You’ll find plenty of ways to learn the rules of pickleball, but few are bite-sized. America’s fastest-growing sport is exploding in popularity, and everyone wants to join the fun! Unfortunately, far too many “basic rules” sources are too dang long!

You want to get out there and play pickleball! The last thing you need is some long-winded, lawyerly chat about the specifics of pickleball rules.

So, stick with us! Pickle Goddesses has you covered.

Keep scrolling to get a bite-sized version of all the basic rules you must know before that first serve.

(Before we begin, we want to emphasize that this post is a basic overview of the “must-know” rules of pickleball. This is by no means an exhaustive list. You can find a full list of pickleball rules within the official USA Pickleball Rulebook.)

How a Pickleball Game Works

A pickleball game can be played one-on-one (singles) or with two teams of two (doubles). Both options are offered professionally, but doubles play is more popular in casual settings.

Regardless of which style of play is chosen, the game progresses the same way.

Understanding the Pickleball Rally

Like tennis, a full pickleball game is divided into smaller rallies. Each rally begins when the server serves the ball and ends when a fault occurs. In singles, a server-side fault forces a change in service, passing the ball to the opposing team. However, in doubles play, each player on the serving team gets at least one serve attempt before the switch. (Formally, this switch is known as the “serving sequence.”)

Players hit the ball one of two ways:

• A groundstroke (or “ground stroke” with a space) occurs when the receiving team hits the ball after it bounces.
• Conversely, a volley is hit when the ball is in the air — before it bounces. Note that volleys are not allowed in the non-volley zone. Per the double bounce rule, players must also wait until the third shot of a rally to begin volleying.

Understanding Pickleball Faults

Faults occur on both sides of the court. The official rulebook defines a fault as “a rules violation that results in a dead ball and/or the end of a rally” (§3.A.5).

In plain language, it’s a foul that pauses gameplay.

Faults are determined by line calls. In most informal games, players make their own line calls. Teams are also expected to practice good sportsmanship by acknowledging their own faults. Most formal matches and tournament games bring in a referee.

Understanding Pickleball Scores

Finally, unlike many racquet sports, pickleball uses side-out scoring. This means that only the serving team accrues points.

For example, if the opposing team commits a fault, the serving team earns a point! However, faults from the serving team will not award points to the receiving team. Rather, these faults will force a change in service, passing the ball to the other team.

What to Expect From This Pocket Guide

Fantastic!

We’ve established the base for our pickleball knowledge. Now, let’s build up and expand our understanding of this beloved sport.

We’ve divided the rest of this blog post into three distinct sections for easy reading and reference:

1. The Court: Begin here if you’re unfamiliar with the layout of a pickleball court. Otherwise, feel free to skip to the next section.
2. Starting the Game: Here, we’ll cover the rules for serving in pickleball.
3. How to Play Pickleball: This section covers the rules for every player, including hitting and receiving the ball.

The Anatomy of a Pickleball Court

The pickleball court is a lot like a tennis or badminton court. A central net divides the playing area into two sides, each with three distinct sections: two long parallel rectangles and a wide strip.

The Non-Volley Zone (Kitchen)

Let’s start with that wide strip against the net. On many professionally installed permanent courts, this area is painted a contrasting color. For example, the main playing surface may be blue, while this portion is pink or red. Regardless of the color, this portion of the court is the non-volley zone. It’s also known as an NVZ or kitchen.

As its name implies, players cannot volley the ball within this area.

The line opposite the net, known as the kitchen or non-volley zone line, separates the area from the two parallel rectangles, which are the…

Service Courts

Each of these rectangles is a service court.

In singles play, each player covers both service courts. However, in a doubles game, each team member covers one service court. Aside from allowing everyone to play, this rule prevents unwanted collisions between teammates.

Unlike the kitchen, the service courts lack a snazzy name. They’re simply called the right (or even) service court and the left (or odd) service court. And at the far end of these rectangles is the baseline.

2. The Essential Rules of Pickleball for the Serving Team

Now, there are a slew of other serving rules, but we’ll focus on the basics! For starters, you’ll want to check off all the following boxes:

• Foot Placement: Are both feet behind the baseline? (In informal play, one foot may be allowed ahead of the line.)
• Know the Score: Before serving, the server must verbally announce the current score. Your team’s score always goes first, followed by the opposing team’s.
• Position: Are you in a stable stance? Servers cannot pass the baseline at any point during the initial serve.
• Serving Motion: Are you using an upward serving motion? Servers cannot hit the ball from the top or side.
• Serving Style: There are two types of legal pickleball serves. Pick one! You can use the beginner-friendly drop serve or the “advanced” volley serve.

Left and Right Service Courts

Great! Those are the basic rules of serving.

But there are a few more things to know before we move to gameplay.

Remember what we said about “even” and “odd” courts?

In a pickleball game, the server switches sides according to the score. The right-hand court is reserved for even scores (and zero); the left side of the court is for odd scores. Thus, the serving team always begins a game from the right-hand court.

Moreover, servers must aim for the opposing team’s opposite diagonal court. So, if you’re serving from your right court, you’ll aim for the opponent’s left side (from your perspective).

Serving Side Faults

Failing to heed these rules — among many others — is a rule violation. Pickleball etiquette suggests that both teams should be willing to make such calls. And once the fault occurs, the ball is considered dead.

Common service faults include:

• Incorrect Serving Sequence: The wrong player serves the ball.
• No Score Call: Yes, you really do have to remember and call the score.
• Side Outs: The ball travels outside the court’s boundaries.
• Wrong Service Court: The ball bounce lands in the wrong court.

3. Rules to Know as You Play Pickleball

Finally, we want to highlight some essential rules for the game.

These rules apply to both teams and can be called as needed. Enforcement begins when the ball is served and continues until the line call. The ball is dead once the call is made and should be left to its own devices. (Unless it’s hurtling to another team, in which case you should probably intercept it.)

The Double Bounce Rule

While we already mentioned this rule, we want to emphasize its importance.

The double bounce rule was made to remove the advantages of being a serving team. However, its phrasing may confuse new players.

In the context of the double bounce rule, a ”shot” is one team’s hit.

So, let’s divide the game into two sides, A and B.

The game begins! The ball is served by A. This is the first bounce. B returns the hit. This is the second bounce. At this point, with one bounce on each side of the court, players may begin volleying the ball.

How to Win a Pickleball Game

To win a game, players must reach a certain score. Most casual games end at 11 points, but professional games often run to 15 or 21 points. The first team to reach this score wins.

But there’s a small caveat. The winning team must also lead by at least two points. So, if the score is 11 to 10, the first team must score one more point to win. Similarly, if the score is 21 to 20, the first team needs another point to cinch the win.

Find Your Pickleball Happy Place!

These are but a few of the rules, but they’re all you need to start!

So, go forth! You know how pickleball is played. Now, it’s time to embrace the sport’s community-focused joys! We’ll be here to cheer you on. You can even browse the rest of the Pickle Goddesses blog to find more tips, tricks, and pickleball strats to keep your team on the winning side of the court!

And if you loved this post, be sure to share it! We’re all about spreading the benefits of pickleball across the world!