Pickleball 101!

So you want to give Pickleball a try? Well come on over and join that fastest growing sport in America for the past 3 years!

Despite most people just discovering the sport for the first time, Pickleball has quite an extensive history dating back to 1965.

Don’t worry there’s still plenty of time to catch up to all your friends that have been talking pickleball non-stop. So pick up a paddle, grab a ball, and follow along as we explain all the basics you need to get started as a beginner.

How to Play

First, let’s take a look at the dimensions of a Pickleball court:

• 44′ x 20′ space
  • Right Service Area
  • Left Service Area
  • Non-Volley Zone (or the kitchen)
• 34″ net height that splits the kitchen in half
• 7′ kitchen space

Now, let’s take a brief look at the rules any beginner needs to start playing in no time. The rules listed will mainly apply to a “doubles” game, but another post will look into the specific rules applying to “singles” games.

Rule 1: How does serving work?

A serve constitutes the arm moving in an upward arc when the paddle strikes the ball. The paddle must make contact with the ball below the waist. The server must strike the ball outside the lines of either the right or left service area. The ball must be served to the opposite diagonal court and stay within the confines of that are of the court. Important note: the ball landing in the kitchen or hitting the net on a serve is not a valid serve. Here is a quick video on some basic serving techniques.

Rule 2: How to keep score

• Only the team serving can score points.
• Games are generally played to 11 points requiring the winning team to win by 2 points.
• If a team’s score is even (0, 2, 4, etc.) the person who started the game serving should receive and serve in the right court and vice versa.
• Both players on a team get to serve at least once. Once a point is lost from both servers, the other team will serve.
• It is proper for the server to announce the score before each point is played. The format is “the server number – score of the serving team – score of the receiving team.”
• Ex: “0-2-3” Where “0” is the first person serving, and their team’s score is “2” while the other team has a score of “3”

Rule 3: Two Bounce Rule

Every time the ball is served, the receiving team must let the ball bounce in their court before they return it. Consequentially, the serving team must also let the ball bounce in their court before returning it. Hence, we have the two bounce rule!

Rule 4: Non-Volley Zone

The non-volley zone, more commonly called the kitchen, is a unique part of pickleball that can really shake the game up. It is not legal to volley within this 7′ space. This rule is to prevent players from being able to smash the ball and making it exponentially harder for the other team to volley.

A common misconception is that you cannot step into the kitchen until the ball bounces there. However, you can be in the kitchen all you want. The only difference is you cannot strike the ball while in kitchen until the ball bounces.

And no we are not talking about this kind of kitchen:

That should do it for all the beginners looking to get started in their Pickleball journey. Make sure to stay tuned for tips, tricks, and news regarding the ever-growing game of Pickleball!