Pickleball Rules Simplified

THE COURT 

A pickleball court is less than one-third of a tennis court.

The net height is 36 inches to the ends and 34 inches in the middle.

The court is striped similar to a tennis court with right and left service courts.

Lines are generally 2 inches wide.

The 7-foot non-volley zone in front of the net is often referred to as the "kitchen."

​GAME PLAY & RULES

Pickleball is a game to eleven points, win by two points.

• The serve must be hit underhand and bounce into the opposite diagonal court.

• The return of serve must bounce before the ball can be hit by the receiving team.

• After the first two hits, the ball can be hit in the air or after the ball bounces once.

• The goal Is to rally the ball back and forth until a team mishits the ball.

• A point is scored only with the serving team.

Mishits Include:

• Hitting the ball out of bounds.

• Hitting the ball into the net.

• Hitting the ball before it bounces while standing in the non-volley zone.

The Non-Volley Zone (NVZ):

• The NVZ is the 7-foot zone on both sides of the net.

• You cannot volley the ball in the air while standing inside the NVZ or touching the NVZ line.

• If you volley the ball, follow through can not cause you to touch the NVZ or the NVZ line.

• You can only hit the ball when standing inside the non-volley zone AFTER the ball has bounced.

Serving:

• The team that serves first to start a game, only one player serves ("zero-zero-2 or start").

• Afterwards, both players on each team serve.

Calling the Score:

• The score must be called before each serve.

• You call the score in the following order: server’s score, receiver's score, then the server number,

• For example, if the score of the serving team is 3 and the score of the receiving team is 6, and the second server on the side is serving, the score is 3-6-2.