Rules Center

Pickleball is played on a court that is 20 feet wide and 44 feet long, the same size as a doubles badminton court, and the same dimensions are used for singles and doubles. The net is 36 inches high at the sidelines and 34 inches high at the center.

On each side of the net is a 7-foot non-volley zone, better known as the kitchen. Behind it, the court is split into a left and right service area by a centerline.

The ball is a hollow plastic ball with holes. Outdoor balls are harder with smaller holes; indoor balls are softer with larger holes. Paddles are solid, with no strings, and must meet USA Pickleball equipment standards to be used in sanctioned play.

Summarizes USA Pickleball Official Rulebook, Sections 2 and 3. Read the official text.

Every rally starts with a serve. The server stands behind the baseline with at least one foot on the ground behind it, and serves diagonally to the service court on the other side. The serve must clear the kitchen and its line; a serve that lands in the kitchen or on the kitchen line is a fault.

There are two legal ways to serve. The volley serve is hit out of the air: the arm must move in an upward arc, the paddle must contact the ball below the waist, and the highest point of the paddle must be below the wrist at contact. The drop serve is simpler: drop the ball from any natural height without throwing it, let it bounce, and hit it any way you like.

You get one serve attempt. If the serve touches the net and lands in the correct service court, it is live and play continues; there are no service lets.

• Serve from the right-hand side when your score is even, the left-hand side when it is odd.
• Call the score before you serve. In doubles: your score, their score, then the server number (1 or 2).
• A serve that lands on the kitchen line is out; a serve that lands on any other line is in.

Summarizes USA Pickleball Official Rulebook, Section 4. Read the official text.

The receiving team must let the serve bounce before returning it. The serving team must then let the return bounce before hitting it. After those two bounces, either team may volley the ball out of the air or play it off the bounce.

This rule is what gives pickleball its shape: the serving team is pinned back for two shots, which is why the third shot (usually a drop) matters so much and why the returning team has the early advantage.

Summarizes USA Pickleball Official Rulebook, Section 7. Read the official text.

The kitchen is the 7-foot zone on each side of the net, and the line is part of the zone. You may stand in the kitchen any time you like, but you may not hit a volley, a ball that has not bounced, while any part of you or anything you are wearing or holding is touching the zone.

The rule also covers momentum: if you volley and then step into the kitchen because of that swing, even after the ball is dead, it is a fault. Your partner can catch you to stop your momentum, but not if they are touching the kitchen themselves.

You can enter the kitchen to hit a ball that has bounced, such as a dink, and step back out. There is no time limit, but both feet must be back outside the zone before you volley again.

• A dropped paddle, hat or sunglasses landing in the kitchen during a volley is a fault.
• Jumping over the kitchen corner to hit an Erne is legal as long as you do not touch the zone before, during or after the volley.

Summarizes USA Pickleball Official Rulebook, Section 9. Read the official text.

Traditional pickleball uses side-out scoring: you can only score a point while your team is serving. Games are played to 11 and you must win by 2. Tournaments sometimes play to 15 or 21.

In doubles, both partners get to serve before the serve passes to the other team, except at the very start of the game, when the first serving team only gets one server. That is why the opening score is called 0-0-2. The score is announced as three numbers: serving team's score, receiving team's score, server number.

In singles there are only two numbers. The server serves from the right when their score is even and from the left when it is odd.

• A point is won when the receiving team commits a fault: hits out, hits the net, volleys from the kitchen, breaks the two-bounce rule, and so on.
• When the serving team faults, the serve passes to the second server, or if both have served, to the other team (a side-out).
• Rally scoring, where every rally scores, is used in some leagues and pro events but is not the standard recreational format.

Summarizes USA Pickleball Official Rulebook, Section 4. Read the official text.

A fault is any action that stops play because of a rule violation. If the receiving team faults, the serving team scores. If the serving team faults, they lose the serve.

• The ball lands out of bounds or in the kitchen on a serve.
• The ball hits the net and does not go over, or goes under the net.
• A player volleys from the kitchen, or before the two-bounce rule is satisfied.
• The ball bounces twice before being hit.
• A player, their paddle or their clothing touches the net or net post during play.
• The ball hits a player or their clothing (a ball hitting a hand below the wrist that is holding the paddle is legal).
• The ball is carried, slung or hit twice in one stroke.
• A serve is hit from the wrong position or by the wrong server.

Summarizes USA Pickleball Official Rulebook, Section 7. Read the official text.

In recreational and most tournament play, each team calls the lines on its own side. A ball that touches any part of a line is in, with one exception: a serve that lands on the non-volley zone line is out.

If you are not sure whether a ball was out, it is in. The benefit of the doubt always goes to your opponent, and a player should not call a ball out unless they can clearly see space between the ball and the line.

Call the score loudly before every serve, wait until your opponents are ready, and paddle-tap at the net after the game. Those three habits will make you welcome on any court.

Summarizes USA Pickleball Official Rulebook, Section 6. Read the official text.