Bait The Return

How to use a simple serve as a mind game...

Author

Shea Underwood
December 26, 2025

Week 65

Welcome back to the Road to Pro Newsletter!

Here’s what I’ve got for you this week:

  • Why the lob serve is the easiest pickleball strategy

  • A truly valuable pickleball resource

Estimated read time: 2 minutes and 18 seconds

Big shoutout to Selkirk for sponsoring this newsletter and making all the paddle giveaways I do possible!

I’m sure you’ve heard about the Boomstik by now. It’s Selkirk’s newest and most powerful paddle. I’ve been using it for a while now and trust me…it lives up to its name. It comes out of the case perfect and ready to play, with no break-in period. The core is built to last an incredibly long time, there are weights on the sides that keep it perfectly balanced, AND it comes with the new InfiniGrit surface, which gives longer-lasting spin.

You can get it on Selkirk’s website here and use my code INF-SHEA for a gift card toward a future purchase.

The Underestimated Serve

If you want to play mind games on your opponents, throw in the lob serve every now and then in a game. I know that sounds pretty random, but when you hit this type of serve at the right time, it’s one of the easiest and most rewarding strategies in pickleball.

The reason why is because one of three things will almost always happen with the return:

  1. Your opponent will get over-eager to rip the ball off the high bounce, and it will often just go into the net or out of bounds.

  2. They will hit a lob return back to you, which sets you up for a super easy third shot that you can drive from above the net.

  3. They will hit a weak return because they are unfamiliar with generating pace from above their hips since the ball bounces so high.

All three situations are extremely favorable for you and are easily accomplished with a simple lob serve. Just make sure you keep it deep in the court. If you serve it too short, then you’re just giving your opponents an easy return that’s dangerous for you.

Wait for the right time to hit this serve in a game, and watch if it throws your opponents off. It’s possible this simple shot could flip the game in your favor.

That Pickleball School

If you’re serious about getting better at pickleball, I want to put you onto a resource that’s genuinely game-changing.

You’ve probably heard of my friend, Kyle Koszuta (ThatPickleballGuy), a pro player and an incredible coach. Last year he launched a project called That Pickleball School, which already has over 1,000 members all dedicated to getting better at pickleball.

What makes it really unique is that it’s not just pickleball content, but it’s also a community where you can post questions and get answers from expert coaches and other members. There are also weekly live office hours, options to send in match footage for a full breakdown of personalized feedback and coaching from an expert coach, and even submit footage to get your DUPR rating.

To be a part of this community, you can click the link below to get a 7-day free trial to check it out before you commit. You’ll get a ton of value just in those 7 free days, so there really is no reason not to do it. You can use this link to sign up: That Pickleball School.

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