Pickleball Rules: The Complete Guide

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. The rules that only exist in doubles — serve order, server numbers, when partners swap sides — are collected in the doubles rules guide.

Print the rules

If you would rather have this on paper at the courts, there is a free one-page pickleball rules PDF cheat sheet. No email, no sign-up — download it, print it, pin it to the fence.

Every rule in detail

This page is the map. Each guide below is one road, and together they cover the whole rulebook as it applies to recreational play.

The rules themselves

• Pickleball rules for beginners — the fastest possible start
• Pickleball doubles rules — serve order, positioning, and side outs
• Pickleball serving rules — legal serves, drop serves, and faults
• The pickleball kitchen rule — the non-volley zone, in full
• Pickleball court dimensions — every measurement in one table
• Pickleball court vs tennis court — sizes compared, and how to convert

Scoring and rotation

• How to keep score in pickleball — calling the score out loud
• Pickleball scoring rules — side out scoring, games to 11
• Pickleball serve rotation explained — which side, which server, why
• Who serves first after a side out — the argument settler
• Rally scoring vs traditional — when each one is used

Playing and improving

• Pickleball strategy for beginners — five habits that win points
• Pickleball strategy for improvers — the third shot, dinking, resets
• Pickleball drills — a session’s worth, for two players
• Pickleball ratings explained — 2.5 to 5.0, DUPR, self-rating
• How to improve your rating — an eight-week plan
• Pickleball glossary — every term you will hear on a court

Running a session

• Pickleball round robin formats — and the free generator
• King of the court rules — the ladder format
• How to run open play — without the chaos

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.