It’s like a cross between tennis, ping pong, and badminton…
NEW TO PICKLEBALL?
The Basics
The Court
Lines and Net
Pickleball is played on a 44’ by 20’ court separated by a net that stands 34’’ high at the center and 36’’ inches at the posts.
Court Layout
Each side of the court has two service squares and a 7 foot “non-volley zone” commonly referred to as “the kitchen” (This is a section of the court that is closest to the net ). Players use short paddles and a wiffle-type ball. The kitchen helps to keep the game strategic and challenging.
The Players
In Pickleball you can play by yourself or with a partner; Most choose to play doubles, and standard games are played to 11, win by 2.
The Rules
Serving
The Serve
The serve, which is hit diagonally to the opposing serving square, must be made with an upward swing and contact with the ball must be below the server’s waist (Bellybutton).
Number of Serves
Unlike tennis, only ONE serve attempt is allowed, and there are no redo’s after a ‘let’. A ‘let’ is when the ball hits the net and still lands within the correct service area.
Let?
In pickleball, serves that hit the net still need to be played when they skip over!
Playing
The Bounce
After the serve, the ball must bounce before being returned, and then the serving team must let it bounce before hitting it back. This is called the “two bounce” rule.
After the Bounce
Once the ball has bounced once on both sides, both teams may either volley the ball or play it off a bounce. However, players CANNOT VOLLEY in the kitchen, nor let their momentum carry them into the kitchen.
The Kitchen
You ARE allowed to step into the kitchen before the ball bounces, but both feet must be on the ground outside of it to volley.
Players can always go into the kitchen to hit a ball off the bounce. Basically, any time other than when volleying a ball, it’s ok. Otherwise, stay out of the kitchen!
Logistics
Who Serves?
To determine who is serving, Pickleball uses a “side out” method. Though it may seem confusing at first, it’s easy after you try it out.
If you’ve never heard of Pickleball scoring, you may need to grab a pencil and paper.
First Serve
The first serve of a game is special, and is made from the right side of the court. Partner 1 on Team A serves first. If a point is scored, Partner 1 now serves from the left side of the court. This continues until Team A loses the point, and service passes to Team B. The team that serves first only gets one serve between both players (in this example, Team A).
Subsequent Serves
From here out, both players on the serving doubles team have the opportunity to serve and score points until they lose the point.
Partner 1 on Team B will now serve, continuing to switch sides as points are won. After Team B loses the point, Partner 2 on Team B serves and continues serving until Team B loses another point, passing the serve back to Team A.
The pickleball score is called out in the A-B-C format before each serve. A is your team’s score, B is your opponent’s, and C is whether you are the first or second server during this possession of the ball. The first serve of the game is called 0-0-2, or 0-0-Start.
Singles is pretty straightforward. “Side-outs” happen each time the serve loses the point and the server serves from the right side when their score is even and from the left when their score is odd. Scoring in singles is simply A-B, instead of A-B-C.