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You are here: Home / All The Lingo / Sports Terms That Begin With ‘U’ / Underhand Serve

Underhand Serve

un*der*hand serve

What Is The Definition Of An Underhand Serve In Volleyball?

What Is An Underhand Serve In Volleyball? Definition & Meaning

1. An underhand serve is a type of serve used in volleyball. The serving player holds the ball about waist high, then swings their opposite arm forward with a closed fist. The palm side of their fist hits the bottom of the volleyball.

What Is The Purpose Of An Underhand Serve?

The underhand serve is one of the most common serves in volleyball. It is taught early on to players due to its low required skill level and simplicity. As a result, new players usually have the best control over where the ball will land using an underhand serve.

What Is The Difference Between An Underhand Serve And An Overhand Serve?

The main difference between an underhand serve and an overhand serve is how they are executed. As the names of these serves suggest, an underhand serve is performed with an underhand motion. In contrast, an overhand serve is executed overhead. 

Experienced volleyball players more commonly use an overhand serve since it has more speed and power. However, an overhand serve is more difficult to control than an underhand serve. 

How Do You Execute An Underhand Serve?

To execute an underhand serve, a player stands on their non-dominant foot and rests the ball on their non-serving hand. Then, with a closed fist, they hit the ball with an underhand swinging motion. 

When doing an underhand serve in volleyball, the player must be standing behind the end-line before the actual serve. The player may stand anywhere behind the line. 

It is considered a foot fault if the player serves the ball with a foot over or on the line. A foot fault awards a point and possession to the other team.

Examples Of How Underhand Serve Is Used In Commentary

1. Because his jump serve has been inaccurate and has traveled out of bounds on his past few serves, Anderson elects to go with the more traditional underhand serve to make sure the ball gets over the net on match point.

Sport The Term Is Used

1. Volleyball

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