How to Play Pickleball: Top 10 Pickleball Rules for Beginners

1. A regulation size pickleball court is 44x20 feet with center lines dividing serving sides. The 7 feet from each side of the net's non-volley zone is referred to as the “kitchen.” Each game is typically played first to 11 points, win by 2.
   
2. You cannot volley (hit the ball in the air) while standing inside the non-volley zone, also known as the “kitchen.” This rule helps promote fair play. You are able to hit the ball inside the NVZ (non-volley zone) after the ball has bounced.
   
3. You are allowed to hit a volley over the kitchen only if you do not step into the kitchen. You can also jump off court to the side and hit the ball in the air. This is called an “Ernie.”
   
4. Serves must make contact with the ball below the navel, be served from behind the baseline, with the server rotating sides after a rally is won. On each serve, the ball cannot land in the kitchen or on the back kitchen line. The ball must land in the serving box diagonally across the court. The serve can hit the net as long as it still lands in the appropriate box.
   
5. What is the 2 Bounce Rule? After a serve, the ball must bounce once on each side of the net before they can hit the ball in the air (or a volley can be made). 
   
6. Hitting the ball on the line in Pickleball is considered “in.” This applies to both the sidelines and the baseline.
   
7. Only the serving team can score a point by winning the rally. The rally refers to a sequence of continuous shots exchanged between players or teams until a point is scored.
   
8. Before each serve, the score is announced starting with your team’s score, followed by your opponent’s score. If you are playing with teams, end the score with the number of server you are (1st or 2nd). Example: Server 1 Team 1 announces 5-7-1 prior to serving. The rally results in a fault for Team 1 and the serve moves to Server 2 Team 1 who announces 5-7-2 prior to serving. The second rally also results in a fault for Team 1 with the serve now going to Server 1 Team 2 who announces 7-5-1 prior to serving. 
   
9. Each game starts with the serving team having the advantage. This means that they start with the 2nd server on the right side of the court. Every other turn will start with the 1st server on the right side. After they fault, it will go to their partner as the 2nd server. If they fault as well, the ball and serve will go to the other team.
   
10. Balls hit out of bounds or into the net resulting in the ball bouncing twice on your side results in a fault.

There you have it! The top 10 pickleball rules for beginners. If you are new to pickleball, be sure to check out PicklePlay’s How to Play resource for further instruction. Once you are ready to take on doubles play, check out this video to learn more about playing doubles. Follow PicklePlay for more tips and tricks and you will be a pro in no time!

Click here to learn more about Doubles Play.

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