How to play pickleball - 9 simple rules for beginners

This article was written in collaboration with USA Pickleball.

Ready to learn how to play pickleball? You're not alone. Pickleball is now the fastest-growing sport in America, and it's tons of fun.

Whether you're an absolute beginner or a seasoned player looking to refresh your grip on the game, I've got you covered with this quick guide. Follow these 7 simple rules and you'll be out playing in no time.

To get started, all you need is a quality pickleball paddle, pickleball balls to play with, and a pickleball court near you. The best way to learn the basics is with a private lesson or beginner's clinic. They often provide equipment if you're not ready to invest in gear yet.

Pickleball is played on a badminton-sized court (20' x 44') with a net height of 36" at the sidelines and 34" at the center. Each end of the court has a 7’ area called the non-volley zone (or 'kitchen') where players aren’t allowed to hit volleys (a shot hit out of the air).

The sport is most often played in "doubles" (two players on each team). I'll mostly be covering the rules for doubles, so check out my guide on how to play singles pickleball if you want to learn more.

Let's get into the 7 main rules for pickleball. These are just a brief overview, so check below for a deep dive into each rule.

The pickleball game (and each rally) starts with a serve. The player on the right side of their court always starts the serve. You serve diagonally to your opponent:

The person serving can either hit the ball after it bounces or out of the air (a "volley serve") and their serve must clear the kitchen (including the line).

When hitting a volley serve, it must be hit with an underhand forehand or backhand stroke with contact below the waist. Your paddle must also move in an upward arc when you strike the ball.

Learn more about how to serve in pickleball:

Before any player can hit a shot out of the air (called a volley), the ball must bounce once on each side (known as the "two-bounce rule").

So, if your partner is serving and you start up at the kitchen, you're in a dangerous position. Why? This is because the returning team can hit a shot right at you. If you react with a volley, it's considered a fault and you'll lose the point because you didn't let the ball bounce first on your side.

Without this rule, the serving team can easily rush the net and gain an unfair advantage every time.

After the serve, play continues until a rally is won either by someone hitting a winning shot or a "fault" is committed. A fault ends the rally. In pickleball, there are four basic fault types:

The 7’ zone on each side of the net marks the non-volley zone, or 'kitchen'. As the name suggests, you can never hit a volley while any part of your body is in the kitchen (or even on the kitchen line). You can’t let your momentum carry you into the kitchen after a volley either.

That said, you can hit the ball if it bounces in the kitchen—just not out of the air. If your opponent hits a short shot landing in the kitchen, you can enter and play it from the kitchen.

In traditional pickleball scoring, you only win points on your serve and you continue serving until you lose a rally. After winning each point on your serve, you switch sides (left and right) with your partner and serve to the other opponent.

When your team loses a point, your teammate begins serving following the sequence described above until another point is lost by your team (the serving team). Once that happens, the serve “sides out” (switches) to the other team.

In pickleball scoring, you’ll hear players announce three numbers, like "0-0-2". Here’s what each number means:

Let’s say the game is tied at 3-3. If you start the serve, you’ll announce “3-3-1”, so everyone knows you are the first player in rotation serving.

If you lose the rally, the ball doesn’t go to your opponents. It goes to your teammate who will announce "3-3-2".

If your partner loses their serve, a "side out" occurs. This means that they've lost their two serves and it's now their opponent's turn to serve. Their opponents then call out "3-3-1" before starting their serve.

There is one exception to this rule: the first player to serve at the beginning of a new game calls out "0-0-2". This is because the starting team only gets one serve since they have the advantage of being able to score points first to start the match.

Following all the rules above, the game continues until one team gets 11 points. However, they must win by 2.

So, if a game is tied 10-10, the next score doesn’t end the game. Play continues past 11-10 until one team can win by 2 points. As a result, some games can continue for a very long time. You might see final scores of 12-10, 15-13, or even 21-19. These are often the most fun games.

Before you start, you'll need:

If a court already has lines drawn, you’ll rarely have to set up. Just show up and play.

Other times, you might have a court with permanent lines, but no net. You'll need a portable net for these. Once assembled, place it in the center of the court like you would in tennis.

Let's take a closer look at the dimensions of a pickleball court:

Let's go over some of the shots you can make in pickleball:

Every rally in pickleball begins with the serve. Unlike in tennis, the purpose of the pickleball serve is to put the ball in play. According to USA Pickleball Official Rules:

While the pickleball serve is typically hit out of the air, USA Pickleball updated the rules in 2021 to allow for a "drop serve". This lets you drop the ball and hit your serve off the bounce.

In pickleball doubles, you always serve to the diagonally opposite service court. Your serve must completely clear the kitchen line, and land between the sideline and baseline to count. The serve can land "on the line" for the baseline and sideline, but not on the kitchen line.

You must stand behind the baseline when serving in pickleball. Your feet cannot touch the baseline or sideline during your serve.

You should remain behind the baseline as the serving team until after a third shot is hit. If you were to run up to the kitchen after serving, you would risk violating the two-bounce rule.

While the goal of the pickleball serve is to place the ball in play, you can use it to your advantage. Here are three strategies for improving your pickleball serve:

An illegal serve in pickleball is any serve that violates any of the serving rules. Just remember:

Here are some additional serving mistakes in pickleball that will also result in a fault:

The pickleball game always begins with a serve. So, who serves first? According to the USA Pickleball rulebook, "any fair method shall be used to determine which player or team has the first choice of serve".

You can flip a coin. I've seen some local courts dictate the north side always serves first. So, either ask a local or come up with your own method.

Once the serving side is chosen, the player on the right side of the court goes first. They announce the starting score, which is always "0-0-2". Each team starts with 0 points, while the "2" indicates the starting team serves at position 2 (see Rule #6).

This means that when a fault occurs or a rally is lost, there will be a "side out" and the serve will go to their opponents. After the first side out, each team gets two chances to serve (first server then second server) or until they lose two serves or rallies before it sides out to the other team.

There's a lot to take in here, so let's recap how to start a pickleball game:

The "two-bounce rule" means that the ball must bounce once on each side after a serve before any player can volley the ball out of the air.

Let's use doubles as an example. When a player serves the ball and it lands in their opponent's court, that counts as the first bounce. After the opponent returns the ball, the serving team must wait for the ball to bounce again before hitting it.

This means players can only "volley" the ball once the two-bounce rule has been fulfilled. If a player is standing close to the net before fulfilling this rule, they cannot legally hit it out of the air.

So, it wouldn't make any sense for the serving team to start at the kitchen. You should only start at the kitchen if you're on the receiving team but not currently receiving the serve. This is because the ball will always have bounced twice before ever being hit to you.

Once the two-bounce rule is fulfilled, all players are free to move to the kitchen area and begin volleying. This is often the most strategic place to be in pickleball.

Pickleball doubles involves two players on each team and is by far the most popular way to play pickleball. Here's a quick guide on where to stand:

Since doubles is the most common variation, all the rules I've discussed so far apply here unless otherwise mentioned. This goes for things like serving, scoring, volleying, and the two-bounce rule.

Doubles might be the most popular way to play pickleball, but you can also play singles. This version works just like doubles, except that you only have one player on each side instead of two.

One major difference is in which side the player serves from after a side out (based on their score).

Another difference is in the scoring. Unlike in doubles, the server calls out only two numbers: their score (first), and the opponent's score (second).

Here are the five main scoring rules in pickleball singles:

There's no second server in this version. So, if you lose the rally on your serve, a side out occurs and the serve goes to your opponent. How do you know which side of the court to serve from in pickleball singles?

In singles, the serve is always made from the right side of the court when the server has an even number of points (0, 2, 4, etc). When the server has an odd number of points (1, 3, 5, etc), the serve is made from the left side.

If you can't find a partner to play with, why not get in some solo drills? These can help boost your fitness and improve your skills, ready for your next game.

There are plenty of great pickleball drills to choose from. For beginner players, I recommend the "paddle up" and "selfie ball bounce" drills to help your coordination and reflexes.

Here are some ways to maximize your practice sessions:

The Erne is easily the best pickleball machine in 2024. It holds over 150 balls and can be controlled and programmed via an app on your phone to deliver complex drill routines.

Here are my favorite beginner tips to help you win more games:

The best way to learn how to play pickleball is to go out and play! Pickleball has become America's fastest-growing sport for a reason—it's really easy to pick up. Plus, there are plenty of places to play pickleball.

Here are three great ways to find courts near you so you can practice everything you've learned in this article.

Our court finder tool is the easiest way to find a court near you. By setting your location, you can search on a map of over 17,000 places to play pickleball. See which courts have lines, if you need to bring a net, hours of operation, amenities, and more.

Parks and recreation centers manage pickleball courts all over the country, and new ones are being added all the time. While these courts are often free to play, you should always check whether you need to make a reservation or pay a fee.

Many tennis centers are adding pickleball, either by building new courts or outfitting existing tennis courts with lines for pickleball. Check to see if they have open play sessions dedicated to pickleball. Just check if you need to bring your own net.

Pickleball is an easy and fun game to learn how to play. Let's have another look at the 7 main rules:

Now get out there and play!

After partnering with USA Pickleball, we worked together to improve this article, keeping all the information up to date and adding new helpful sections. I also revised the rules so that they're easier to understand, especially for beginners. Learn more about our partnership with USA Pickleball.