Pickleball Rules for Beginners

Pickleball is played on a 20 by 44 foot court— the same size for singles and doubles — with a net 36 inches high at the posts and 34 inches at the center. Most play is doubles. Games go to 11 points, win by 2, and only the serving side can score.

The serve is underhand and diagonal. After the serve, the ball must bounce once on each side before anyone may volley. There is a 7-foot no-volley zoneeither side of the net — the kitchen — where you may not hit the ball out of the air. Full court layout is in our court dimensions guide.

That's the game. Everything below is the detail.

Where you stand.Behind the baseline, and within the imaginary extensions of the center line and sideline for the service court you're serving from. Neither foot may touch the baseline or the court until after the ball is struck.

Where it goes.Diagonally, into the opposite service court. It must clear the net and the kitchen entirely — a serve landing in the non-volley zone or on its line is a fault. The other lines are good.

How you hit it. Two legal serves exist:

The volley serve — hit out of the air. It must be an upward arc, contact must be below your waist (defined as the navel), and the highest point of the paddle head must be below the highest part of your wrist at contact.

The drop serve— drop the ball and hit it after it bounces. You may drop it from any height but may not throw or propel it downward. With a drop serve, the upward-arc, below-the-waist and paddle-position requirements don't apply, which is why many beginners prefer it.

One attempt. There are no second serves. A serve that touches the net and lands in the correct service court is live and in play— there are no lets on the serve.

This one is unique to pickleball and beginners break it constantly.

The serve must bounce before the receiving team returns it. The return must bounce before the serving team plays it. Only after those two bounces may either team volley.

In practice: serve, it bounces, return, it bounces, and now the rally is open. The classic error is the serving team rushing the net and volleying the return — a fault, every time.

The non-volley zone extends 7 feet from the net on both sides, and its lines count as part of it. You may not volley— hit the ball out of the air — while standing in it or touching its lines.

You may stand in it whenever you like, and you may step in to play a ball that has bounced. The catch is the momentum rule: if you volley legally from outside and your momentum then carries you into the zone, it's a fault anyway.

Because this is the rule that shapes the whole game, it has its own guide — what is the kitchen in pickleball.

Doubles scoring uses three numbers, called out before every serve. Everyone finds this confusing at first. It is worth persevering, because calling the score wrong is the fastest way to lose track of a game.

The three numbers are: your team's score — their team's score — server number (1 or 2). So "5-3-2" means your team has 5, theirs has 3, and you are the second server.

Why a server number exists.In doubles, both players on a team get to serve before the serve passes to the opponents. When your team's first server loses a rally, the serve goes to their partner — that's server 2. When server 2 loses a rally, the serve passes to the other team. That's a side-out.

The exception at the start. The team serving first in a game gets only one server. The first score called is "0-0-2", which sounds wrong and isn't — it exists so the serving team doesn't get a double advantage in the opening game.

Where you stand.Serve from the right (even) side when your team's score is even, and from the left (odd) side when it's odd. Partners swap positions only after their team scores a point. Receivers never swap.

Games and matches. Games are to 11, win by 2. Tournaments sometimes use 15 or 21, also win by 2. Matches are usually best of three.

A fault ends the rally. The common ones:

The ball doesn't clear the net, or lands out of bounds. A ball touching any line other than the kitchen line on a serve is in.

Volleying in the non-volley zone, or being carried into it by your momentum after a volley.

Volleying before both bounces have happened under the two-bounce rule.

The ball bounces twice on your side before you hit it.

Touching the net, the posts, or your opponent's court with your body, clothing or paddle while the ball is in play.

The ball hits youor anything you're wearing or carrying, other than your paddle hand below the wrist.

A service fault— foot fault, wrong service court, illegal motion, or a serve landing in the kitchen.

Same court, same net, same kitchen, same two-bounce rule. The differences are all about serving and scoring:

The score is two numbers, not three — there's no server number, because there's only one of you.

Losing a rally on serve is an immediate side-out. No second server.

Your serving position follows your own score. Even score, serve from the right; odd score, serve from the left. The receiver positions to match.

Singles is significantly more physical and rewards pace and depth more than touch — which is one reason singles players often prefer a thinner, poppier core than doubles players do.

Call the score before every serve, loudly.Not optional in practice — it's how four people stay in sync, and forgetting is the main cause of arguments.

Call your own lines, and give the benefit of the doubt.The ball on your side is your call. If you genuinely can't tell, the ball is in. This is the single strongest norm in the sport.

Call "ball on" for stray balls.If a ball rolls onto a neighboring court, shout it — and if it happens on yours, stop the rally and replay it. Twisted ankles come from stray balls more than anything else.

Paddle tap at the end.Tap paddles with all three other players after every game. It's universal, and skipping it reads as rude.

Learn how your local open play works.Paddle stacking, winners-stay, rotating fours — every venue does it differently and nobody explains it unless you ask. Our open play guide covers what to expect the first time.

Coming from another racket sport, or being told you should switch to one? Our padel vs pickleball comparison covers how the two games differ on court, equipment, scoring and cost.