath
• Bounce the ball the same way each time
• Set your intention
• Then serve
A simple routine keeps your timing calm and your mechanics clean.
The Big Takeaway
Your serve doesn’t need to win the point.
It needs to start the point—on your terms.
When you have a bread-and-butter serve you trust:
• You play looser
• You make fewer mistakes
• You win more points over time
Flash fades.
Reliability wins matches.
Just Released: Instantly Improve Your Serve Ebook Built to help you miss fewer serves and trust your serve when it matters. Click here to order your copy today
2026 Pickleball and Tennis Programs Are Here!
More Programs Announced! New Locations and New Offerings
Universal Rackets is excited to roll out our Spring & Summer Pickleball programming, offering Adult Clinics, Junior Clinics, and 50+ Summer Camps designed for all ages and skill levels and built around fun, structure, and real improvement.
✅ Adult Pickleball Clinics
✅ Junior Pickleball Clinics
✅ Pickleball Summer Camps
✅ Indoor & Outdoor Options
✅ Multiple Skill Levels
✅ Weekday & Weekend Offerings
Whether you’re just getting started or looking to sharpen your skills, our programs are built to help you play smarter, improve faster, and enjoy every session.
👟 Drill of the Week: Serve Depth Drill
Purpose:
👟 Drill of the Week: Serve Depth Drill (From the Instantly Improve Your Serve eBook)
Depth is not something you guess — it’s something you train.
The fastest way to develop a reliable, deep serve is by gradually shrinking your target. This teaches your body exactly how much height, speed, and spin are needed to hit the ball deep without forcing it — even under pressure.
How to Do the Drill
Start with a large target and make it smaller as you improve. The goal is to build muscle memory so you can control depth naturally, even when there are no cones on the court.
Step 1: Place cones across the center or lower-middle of the service box. Serve until you make 7 out of 10 serves inside the target.
Step 2: Once you hit 7 out of 10, move the cones halfway back toward the baseline. Again, aim for 7 out of 10 serves in.
Step 3: Move the cones even farther back so there’s only a small space between the cones and the baseline. Repeat the same goal: 7 out of 10 serves in.
As the target shrinks, your margin for error decreases — forcing you to refine your height, spin, and swing speed naturally. This is how depth becomes automatic instead of forced.
Above is an example of the drill. The yellow is where you should aim
📘 Instantly Improve My Serve eBook Is OUT NOW!
Our very own Universal Rackets coach & content creator, @pickleballwithtyler, just released his brand-new eBook — Instantly Improve My Serve.
Built from 10,000+ hours of in-person coaching and real on-court experience, this interactive eBook gives players a clear, repeatable system for building a serve they can trust — especially on big points and under pressure.
This isn’t about copying one “perfect” serve.
It’s about applying the right concepts to your serve.
Inside the book you’ll learn:
• How to build consistency before adding power
• How to create depth without forcing pace
• Smart targets and serve intention
• A simple pre-serve routine
• What to do immediately after the serve
With 100+ embedded video examples, drills, and progressions, players know exactly what to practice and why.
How To Stop & Beat Bangers in Pickleball
Here’s the truth about bangers in pickleball:
They aren’t self-proclaimed.
They’re created by you.
Yes, some players naturally hit harder than others — but if you don’t want to play against a banger, the solution is simple: stop giving them what they want.
So how do bangers get created?
A player can only truly “bang” the ball from one place: Above the net.
Any high ball you give your opponent allows them to hit down into the court, which is where power becomes dangerous. If you want to neutralize a banger, your goal is simple:
Make Them Hit UP — Not DOWN
When the ball stays below net height, your opponent has only two real options:
• Slow the ball down
• Hit a neutral shot or dink
If a banger tries to swing hard from below the net, one of two things happens:
The ball goes long
The ball goes into the net
Either way — you win the point.
Next time you feel like you’re playing a banger, pause and ask yourself:
“Where am I allowing my opponent to make contact?”
That answer tells you everything.
How To Stop Creating Bangers
• Third Shot: Drop the ball shallow into the kitchen
This forces your opponent to let the ball bounce and contact it below the net.
• Returns: Use slice
Slice keeps the ball low and makes third-shot drives much harder to execute.
• At the Kitchen: Keep your dinks in the kitchen
Low dinks eliminate speed-ups and force patience.
Bonus Tip: Let Balls Go
One of the most powerful ways to beat a banger is mental.
If the ball is shoulder-high — let it fly.
This is easier said than done, but once a banger realizes you won’t swing at out balls, they start pressing… and errors follow.
Bottom Line
Bangers don’t magically appear.
They’re created by high balls, rushed decisions, and poor shot selection.
Keep the ball low.
Force your opponent to hit up.
And suddenly… the “banger” disappears.
Program Spotlight: JUNIOR TENNIS & PICKLEBALL SUMMER CAMPS ARE HERE!
Summer is coming fast — and our Junior Tennis & Pickleball Summer Camps are officially open for registration!
Universal Rackets summer camps are designed to do more than just keep kids active. Our camps focus on skill development, confidence, teamwork, and FUN, all in a structured, positive environment led by professional coaches.
Whether your child is brand new to the sport or already competing, our camps meet them where they are and help them level up — both on and off the court.
What to Expect at Universal Rackets Summer Camps:
• Tennis & Pickleball options
• Ages grouped by age and skill level
• Beginner → Advanced instruction
• High-energy drills, games, and point play
• Emphasis on fundamentals, movement, and sportsmanship
• A fun, welcoming environment kids love
Our coaches create an experience that keeps kids engaged, learning, and excited to come back each day — while parents can feel confident their child is in great hands.
📍 Multiple Locations Available
📅 Weekly & Multi-Week Options
🎾 Tennis & Pickleball Camps Offered
Spots fill quickly every summer — especially beginner and prime-time sessions.
Lesson of the Week: How To Hit A Low Flat Fast Serve
Thank you for reading and we can’t wait to see you on court!
-Universal Rackets