📋 Rules

Official pickleball rules you need to know

The Basics

Pickleball is played on a 20×44 ft court (same size for singles and doubles).
The net is 36 inches at the sidelines and 34 inches at the center.
Games are played to 11 points, win by 2. Tournament matches may go to 15 or 21.
Only the serving team can score a point.
Points are called in the order: server score – receiver score – server number (doubles only).

The serve must be hit underhand with the paddle below the wrist and the contact point below the waist.
The server must keep both feet behind the baseline and within the sideline extensions at the moment of contact.
The ball must land in the diagonally opposite service box — past the kitchen line and within the sidelines.
In doubles, each player on the serving team gets a turn before the serve passes; the first serving team of the game starts with only one serve.
There is no let serve rule — if the serve clips the net and lands in the correct service box, it is live and in play. Only if it lands in the kitchen or out of bounds is it a fault.
The drop serve is legal — you may drop the ball and hit it after it bounces, with no restriction on swing direction or contact height.

After the serve, the ball must bounce once on each side before either team may volley.
The receiving team must let the serve bounce, then the serving team must let the return bounce — after that, volleys are allowed.
This rule prevents serve-and-volley dominance and keeps rallies alive.

The kitchen is the 7-foot zone on each side of the net, including the kitchen line itself.
You may not volley (hit the ball before it bounces) while standing in the kitchen or touching the kitchen line.
If your momentum carries you into the kitchen after a volley — even if the ball is already dead — it is a fault.
You can enter the kitchen to play a ball that has bounced; just exit before volleying again.

Ball lands out of bounds (including the kitchen on a serve).
Ball fails to clear the net.
Volleying from the kitchen or on the two-bounce rule before the required bounces occur.
Ball bounces twice on your side before you return it.
Player, clothing, or paddle touches the net or the opponent's court during play.
Ball hits a player or anything they are wearing/carrying (other than the paddle face).

A ball that lands on any line (except the kitchen line on a serve) is in.
A serve that lands on the kitchen line is a fault.
Players call their own side of the court; give the benefit of the doubt to the opponent when unsure.