How Pickleball works

A 2.13 m zone on each side of the net — officially the non-volley zone, universally called the kitchen — cannot be stood in while volleying. You may enter it to play a ball that has bounced, but if your momentum carries you in after a volley, you lose the point. This single rule prevents the sport from becoming a smash-fest at the net.

• No volleying while any part of you touches the kitchen or its line
• Momentum carrying you in after a volley is still a fault
• You may stand in the kitchen to play a bounced ball
• The dink — a soft shot into the opponent's kitchen — is the sport's defining rally

The serve must bounce before the receiver returns it, and that return must bounce before the serving side plays it. Only from the third shot onwards may anyone volley. This removes the serve-and-volley advantage entirely and is why the third shot drop — a soft arcing ball into the kitchen — is the most practised shot in the game.

Traditional pickleball scores only on serve: if the receiving side wins the rally they win the serve, not a point. Games go to 11, win by two. The score is called as three numbers in doubles — your score, their score, and whether you are the first or second server.

• Games to 11, win by two; tournament finals often to 15 or 21
• Only the serving side can score in traditional scoring
• Doubles score is called as three numbers, e.g. '4–6–2'
• Rally scoring is used in some professional formats

The serve must be struck underhand with the paddle head below the wrist, contacting the ball below waist level, and hit diagonally into the opposite service court. It must clear the kitchen entirely — a serve landing in the non-volley zone or on its line is a fault. Unlike tennis, there is only one attempt.

• Underhand only, contact below the waist
• One serve attempt — no second serve
• The serve must clear the kitchen and its line
• The drop serve, bouncing the ball first, is also permitted

Paddles are solid — no strings — and typically made of composite or carbon fibre faces over a polymer core. The ball is rigid plastic with 26 to 40 holes, and indoor and outdoor versions differ: outdoor balls are heavier with smaller holes to resist wind.

Almost all competitive pickleball is doubles, and the strategy is simple to state and hard to execute: get both players to the kitchen line and stay there. The team at the net wins the overwhelming majority of rallies, so the whole game becomes a contest over who can advance safely — which is what the third shot drop is for.