The Rules of Pickleball

The court is 20 ft × 44 ft (the same for singles and doubles). The 7-ft zone on each side of the net is the non-volley zone — everyone calls it the “kitchen.” You may not hit the ball out of the air (a volley) while standing in the kitchen or touching its line. You can step in to play a ball that has bounced — just get out before you volley again.

• Serve underhand, contacting the ball below your waist.
• Serve diagonally (cross-court), and the serve must clear the kitchen and land in the opposite service box.
• Keep at least one foot behind the baseline as you serve.
• Traditional (volley) serve or the drop serve (drop the ball and hit it after one bounce) are both allowed.

After the serve, the ball must bounce once on each side before anyone is allowed to volley: the returner lets the serve bounce, and the serving team lets the return bounce. After those two bounces, either team may volley (hit it out of the air) — as long as they're out of the kitchen.

• You can only score points on your own serve.
• Games are usually played to 11 points, win by 2 (tournaments sometimes go to 15 or 21).
• In doubles the score is called as three numbers — your score, their score, server number (1 or 2) — e.g. “4 – 2 – 1.”
• When your team loses the rally, serve passes to your partner; when both partners have served and lost, it goes to the other team (a “side out”).

• Hitting the ball into the net or out of bounds.
• Volleying while in the kitchen or touching the kitchen line.
• Volleying before the ball has bounced once on each side.
• Serving into the net or the wrong service box.
• The ball bouncing twice on your side before you return it.

Call the score clearly before each serve, call your own lines honestly, and give the “nice shot” paddle tap after a good rally. Stay out of the kitchen unless you're poaching a bounce. 🥒