Pickleball rules: serve, kitchen, two bounces and scoring

Pickleball is played on a court the size of a badminton court, with a solid paddle and a perforated plastic ball. You can learn it in an afternoon and it is addictive, which is why it is filling courts in Cancún, Monterrey, Guadalajara and Mexico City. But it has three rules that make it unique — the underhand serve, the two-bounce rule and the kitchen — and a scoring system that confuses everyone at first. Here they all are, following the official USA Pickleball rulebook, which most tournaments in Mexico use.

The court and equipment

• The court measures 6.10 metres wide by 13.41 metres long (20 × 44 feet), the same for singles and doubles.
• The net is 36 inches (91.4 cm) at the sidelines and 34 inches (86.4 cm) in the centre.
• On each side of the net there is a 7-foot (2.13 m) area called the non-volley zone, which everyone calls the kitchen (in Mexico, la cocina).
• Behind the kitchen each half is split into two service courts, right and left.
• The paddle is solid, with no strings, and the ball is plastic with holes: outdoor balls usually have 40 and indoor balls 26.

Many pickleball courts in Mexico are tennis courts with extra lines painted on; up to four pickleball courts fit on one tennis court.

The serve

The serve is underhand and has precise rules:

• You serve from behind the baseline, with at least one foot on the ground behind it and without touching it.
• The paddle must contact the ball below the waist (the navel), with an upward swing and the paddle head below the wrist.
• The drop serve is also allowed: drop the ball, let it bounce and hit it. In that case the swing restrictions do not apply.
• The ball travels diagonally and must land in the opposite service court, beyond the kitchen. Landing on the kitchen line is a fault; landing on the baseline or sideline is in.
• You get one attempt only. There is no second serve.
• If the ball clips the net and lands in the correct court, it stays in play: since 2021 there is no replay for a net serve.

The two-bounce rule

This is the key to understanding the game: the ball must bounce once on each side before anyone may volley.

• The receiver must let the serve bounce before returning it.
• The serving team must also let that return bounce before hitting it.
• After those two bounces you may volley or play off the bounce, as you like.

The rule stops the serving team from rushing the net straight away, and it is why the "third shot" — played by the serving team — matters so much in pickleball.

The kitchen

The kitchen is the 2.13-metre zone next to the net, and its rule is clear: you may not volley while standing in the kitchen or touching its line.

• You may enter the kitchen whenever you like, but only to hit a ball that has already bounced.
• If you volley and your momentum carries you into the kitchen after the shot, it is still a fault, even though the ball has gone.
• If something you are carrying — your cap, your paddle — falls into the kitchen during the volley, it counts the same.
• To volley again you must step out of the kitchen with both feet.

The kitchen is what turns pickleball into a game of touch and patience at the net rather than pure power.

Doubles scoring

This is the hardest part at first. In the traditional system only the serving team scores. Games go to 11 points and must be won by two (11-9, 12-10).

The score is called with three numbers:

• The serving team's score.
• The receiving team's score.
• The server number, 1 or 2.

Each player on a team gets a turn to serve. When the serving team wins the point, it scores, and the same player switches courts and serves again. When it loses the point, the serve passes to the partner (server 2). When server 2 also loses a point, the serve goes to the other team: that is a side out.

There is one exception at the start of a game: the first serving team gets only one server on that first turn, to offset the advantage. That is why the first score called is "0-0-2".

Some tournaments and leagues are trying rally scoring, where a point is scored on every rally regardless of who served. If you enter a tournament, ask which system it uses.

Singles

Singles is played the same way, but the score has two numbers and each player serves from the right court when their score is even and from the left when it is odd.

When you lose the point

• The ball lands out or in the net.
• The ball bounces twice on your side.
• You volley before the two-bounce rule is satisfied.
• You volley from the kitchen or step into it from a volley's momentum.
• You touch the net or post with your body or paddle while the ball is in play.
• The ball hits your body or clothing.

Court etiquette

Pickleball is very social and has its own culture. Call the score loudly before every serve, lines are called by the team on whose side the ball lands, and if in doubt the ball is in. In parks and clubs it is common to use a queue or "paddles waiting" system to rotate newcomers in. And at the end everybody meets at the net to shake hands.