Official pickleball rules

This is a plain-English summary of the official rules as published by USA Pickleball, including the changes that took effect in 2026. It is written for players and social organisers. For sanctioned tournament play, the official rulebook is always the authority.

The court

20 feet wide by 44 feet long, identical for singles and doubles
Net 36 inches high at the sidelines, 34 inches at the centre
Non-volley zone extends 7 feet from the net on both sides
Service courts are the areas behind the kitchen, split by a centre line

The serve

There are two legal serves.

The volley serve. The ball is struck out of the air. It must meet three requirements, and as of the 2026 rulebook each must be met clearly — the words "clear" and "clearly" were added specifically so referees stop giving borderline serves the benefit of the doubt:

contact with the ball is clearly below waist level
the paddle head is clearly below the wrist at contact
the motion is clearly an upward arc

The drop serve. The server drops the ball and strikes it after it bounces. The ball must be dropped, not thrown or propelled downward, but there are no restrictions on where it is dropped from or on the paddle motion afterwards.

Both serves also require:

at least one foot behind the baseline, feet not touching the court
the serve travels diagonally to the opposite service court
the ball clears the non-volley zone. A serve landing on the kitchen line is a fault — this is the one line in pickleball where "on the line" is not in

Deliberately imparting spin on the ball with your hand before striking it — the so-called spin serve — is not legal. The ball must be released without manipulation.

The two-bounce rule

The serve must bounce before it is returned, and the return must bounce before the serving side plays it. Only after those two bounces may either side volley. This rule exists to stop the serving team simply rushing the net and ending every rally in two shots.

The non-volley zone

You may not volley while any part of you touches the zone or its lines
Momentum from a volley may not carry you into the zone, even if the ball is already dead
You may enter the zone freely to play a ball that has bounced
Your partner may not hold you up to keep you out of the zone

Scoring

Traditional (side-out) scoring is the official standard: only the serving side scores. Games are to 11, win by 2. Tournament medal matches often use 15 or 21, still win by 2.

Rally scoring awards a point on every rally regardless of who served. The 2026 rulebook removed the requirement that the winning point be scored while serving — under rally scoring a point is now a point at all times, and either side can win the game-ending rally.

In doubles, the server calls three numbers: serving score, receiving score, server number. In singles only two numbers are called.

Line calls

A ball landing on any line is in — with the single exception of a serve landing on the non-volley zone line, which is a fault. In recreational play, calls on your side of the net are yours to make, and the convention is that any genuine doubt is called in favour of your opponent.

Faults

A fault ends the rally. Common faults:

hitting the ball into the net or out of bounds
volleying before the two bounces have occurred
volleying while in the non-volley zone or touching its line
letting the ball bounce twice on your side
the ball striking a player or anything they are wearing or carrying
a player or paddle touching the net or post while the ball is live
an illegal serve

Doubles serving sequence

Both partners serve before the serve passes to the other team, with one exception: at the very start of a game the serving team gets only one server, which is why the opening call is "0–0–2". The server switches sides of the court after each point their team wins; the receiving team never switches position during a rally sequence.

Where these rules come from

USA Pickleball publishes the official rulebook and updates it annually, usually taking effect on 1 January. Local leagues frequently adopt variations — rally scoring, games to 15, or relaxed kitchen enforcement — and that is entirely normal for social play. Agree the format before you start.