Pickleball is a paddle sport for two or four players. It has familiar elements of tennis, table tennis and badminton, with its own ball, compact court and distinctive rules around the net.
1. Court and equipment
Pickleball uses solid paddles and a perforated plastic ball. The court is 20 × 44 feet (6.10 × 13.41 m) for both singles and doubles. The net is 36 inches at the sidelines and 34 inches in the centre.
2. Serve diagonally
Serve from behind the baseline into the opposite service box, beyond the kitchen line. You can use a drop serve or a legal underhand volley serve.
3. Let it bounce twice
The receiver lets the serve bounce. The serving team also lets the return bounce. After those two bounces, volleys are allowed.
4. Meet the kitchen
The 7-foot (2.13 m) zone on each side of the net is the non-volley zone. Do not volley while touching it or its line, or let your momentum carry you into it after a volley. You can enter to play a ball that has bounced.
5. Scoring and winning
In traditional side-out scoring, only the serving side earns points. Games usually go to 11, win by two. In doubles, call the serving score, receiving score and server number. The opening score is 0–0–2.
An introduction based on USA Pickleball. For complete regulations and scoring variants, see the 2026 rulebook.
