A Quick Summary of Pickleball Rules for All

The Court

Safety first

• Stretch before you start, especially your calves and hamstrings.
• Never run backwards when trying to get  a ball lobbed over your head.
• Wear a good pair of running or court shoes.
• Keep hydrated.
• Never intentionally hit a ball at another player’s upper body.
• Play within your capabilities. 

Rules to Start

The serve must be under hand, contact with the ball must be made below the waist and the paddle face cannot be above the wrist.  The arm must come through in an upward arc.  Use a bowling or underhand baseball pitching motion

Start serving from the right hand court.

Serve to the court directionally opposite from you.   Aim for the middle of the service court on the other side.  The ball must clear the non volley line.

The server must have both feet outside the baseline to start the serve and can only step in after contact with the ball.

The receiver can stand anywhere in the court but if the ball hits them before it bounces it is a point for the serving team. 

The two bounce rule.  The ball must bounce on both sides of the net before you can start playing the ball in the air (on the volley).  This is very important for the serving team to remember.  It is recommended that both players on the serving team stay behind the baseline until the ball is returned.

The 7’ by 20’ rectangle in front of the net is called the Non Volley Zone.  A player cannot step in that box to hit the ball in the air or it is a fault.  It is a fault if the player’s momentum carries them into the box after they volley the ball.  A player can go into the non volley zone to get a ball that bounces in that zone but must get back out before they can volley the ball.

The team that starts serving a game gets only one service down the first time they serve.  After the first serve is lost, the ball goes to the other side.

Your team can only score a point if you are serving.  A normal game in Pickleball goes to 11 points win by 2.

The server must announce the score before serving.  The proper sequence is your team’s score, the other team’s score, server number.   1   0   1  means your team has one point, your opponents have zero and you are the first server.

Click on this video by the usapa to review.  Basic Rules of Pickleball