Ready to Learn to Play Pickleball?

Pickleball is one of the fastest-growing sports in North America, combining elements of tennis, badminton, and ping-pong into a fun and accessible game for all ages. Whether you’re looking for a casual activity or a competitive challenge, pickleball is easy to learn and offers great social and fitness benefits. This guide will introduce you to the basics so you can step onto the court with confidence.

The Basics:

  • The Court & Equipment – Played on a badminton-sized court with a net slightly lower than a tennis net, using a paddle and a perforated plastic ball (similar to a wiffle ball).
  • Serving Rules – The serve must be hit underhand and diagonally across the court, landing in the opponent’s service box. Only the serving team can score points.
  • The Double Bounce Rule – Each side must let the ball bounce once before volleys (hitting without a bounce) are allowed.
  • The Non-Volley Zone (Kitchen) – Players cannot hit the ball out of the air while standing inside the designated 7-foot zone near the net.

With these fundamentals in mind, you’re ready to start playing! Grab a paddle, find a local court, and have fun learning the game.

Rules of Pickleball Simplified

Player must keep one foot behind the back line when serving.
Service is made diagonally cross court and must go past the non-volley line (the “kitchen”).
The serve is made underhand in the air; it cannot be hit after a bounce (serves only).
Serve goes to the other team after both players in a team have a chance to serve and a point is lost.

Play Two Bounce Rule: Each team must play their first shot off the bounce. That is, the receiving team must let the serve bounce and the serving team must let the return of serve bounce before playing it. After that, returns can be made in the air (volley) or after one bounce.
All volleying (hitting the ball before it bounces) must be done with the player’s feet behind the non-volley (“kitchen”) line.

Faults
Hitting a ball out of bounds (a ball landing on the line is good).
The ball does not clear the net.
Stepping into the non-volley zone (“kitchen”) and volleying the ball.
Volleying the ball before it has bounced once on each side of the net (the “Two Bounce Rule”).

Scoring
A team may score a point only when serving.
A player who is serving shall continue to do so until a fault is made by his/her team.
Each player in a team serves before the serve goes to the other team.
The game is played to 11 points and a team must win by 2 points.

Team Play Scoring:
Player announces her team’s score, then the other team’s score, and then the service order number (server #1 or server #2).
If my team has one point and your team has 2 points, and I am the first server, I would say: 1 2 1.
If my team fails to score on my serve, my partner serves and says 1 2 2.

Official USA Pickleball Rules Click Here