Pickleball Rules

Summary:

Serving Rules:

Played in either singles or doubles

• Same play area either side
• Serve must be underhand and performed below or in line with the server's waist
• The serve is initiated with one foot behind the baseline
• The serve is made diagonally cross court into the opposite players area (between the baseline and non-volley line)
• One attempt of serving is allowed, except in the event of a let (the ball hits the net and still lands in the receiver's area), 1 more attempt is allowed

When the ball is served and lands on the line of the receiver's area, it is considered "in" if the ball lands on the non-volley line it is considered a fault

*PLAYERS CAN USE ANY FAIR METHOD TO DETERMINE WHICH TEAM WILL SERVE FIRST*

Serving Sequence:

• When the game is played in doubles, players can serve and earn points until one of the players commit a fault excluding the first service sequence of each new game
• Service should be made from the right side of the court at the beginning of each serving sequence
• The player may serve on the left side of the court if they score a point from their previous serve
• The player will continue to alternate from serving from left to right until they have committed a fault or lost the serve
• Once the first player loses the serve, their partner will begin their serve from whatever side of the court they were in when the serve was lost
• In the event where the game is played in singles, the player will serve from the right side when their score is even and then left side when their score is odd
• The second team then serves on their side until they commit a fault or lose the serve

*When a new game begins with doubles, one player from the serving team will serve until they lose the serve or cause a fault. They are then required to give the serve to the receiving team to serve instead of the second partner. After this the standard two players serving per side sequence commences. *

Scoring:

Players can only earn points if they are the serving team

To win the game, the player/team must reach 11 points and/or win by 2

Two Bounce Rule:

Each side must allow the ball to bounce once before they return the ball back to the opposing team when a serve has just been committed

Once the teams have had the ball bounce once in their area before returning it, they are then allowed to return the ball without it bouncing (volley)

Non-Volley Zone:

On each side of the court is 2.l m (7ft) of an area called the 'non-volley area' or ‘kitchen'

The non-volley area starts from the net to the non-volley line
Players are unable to volley (hit the ball prior to it bouncing) in this area

If the player/team do volley the ball while in the non-volley zone or while any of their body parts touch the line, a fault will be committed

If the player volleys the ball then falls into the non-volley zone, it will still result in a fault

Players can still play in the non-volley zone as long as they do not hit the ball prior to ii t bouncing on the ground.

Faults:

When the receiving team/player commit a fault, it results in a point for the serving team
When the serving team commits 2 faults it will result in the receiving team changing to the serving team (when both players on the serving team have served)
Faults can occur when:

• Players hit the ball out of the play area or into the net
• The server does not land the ball into the receiver's area
• A Player has volleyed the ball prior to it bouncing once in each side once (two bounce rule)
• A player/team volley the ball in the non-volley area (kitchen)
• The ball bounces more than once prior to the team hitting the ball back over the net to the opposing team
• A player touches the net
• Players do not comply with the service rules
• The ball comes into contact with a player's body or clothing