Pickleball rules, summarized

USA Pickleball publishes the official rulebook for the sport in the United States, together with a separate Equipment Standards Manual. It also posts a shorter rules summary (revised January 1, 2025) for new players. This page restates that summary in plain language and adds the court-related details from the rulebook. If anything here differs from the official documents, the official documents win.

Singles and doubles

Pickleball can be played as doubles (two players per side, the most common format) or singles. Both formats use the same 20 × 44 ft court and the same rules. See court dimensions for the full layout.

The serve

The volley serve has three requirements at the moment the paddle contacts the ball:

• The server's arm must be moving in an upward arc.
• Contact must be below the server's waist.
• The head of the paddle must not be above the highest point of the wrist.

A drop serve — letting the ball fall and hitting it after it bounces — is also allowed, and it is exempt from those three motion and height requirements.

At contact, at least one of the server's feet must be on the playing surface behind the baseline, and neither foot may touch the court or the area outside the imaginary extensions of the sideline and centerline. The serve travels diagonally crosscourt and must land in the opposite diagonal service court. Each server gets only one attempt per serve.

Service sequence in doubles

• Both players on a team serve before the serve passes to the opponents ("side out") — except at the very start of each game, when only one partner serves before the first side out.
• After each side out, service starts from the right-hand court.
• When the serving team wins a point, the server switches sides and serves from the other court.
• When the serving team commits a fault, the first server loses the serve and the partner serves from their current court; after the second server's fault, it is a side out.
• In singles, the server serves from the right side when their score is even and from the left when it is odd.

The scoring page explains how this sequence turns into the three-number score call.

The two-bounce rule

When the ball is served, the receiving team must let it bounce once before returning it. The serving team must then let the return bounce once before playing it. After those two bounces, either side may volley (hit the ball in the air) or play it off the bounce. The rule removes the serve-and-volley advantage and is why the first two shots of every rally are groundstrokes.

The non-volley zone ("kitchen")

The non-volley zone (NVZ) is the area within 7 feet of the net on each side, and the NVZ lines count as part of the zone. Its rules are narrower than many new players assume:

• You may not volley while standing in the NVZ or touching its line.
• It is a fault if, after volleying, your momentum carries you — or anything you are wearing or carrying — into the NVZ, even if the ball has already been declared dead.
• You may stand in the NVZ at any other time, and you may enter it to play a ball that has bounced.

For momentum, partner contact, Erne and around-the-post situations with an illustrated diagram, see the kitchen rules deep dive.

Line calls

A ball that touches any line is in, with one important exception: a serve that touches the non-volley-zone line is short and is a fault. All lines are 2 inches wide, and court measurements run to the outside edges of the lines.

Faults

A fault is any rule violation that stops play. A fault by the receiving team gives the serving team a point; a fault by the serving team costs them the serve. Common faults include:

• A serve that does not land in the correct receiving court.
• Hitting the ball into the net on the serve or any return.
• Volleying a ball before the two-bounce requirement has been met.
• Hitting the ball out of bounds.
• Volleying from the non-volley zone.
• Letting the ball bounce twice before returning it.
• A player, their clothing or paddle touching the net or the net post while the ball is in play.
• A live ball striking a player or anything the player is wearing or carrying.
• A live ball hitting a permanent object before it bounces on the court.

Choosing who serves first

Any fair method can decide which side picks first serve, receive or end of the court — the rules summary gives the example of writing a 1 or 2 on the back of the score sheet and having a player guess.

Where to read the full rules

For tournament play, read the full USA Pickleball Official Rulebook and the yearly rule-revision notes posted there. Equipment rules are covered in the separate Equipment Standards Manual — see our paddle specs page.