What Are the Rules of Pickleball? (Explained for Total Beginners)
So, you’ve heard about pickleball—maybe from your neighbor, your cousin, or that one friend who won’t shut up about it—and now you’re ready to find out what the hype is all about. Awesome. Let’s break down the rules of pickleball in plain English, so you can walk onto the court like you know what you’re doing.
🏓 First Off: What Even Is Pickleball?
Pickleball is like a mix of tennis, ping pong, and badminton. You play it on a small court (similar to a badminton court), using paddles (bigger than ping pong, smaller than tennis) and a plastic ball with holes (sort of like a wiffle ball). It’s easy to learn and way more fun than you’d expect.
You can play singles (1 vs. 1) or doubles (2 vs. 2). Doubles is more common, and honestly, more fun.
🎯 The Goal
Score points by hitting the ball over the net into your opponent’s court without them returning it. First to 11 points, win by 2.
✅ Serving Rules
- You must serve underhand.
- Paddle must be below your waist.
- The ball must be hit out of your hand (no bouncing it and then hitting).
- Serve diagonally across the court.
- Serve must land past the kitchen (more on that in a sec).
You only score points when you’re serving—not on defense.
In doubles, each player on a team gets a chance to serve (except at the very start of the game when only one player serves).
🔁 Double Bounce Rule
Each side must let the ball bounce once before hitting it after the serve. That means:
- You serve → opponent lets it bounce → returns it
- You let it bounce → then hit it
After that? Game on. You can volley (hit it in the air) or let it bounce. But there’s a catch…
🥒 The Kitchen (aka Non-Volley Zone)
There’s a 7-foot zone on each side of the net called the kitchen. You can’t volley the ball while standing in it (or touching the line). If you want to hit the ball in the air, make sure you’re behind the kitchen line—or let it bounce first.
Yes, it’s really called “the kitchen.” No, we don’t know why either.
💥 Faults (aka What Not to Do)
You lose the rally if you:
- Hit the ball out of bounds
- Hit into the net
- Volley from the kitchen
- Don’t let it bounce during the double bounce phase
- Step on the kitchen line while volleying
🧮 Scoring
- Games go to 11, but you have to win by 2.
- Only the serving team scores points.
- In doubles, when the first server loses a point, their partner serves next. When they lose a point, the serve goes to the other team.
- Score is announced in this order: your score – opponent’s score – server number (1 or 2).
Example: “5-3-2” means your team has 5, the other has 3, and it’s the second server’s turn.
That’s It!
Simple? Mostly. Add a little practice, some paddle smack talk, and you’ll be hooked in no time.
Now go get out there and make someone regret challenging you. 🏓🔥