Pickleball Rules: How to Play, Explained Simply

Court. 20 by 44 feet. The net is 36 inches high at the posts and 34 inches in the middle [3.B.6–3.B.7].

Serve. Diagonally into the opposite service court, clearing the kitchen. You can use a regular underhand volley serve or a drop serve [7.C, 7.D, 7.E].

The two-bounce rule. The serve must bounce before it's returned, and the return must bounce before the serving side hits it. After that, anyone can hit the ball out of the air [10.A].

The kitchen. The 7-foot zone on each side of the net. You can stand in it any time; you just can't volley while touching it [11.A].

Score. Usually first to 11, win by 2. In standard scoring, only the serving side scores [4.A].

That's genuinely enough to play your first game. The rest of this page is the detail you'll want by about week two.

Wondering what to buy? The starter gear guide covers what's worth getting on day one and what can wait.

Most recreational pickleball is doubles: two players on each side of a net, on a court about the size of a badminton court. Here's how a rally goes.

1. Someone calls the score and serves. The server stands behind the baseline and serves underhand, diagonally, into the opponents' service court. The serve has to clear the kitchen [6.B, 7.E].
2. The receiver lets it bounce, then returns it. No volleying the serve [10.A.1].
3. The serving team lets the return bounce, then plays it. That's the second bounce of the two-bounce rule [10.A.2].
4. Now it's open play. Anyone can hit the ball after one bounce or out of the air, as long as they aren't touching the kitchen when they volley [11.A].
5. The rally ends with a fault. Someone hits it out, into the net, lets it bounce twice, or breaks one of the rules below.
6. If the serving side won the rally, they score a point and the same server serves again from the other side. If the receiving side won, nobody scores and the serve moves on (see Scoring).

Games usually go to 11, and you have to win by 2. Tournaments may play to 15 or 21 [Section 1, 15.C].

The non-volley zone, which everyone calls the kitchen, is the 7-foot by 20-foot area next to the net on each side. It exists to stop players from camping at the net and smashing everything down [3.A.4.c].

You're allowed to stand in the kitchen. Any time. You just can't volley (hit the ball out of the air) while you, or anything touching you, is in contact with it. If the ball bounces first, step in and play it normally [11.A].

The kitchen line is part of the kitchen. Touching the line while you volley is the same as standing in the zone [3.A.4.c].

Momentum counts. If you volley from outside the kitchen but your follow-through carries you into it, that's a fault, even if the ball is already dead by the time your foot lands [11.A.2].

Get both feet out before your next volley. After you've been in the kitchen, both feet have to be back on the court outside it before you're allowed to volley again [11.A.3].

Your partner counts too. If you volley and touch your partner while they're standing in the kitchen, that's a kitchen fault on you [11.A.1].

The serve is the most rule-bound shot in the game. There are two legal ways to do it.

1. The volley serve (the classic underhand serve, hit out of the air) [7.C]:

• Your paddle must be moving in a clear upward arc when it hits the ball.
• The top of the paddle head can't be above the highest part of your wrist at contact.
• The ball must be no higher than your waist when you hit it.
• Forehand or backhand are both fine.

2. The drop serve (drop the ball, let it bounce, then hit it) [7.D]:

• Release the ball from a natural height. You can't throw it down, toss it up or bounce it hard.
• It can bounce anywhere before you hit it, and the volley-serve motion rules above don't apply.
• Many beginners find this the easier serve to make consistent.

For both serves:

• Feet. At least one foot must be on the ground behind the baseline, and neither foot can touch the court (including the baseline) or be outside the imaginary extensions of the sideline and centerline when you hit the ball [7.A].
• Release. Use one hand or the paddle to release the ball, don't add spin before you hit it, and make sure the receiver can see the release [7.B].
• Placement. Serve diagonally into the correct service court. It must clear the kitchen; a serve that lands on the kitchen line is out [7.E, 8.C].
• The net is fine. A serve that clips the net and still lands in the correct service court is in play. There's no “let” [7.E].
• One try. There's no second serve. A faulted serve ends that server's turn.

This is the rule that makes pickleball different from tennis. The serve must bounce before the receiver hits it, and the return must bounce before the serving team hits it. Only after those two bounces can anyone volley [10.A].

What it doesn't say: it doesn't stop you from moving. The serving team can walk or run forward after the serve. The fault is hitting the return out of the air before it bounces [10.A.2]. Staying back to let the return bounce is just the smart way to avoid that.

Don't confuse it with a “double bounce.” Separately, any time the ball bounces twice on your side before you hit it, you lose the rally [10.B]. (Players using wheelchairs, and some adaptive players, are allowed a second bounce.)

This is standard (“side-out”) scoring, which most recreational games use.

Only the serving side scores [4.A]. Win the rally while serving and you get a point; the same server then switches sides and serves again [5.B.5].

When the serving side loses a rally, nobody scores. Instead, the serve moves on [5.B.5–5.B.6]:

• If the first server on that team lost the rally, their partner (the second server) serves next.
• If the second server lost it, that's a side out: the serve goes to the other team.

The game's opening is the exception. The team that serves first only gets one server for that first turn, which is why every game starts with the call “0–0–2” [5.B, 6.B.2].

The three-number call. In doubles, the score is called as your team's score, the other team's score, then the server number (1 or 2) [6.B.2]. A worked example:

Where to stand. The player who started the game serving for their team stands on the right when their team's score is even, and on the left when it's odd. That's a handy way to check you're lined up correctly [5.B.3].

Rally scoring is a provisional official option some leagues and events use: every rally scores a point no matter who served, each team has only one server per turn, and the score is called as two numbers [14.A]. Unless someone tells you otherwise, assume standard scoring.

During a rally, a ball that touches any line is in [8.B].

On the serve, the ball must land in the correct service court. Its baseline, sideline and centerline count as in, but the kitchen line counts as out [8.B–8.C]. That one exception catches almost everyone.

You only call lines on your own side, and if you aren't sure, the ball is in. Don't call it out unless you can clearly see space between the ball and the line [8.A, 8.D–8.E].

A fault ends the rally. These are the ones you'll run into most. The rulebook has more, especially for tournaments.

• Your shot lands out, or doesn't make it over the net [10.C.1–10.C.2].
• You volley the serve or the return before it bounces (two-bounce rule) [10.A].
• You let the ball bounce twice before hitting it [10.B].
• You volley while touching the kitchen, or your momentum carries you in [11.A].
• You hit the ball before it has fully crossed the net to your side [13.F.1].
• You, your paddle or your clothing touch the net or net posts while the ball is in play [Section 13].
• You hit the ball twice with two separate motions, or you and your partner both hit it [10.D].
• On the serve: a foot fault, an illegal serve motion, or a serve that lands in the kitchen or the wrong service court [7.A–7.E].

Two things that aren't faults: a shot that clips the net and still lands in, and a shot that hits your opponent before it bounces. That one counts as a good shot for you [10.C].

Almost everything is the same, including the court size. Unlike tennis, singles doesn't use a narrower court.

The differences: with no partner there's no second server, so every lost rally on your serve is a side out [5.A.3]. You serve from the right when your own score is even and from the left when it's odd [5.A.1]. And the score is two numbers, server's score first [6.B.1].

Singles means a lot more running, which is a big part of why most recreational pickleball is doubles.

From the beginner's side of the net, these come up far more than the rules people worry about beforehand.

Treating the kitchen like lava. You can stand in it all day. The only thing you can't do there is volley.

Volleying the return. Moving up after your serve is fine. Hitting the return before it bounces is the fault, and it's one of the most common beginner mistakes.

Getting the score call wrong, then arguing about it. The three-number call feels strange at first. Say it out loud on every serve from your first game. Nobody minds a beginner getting it wrong; everyone minds re-arguing a rally.

Using the wrong ball. Outdoor balls are typically harder, with more and smaller holes to cope with wind; indoor balls are softer with fewer, larger holes. If you're buying your own and playing outside, a pack of outdoor balls covers the common case. Check what your venue or league uses.

Trusting old advice. Rules change. Lets on the serve are gone, the drop serve is legal, and rally scoring is now a provisional official option. A lot of confident courtside advice is a few years out of date, which is why this page cites the current rulebook.

You don't need a marked court to practice. A driveway and a portable net set to 36 inches at the posts and 34 in the middle gets you most of the way, and dinking practice needs very little space.

If you're marking out a full court: 20 feet wide by 44 feet long, with the kitchen line 7 feet from the net on each side.

The best rules reference is free: the official USA Pickleball rulebook. If you'd rather have something in your bag, these are popular quick references. Check that whatever you buy reflects the current rules. Paddles, balls and shoes are in the starter gear guide.

• Pickleball For Dummies

  The whole game in one book: rules, scoring, strategy and etiquette, in roughly the order a beginner meets them.

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• Pickleball Rules Cheat Sheet

  A laminated, wallet-size summary for settling kitchen questions without reaching for a phone.

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• Pickleball Rules Bag Tags

  The same idea, clipped to your bag so it's never the thing you left at home.

  Check price →