Anna Leigh Waters’ Serve Tips: World No. 1 pickleball star Anna Leigh Waters and her coach and mother, Leigh Waters, shared important serve tips with pro player and content creator Kyle Koszuta. In a rare interview, they revealed simple but powerful strategies to help players serve more consistently and with more power.
How Anna Leigh Waters Improves Her Serve
Anna Leigh and Leigh Waters shared their advice on how to serve better during matches. Leigh explained that players should wait for the referee to finish calling the score before serving.
“If you are in a tournament, definitely let the ref say the score. Even though the rule says you can start your motion while the ref is speaking, as long as you make contact after they say the score. Anna Leigh likes to start her motion, but if the ref’s cadence is off just a little, Anna Leigh is hitching through the service motion.” – (Leigh)
Anna Leigh’s energy at the start of a point sometimes causes her motion to break if the referee hesitates. Waiting for the ref to finish helps keep her serve smooth and powerful.
Serving Like a Forehand and Target Practice
Anna Leigh also explained that thinking of the serve as a forehand swing helps her stay consistent.
“In tennis, the overhead serve is completely different. But in pickleball, the serve feels like you’re hitting a forehand, and I feel like a lot of players sometimes struggle with the serve, but then they have a great forehand. Think about hitting a forehand as your serve. That’s helped me a lot.” – (Anna)
Leigh also suggested practicing with targets to improve focus.
“Before you serve, pick your target, look at it, and then go. Because there’s so many things you can be thinking about, it’s just you with the ball, everybody’s waiting, and your mind can be going in a thousand places. But the easiest way to reset and get focused is pick a target and go.” – (Leigh)
She also shared how to make serving practice more fun.
“For people who are practicing their serves, it can be a little boring and monotonous. The best way is to get some targets out and place some targets and play a little game with yourself. Or, if you have a practice partner, play little games against each other to hit targets. That’s what we do, and it’s really the best way to stay focused.” – (Leigh)
Leigh explained that seeing practice targets in her mind helped Anna Leigh stay sharp during real matches.
“And then when you get into your rec game or your match play, you can see the targets you hit in practice.” – (Leigh)
Anna Leigh shared a story of how this practice helped her during a tournament, helping her to serve with more accuracy and confidence.
Why These Tips Matter
Anna Leigh Waters’ advice shows how small changes can make a big difference. Waiting for the ref, swinging like a forehand, and practicing with targets can help players of all levels. These simple tips could help more players serve with the strength and control seen at the highest levels of the game.
News in Brief: Anna Leigh Waters’ Serve Tips
World No. 1 Anna Leigh Waters and her coach Leigh Waters shared key tips for better serves with Kyle Koszuta. Their advice included waiting for the ref’s score call, swinging like a forehand, and using target practice. These small adjustments can help players serve with more power and consistency.
ALSO READ: Anna Leigh Waters Faces Unprecedented Doubles Challenge at North Carolina Open