Pickleball Rules for Beginners

The court and the net

A pickleball court is 20 feet wide and 44 feet long, the same size as a doubles badminton court. The net is 36 inches high at the sidelines and dips to 34 inches in the middle, so the centre of the net is the lowest place to hit over.

Each side of the court is divided into three areas:

• The non-volley zone, nicknamed the kitchen: the 7-foot strip closest to the net, on both sides.
• Two service courts: the areas behind the kitchen, split down the middle by the centre line into a right (even) court and a left (odd) court.
• The baseline at the back, which you stand behind to serve.

Lines matter. A ball that lands on any line is in, with one exception: on the serve, the kitchen line counts as part of the kitchen, so a serve that lands on it is out.

Starting a game

Most recreational games are doubles, two against two, played to 11 points, and you must win by two. Any fair method decides who serves first — many groups simply rally until someone misses, or flip a paddle. Points are only scored by the serving team, which is explained properly in our guide to pickleball scoring.

How to serve legally

The serve is underhand and gentle by design. It starts the rally; it is not meant to win it. A legal serve has to tick these boxes:

• Stand behind the baseline. At least one foot must be on the ground behind the baseline, and neither foot may touch the court or the line when you hit the ball. You also have to stay between the imaginary extensions of the centre line and the sideline of the half you are serving from.
• Serve diagonally. The ball must clear the kitchen and land in the service court diagonally opposite you, including its lines — except the kitchen line.
• Hit it underhand. For the traditional volley serve, your arm moves in an upward arc, you contact the ball below your waist, and the top of the paddle head is no higher than your wrist at contact.
• Or use the drop serve. Drop the ball from your hand, let it bounce, then hit it. Because the ball has bounced, the arc and waist restrictions do not apply. Many beginners find this the easiest serve to keep legal.
• One attempt. There is no second serve. A fault on the serve ends your turn.

Older rules replayed a serve that clipped the net and still landed in the right box. That "let" was removed from the official rules in 2021: if the serve touches the net and lands in the correct service court, it is simply in play.

The two-bounce rule

After the serve, the ball must bounce once on each side before anyone is allowed to volley it out of the air. In practice:

1. The receiving team must let the serve bounce before returning it.
2. The serving team must let the return bounce before hitting it.
3. After those two bounces, either team may volley or play off the bounce as they like.

This one rule shapes the whole game. Because the serving team has to wait for the return to bounce, they start the rally pinned at the back, while the returning team can walk up to the net. That is why serving teams work so hard on the soft "third shot" — something our doubles strategy guide covers in detail.

The kitchen (non-volley zone)

The kitchen is the rule most new players get wrong, and also the simplest once it clicks: you may not volley while you are in the kitchen. A volley is any ball you hit out of the air, before it bounces.

• You cannot volley while standing in the kitchen or touching the kitchen line.
• You cannot volley and then step into the kitchen because your momentum carried you there — even after the ball is dead. Losing your balance and stepping in, or dropping your paddle into it, also counts.
• You can stand in the kitchen at any time. You just cannot volley from there.
• You can go into the kitchen to play a ball that has bounced. Many points are won with soft shots that bounce in the kitchen, called dinks.

The kitchen exists to stop players camping at the net and smashing everything down. It forces the short, patient exchanges that make pickleball distinctive.

Faults: how a rally ends

A rally ends when someone commits a fault. The most common ones are:

• Hitting the ball into the net or out of bounds.
• Letting the ball bounce twice on your side before you return it.
• Volleying before the two-bounce rule allows it.
• Volleying from the kitchen, or a volley that carries you into it.
• A serve that lands in the wrong court, in the kitchen, on the kitchen line, or out.
• A foot fault on the serve.
• The ball touching you or your clothing, or touching the net or the posts with your body or paddle while the ball is in play.

If the serving team faults, they lose the serve (or the server passes it to their partner). If the receiving team faults, the serving team wins a point.

Line calls and honesty

Recreational pickleball is self-refereed. You call the lines on your own side of the net, and your opponents call theirs. Two principles keep it friendly:

• If you are not sure, it is in. You only call a ball out when you clearly saw space between the ball and the line.
• Call it quickly and clearly. Say "out" loudly or signal it straight away, before the ball is returned or goes out of play.

Your partner can disagree with your call, and when partners disagree, the ball is in. You can ask your opponents for their opinion, but if they did not see it clearly, the benefit of the doubt goes to the other side.

Five questions beginners always ask