Team Underhand Serve Crosscourt Challenge
A team challenge to learn the pickleball underhand serve: each player serves crosscourt into the opposite box and earns points for the team. Students practice serving below the waist, accuracy, and setting a group goal.
How to play
- Set up two or three mini pickleball courts with low nets and cones; mark two service boxes on each side and, inside them, a deep zone with cones worth double (3 min).
- Demo: feet behind the line, ball dropped to the side, contact below the waist with a low-to-high paddle swing, and the serve sent crosscourt (2 min).
- Make teams of 4; each team takes one side of a court and players serve in turn, 5 serves each, while two players from the other team retrieve balls (6 min).
- Scoring: a serve in the crosscourt box is 1 point, in the deep zone 2 points; before each round, the team announces how many points it aims to get (5 min).
- Switch server and retriever roles each round and move from the right box to the left box (2 min).
Rules
- Contact must be below the waist with feet behind the baseline.
- A serve counts only if it lands in the crosscourt box, not in the zone by the net.
- Safety: retrievers wait outside the box and step in only after the server finishes the turn.
Variations
Easier
Serve from midcourt and allow a bounce-drop before hitting.
Standard
Serve from the baseline into the crosscourt box with a double-point zone.
Harder
Before each serve, the other team calls 'short' or 'deep' and the serve scores only if it lands there.
Adaptations
- Limited mobility: serve seated from a closer line with a shorter-handled paddle.
- Hearing impairment: signal the start of each turn with a hand gesture and show points with fingers.
- Advanced level: alternate right and left boxes without a pause.
Learning goals
- Perform the pickleball underhand serve with basic technique.
- Aim the serve crosscourt to a specific zone.
- Set a team goal and check whether it is reached.
Equipment for a class of 25
- paddles: 12
- pickleball balls: 24
- low nets: 3
- cones: 24
Teacher tip
Give each server several balls so turns flow. The usual mistake is contacting the ball above the waist: watch for it and fix it from the start.
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