How to play pickleball: one game, step by step

Pickleball is played as singles or doubles on the same court. This walkthrough follows one doubles game with standard side-out scoring, where only the serving side can score (4.A). Rule numbers in brackets refer to the 2026 USA Pickleball Official Rulebook, whose text always wins over any summary.

Before the first serve

To learn with an instructor, try your parks and recreation department. Rogers, Minnesota, lists a two-hour Introduction to Pickleball for people who have never or rarely played, covering rules and scoring, terminology, fundamentals and court positioning, with paddles and balls supplied. Fairview Heights, Illinois, lists a Pickleball 101 class (ages 14 and up) on keeping score, serving and basic strokes. USA Pickleball's how-to-play section offers a "Master the Basics" video series. Around La Crosse, start with the where-to-play guide.

1. Serve. A1, the starting server, serves crosscourt from behind the baseline on the right (score zero counts as even, 5.B.3), clearing the kitchen and its line (7.E).
2. First bounce. B1 must let the serve bounce (10.A.1).
3. Return of serve (dashed line) into Team A's court.
4. Second bounce. Team A must let the return bounce (10.A.2).
5. Third shot (dotted line). From here on, volleys are allowed.
6. Kitchen, 7 ft on each side of the net: no volleying from inside it or its line (11.A.1).

One game, step by step

Team A serves first and Team B receives. A1 and A2 play for Team A; B1 and B2 play for Team B.

1. Decide who serves first. Any fair method works for choosing who serves, receives or picks an end. The rules summary gives the example of writing a 1 or 2 on the back of the score sheet for a player to guess. In refereed tournament play the referee uses a method like that or a coin toss, and the choice cannot be changed once made (17.C.4).
2. Line up. Each team's starting server takes the right side when the team's score is zero or even, and the partner takes the left (5.B.3). The serve goes diagonally to the receiver standing in the correct position for Team B's score (7.E).
3. Call the score: "0-0-2." In doubles the call is three numbers: serving team's score, receiving team's score, then the server number (6.B.2). The game opens at "zero-zero-two" because the starting server counts as the second server in the team's first service turn, so Team A gets only one server before the first side out (5.B.2). A player who isn't ready can signal before the call by raising a hand or paddle overhead (6.A). After the call, the server has 10 seconds to serve (6.D).
4. Serve. A1 serves underhand from behind the baseline. A volley serve needs an upward arc, contact no higher than the waist and the paddle head no higher than the wrist; a drop serve, hit after the ball bounces, is exempt from those three checks. The serve must land in the diagonal service court beyond the kitchen. Touching the net on the way is allowed (7.E), and each server gets one attempt. Details: serve rules.
5. Return: let it bounce. B1 must let the serve bounce; volleying it is a fault (10.A.1).
6. Third shot: let it bounce again. Team A must also let the return bounce (10.A.2). That is the two-bounce rule. From the third shot on, anyone may volley or play the ball off the bounce.
7. Play the rally, minding the kitchen. No one may volley while touching the non-volley zone or its line. It is also a fault if a volley's momentum carries the player, or anything touching them, including a partner, into the zone, even after the ball is dead (11.A.1, 11.A.2). Standing in the kitchen at other times is allowed, and so is stepping in to play a ball that has bounced. Details: kitchen rules.
8. The rally ends. Typical endings: a ball hit into the net or out, a second bounce, a volley before both bounces or from the kitchen, or a player touching the net while the ball is in play. A ball touching any line is in, except a serve on the kitchen line, which is short (rules summary; 8.B, 8.C). Players call the lines on their own end, and a ball that can't be promptly called out is in (8.A, 8.D).
9. Score the rally. If Team A wins, it scores a point. A1 switches to the left side and serves again, now to the other receiver: "1-0-2." If Team B wins, nobody scores. Because A1 was serving as server 2, the serve passes straight to Team B. That is a side out (5.B.6).
10. After a side out. Service restarts from the right: Team B's first server is whichever player stands on the right for Team B's score (5.B.2). Both Team B players now serve, server 1 and then server 2, before the serve goes back to Team A (5.B.6).
11. Switch ends when the rules call for it. In tournaments, players change ends between games. In a one-game match or a deciding game, they change when the first side reaches 6 points in a game to 11, 8 in a game to 15 or 11 in a game to 21 (21.B, 21.F.2). These rules sit in the rulebook's tournament part.
12. Win the game. The first side to reach 11 points with a lead of at least 2 wins (Section 1). Tournaments may play to 15 or 21, also win by 2; win by one is allowed only in team play (15.C).

The first six score calls, worked through

To tap through a whole game, use the score caller on the scoring page.

Some events use rally scoring, USA Pickleball's provisional Rule 14.A, which awards a point on every rally, uses a two-number score call and gives each team one server per side out (14.A.2, 14.A.3, 14.A.5). See rally scoring.

Faults beginners commit most

First-game checklist

• Court shoes, water and a paddle.
• Serve and ends decided fairly.
• Starting server on the right; call "0-0-2."
• Serve underhand, crosscourt and past the kitchen line.
• Two bounces before anyone volleys.
• No volleys from the kitchen or its line.
• The server switches sides only after winning a point.
• Play to 11, win by 2.

For the full picture, see the rules summary, scoring explained and court dimensions.