Rules of Pickleball

Below are a few items of importance for you to learn the rules of pickleball and be able to feel confident stepping onto the court. 

Basic Rules

  • Players must serve from the baseline.
  • The serve can't land in the no-volley zone (the kitchen) and it cannot touch the non-volley zone line. 
  • The ball must stay inbounds.
  • There must be one bounce per side before a volley can be hit. 
  • A game is played until one team scores either 11 or 15 points, with a 2 point difference. 

Serving Team Determination

  • Any method, which is fair, may decide which team has first choice of side, service or receive. (i.e. coin flip) 

Serving Rules

  • A server's arm must be moving in an upward motion when the ball is struck. 
  • Contact between the paddle and the ball cannot be made above the players waistline.
  • The paddle's head must not be above the highest part of the wrist when contact is made. 
  • If a 'drop serve' is used, then the above 3 rules do not apply. 
  • When the player serving strikes the ball, their feet may not touch the court, and at least one foot must be behind the baseline on the playing surface or ground. 
  • The served ball, must land diagonally crosscourt within the confines of the opposite diagonal court. 
  • Only one serve attempt is allowed per server.

Non-Volley Zone (aka Kitchen)

  • The non-volley zone (the kitchen) is the court area withing 7 feet on both sides of the net. 
  • Volleying is not allowed within the non-volley zone. This is put in place to prevent players from executing power hits or smashes, within the zone. 
  • When a player volleys a ball and happens to step on the non-volley line, it is considered a "fault". This includes the line and/or when the player's forward momentum causes them to touch the non-volley zone, including the lines. 
  • It is also a "fault" if, after volleying, a player is carried into or touches the non-volley zone. Even if the volleyed ball is declared dead before this happens. 
  • A player is permitted to legally be in the non-volley zone (the kitchen), any time other than when volleying a ball. 

Fault Rules

  • A fault is simply a rule violation which stops play. 
  • A fault by the serving team, causes the server's loss of serve or side out. 
  • A fault by the receiving team, results in a point for the serving team. 

Line Call Rules

  • A ball in considered "in" when it contacts any part of any line, except for the non-volley (kitchen) line on a serve. 
  • When the serve contacts the non-volley zone line, it is considered "short" and a "fault". 

Two Bounce Rules

  • When the ball is served, the receiving team must let it bounce once before returning the serve.
  • The serving team must let it bounce before returning. Hence, two bounces.

Scoring Rules

  • The serving team is the only team to score points. 
  • Typically games are played to 11 points with a "win by 2" component. 
  • Alternatively, some games optionally may be played to 15 points with a "win by 2" component. These are typically tournament games. 
  • The player who is the first server in the game for the team, will be in the right (even) court when the serving team's score is even (0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10). When the score is odd (1, 3, 5, 7, 9) the player will be in the left (odd) court when serving or receiving.