Pickleball Rules: The Complete Guide
Updated July 1, 2026· 5 min read
The short answer
Pickleball is played to 11, win by 2, and only the serving side scores in traditional play. The serve is underhand and diagonal, both the serve and the return must bounce before anyone volleys, and you cannot volley while standing in the 7-foot kitchen by the net.
Pickleball has a small set of rules that fit together neatly once you see them. This is the whole game in one place. Each section below links to a deeper guide if you want the detail, so treat this as the map and follow the roads that matter to you.
The court and the gear
A pickleball court is 20 by 44 feet, the same size for singles and doubles. The net is 36 inches high at the sidelines and 34 inches in the middle. A 7-foot zone on each side of the net is the non-volley zone, better known as the kitchen. You play with a solid paddle and a plastic ball with holes. For the exact measurements, see the court dimensions guide.
The serve
The serve is underhand and hit diagonally into the service box across the court. You contact the ball below your waist, keep at least one foot behind the baseline, and the serve has to clear the kitchen and land in the correct box. There is also a legal drop serve. Miss the box or the motion and it is a fault. The full detail is in the serving rules guide.
The two-bounce rule
After the serve, the ball has to bounce once on each side before anyone can volley. The receiving team lets the serve bounce, then the serving team lets the return bounce. Only after those two bounces can a player hit the ball out of the air. This one rule shapes the whole rhythm of pickleball and is why the third shot matters so much.
The kitchen
You cannot volley while any part of you is touching the kitchen or its line. That includes your momentum: if you volley near the line and your follow-through carries you in, it is still a fault. You can stand in the kitchen any time to play a ball that has bounced, as long as you get both feet out before your next volley. More on this in the kitchen rules guide.
Scoring
Games go to 11 and you win by 2. In traditional side-out scoring, only the serving side can score. In doubles the score is called as three numbers: your score, their score, and the server number. The serve and side rotation is the part that confuses new players, so if the score is what trips you up, read how to keep score and the serve rotation explained.
| Rule | The short version |
|---|---|
| Game | First to 11, win by 2 |
| Who scores | Only the serving side (traditional) |
| Serve | Underhand, diagonal, below the waist |
| Two-bounce | Serve and return must both bounce |
| Kitchen | No volleys from the non-volley zone |
Faults
A fault ends the rally. The common ones: the ball lands out of bounds, it fails to clear the net, it is volleyed from the kitchen, or a serve misses the correct box. Break the two-bounce rule and that is a fault too. When the serving side faults, they lose the serve rather than a point. When the receiving side faults, the serving side scores.
Line calls and etiquette
A ball that touches any part of a line is in, except on the serve, where a serve that lands in the kitchen or on the kitchen line is a fault. Players make their own calls on their side of the net and give the benefit of the doubt to the opponent. Call the score out loud before every serve, since it settles most disputes before they start.
Singles and doubles
Most people play doubles, two against two, but the rules are nearly identical for singles. Singles calls two numbers instead of three, and the server serves from the right when their score is even and the left when it is odd. Everything else, the serve, the two-bounce rule, and the kitchen, works the same way.
Once these fit together, the game is simple to play and easy to teach. If you want the app to track the serve, the side, and the score while you learn, Dillball calls all three for you and works offline with no account.
Let Dillball do the counting
The app calls the serve, the side, and the score for you, and runs a round robin for the group. No account, works offline.
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