The Lob Serve Loophole: Pickleball's New Psychological Warfare?

There's a moment in competitive pickleball when a player realizes they've found something the rulebook didn't explicitly forbid.

That's exactly what happened when The Dink's Thomas Shields hit the court with USA Pickleball Referee Ron Ponder to poke and prod some of the sport's biggest loopholes.

What they uncovered wasn't some shady trick or unsportsmanlike conduct; it was a perfectly legal move that had been hiding in plain sight, at least until 2026 (OK fine it's a little bit shady).

The loophole in question?

A server can legally cross the plane of the net immediately after striking a serve, as long as they so so after the ball has left their paddle.

That means the server can hit a high, sky lob serve, sprint past the net, and hang out on the opponent's side of the court wherever they please while the ball was still in flight. Legally.

Why would they do this, you ask? No more questions out of you. Just watch.

The Rule That Wasn't Really a Rule

Pickleball rules are written with the assumption that players will follow the spirit of the game, not just the letter of the law.

But as any competitive sport knows, there's always someone willing to test those boundaries (Exhibit A: Zane Navratil's "Chainsaw Serve").

The serve is already one of the most regulated shots in pickleball, with strict requirements about where you stand, how high you strike the ball, and the trajectory it must follow.

Yet somehow, the rulebook had left this particular, peculiar door wide open.

Ponder, bemused, confirmed what seemed almost too good to be true.

"Current rules say that once you strike the ball, you can cross the plane of the net," he explained. "Doesn't say immediately."

The implications are wild, if not entirely silly and fully unnecessary to explore any further.

Once on the opposing team's side, what is the player supposed to do, exactly?

• Can they interfere with play? Nope, certainly not.
• Yell and scream? Uh uh, that's a distraction.
• Do a little dance? Um, I guess so.

But maybe, just maybe, the psychological warfare of surprise, of just standing right there, in your opponent's face, waiting for them to react, will elicit an unforced error and a lifetime of shame. Maybe.

Definitely Don't Try This at Home

This is all the more relevant given a new shot Anna Leigh Waters has debuted at PPA Masters: a lob serve so sky-high, it leaves the frame of the screen entirely when watching from home.

Thing's got to be sailing some 20 feet in the air before diving toward the opponents' baseline.

Hers, unsurprisingly, comes from a place of technical savvy and advanced strategic game theory, as Zane explains below.

As for Thomas' psychological warfare tactic above? We strongly advise against trying that at your next open play.

It will certainly get a laugh, but any opponent worth their salt will take the opportunity to hit what will almost definitely be the most satisfying bodybag in history.

And you can't say you didn't deserve it.