How Pickleball's Serve Rule Has Changed Over the Years

One tweet threw Pickleball Twitter into a complete frenzy last week.

Pro Grayson Goldin posted:

JUST IN - PPA proposing new serve rule to “de-weaponize” the serve

PPA is putting tape 4 feet inside of the baseline and saying you have to serve into the box because the serve has been deemed “too much of a weapon by the player council”

Very interesting 🧐 pic.twitter.com/oikXFBnXVB
— Grayson Goldin (@GraysonGoldin) August 14, 2024

The video shows people applying tape inside the baseline, allegedly representing a "serve box" into which players would need to serve the ball.

In the tweet, he mentions that it's the result of the serve becoming "too much of a weapon."

Suffice to say, it drew quite a response.

Insane, if true. Guys, it’s an underhand serve https://t.co/J1VCAxggk6
— Zane Navratil (@ZaneNavratil) August 14, 2024

What's the big deal?

Perhaps no area of pickleball (other than hot paddles and hooking) has been scrutinized more over the last couple of years than the serve. If you watched pro pickleball just two to three years ago, you would notice how drastically it has changed.

Mostly, you would see that there has been a shift in what the serve is meant to do.

"1. The purpose of the serve (at the developing levels) is simply to place the ball in play and is not intended as an offensive weapon."

That quote is from the USA Pickleball website, which has been used by many as the pickleball "bible" when discussing the rules of the sport.

The sentence clearly defines the serve as not an offensive weapon. However, another interesting part of it is the "at the developing levels." Leaves plenty open for interpretation, doesn't it?

This begs the question, should it actually be "a weapon" in the pro game?

If you look at the serve rule changes over the years, you have to believe that at least USAP and the PPA don't think so.

In late 2021, the PPA announced a rule preventing players from putting spin on their serve.

Fans of the chainsaw – or Zanesaw – cried foul.

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According to those who make the rules, pros getting aced on the pickleball court and then amateurs emulating them just wasn't good for the game.

But eliminating spin wasn't the only serve rule change. Earlier this year, the PPA Tour announced that it was removing a player's ability to toss the ball up before making contact.

Dekel Bar, known for having one of the biggest serves on tour, shared his thoughts on this rule on the PicklePod:

After implementing this change, the PPA Tour reported 72 called faults from the Qualifiers alone.

Since then, players have gotten used to the rules, so you don't see many of these faults anymore.

Or – perhaps – the referees and the league have simply stopped calling them.

Recent events may have led to this proposed change

After the recent PPA Tour Kansas City Open, serve rules were called into question again as Tyson McGuffin (another player known to push the limits on serving) took some heat – mostly from fans and other players – for his serves.

But then it emerged that the PPA Tour had changed the rules again right before – during? – the tournament.

PPA tour is reverting back to USAP service rules today. I’d have to agree that the no-toss rule wasn’t great. I think @MajorLeaguePB has the best service rules at the moment @PPAtour @Pickleball
— Zane Navratil (@ZaneNavratil) August 9, 2024

As discussed on last week's PicklePod with Anna Bright, players were suddenly allowed to toss up the ball again.

Maybe this supposed new rule change – or speculation of a rule change – will fix all the serve issues that may or may not exist. Or maybe it just muddies the service waters even more.

More to come on serving rules. That's a given.