The basic rules

Where the rules come from

These are the rules you need for your first games of doubles. They follow the 2026 USA Pickleball Official Rulebook, which is updated every January. Everything else, from tournament rules to rare situations, is in the official rulebook.

The serve

The serveServeThe shot that starts every rally, hit from behind the baseline diagonally into the opponents' service court. In doubles each server gets one attempt.Glossary starts every rally. You can hit it in one of two ways:

• Volley serve: you hit the ball out of your hand without bouncing it. Your arm must be moving upward, you must hit the ball below your waist, and the head of your paddle must not be above your wrist.
• Drop serve: you drop the ball, let it bounce, and hit it. None of the volley-serve limits apply.

Either way:

1. Stand behind the baseline, between the sideline and the centerline. When you hit, keep at least one foot on the ground, and neither foot may touch the court or the baseline.
2. Serve diagonally into the service court opposite you.
3. Land it past the kitchen line. A serve that touches the kitchen line is short, and that’s a fault. A serve landing on any other line of the service court is in.
4. You get one attempt. There is no second serve.

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1. 1P1 serves from behind the baseline, on the right, between the sideline and the centerline. Both feet stay off the court.
2. 2The serve goes diagonally, over both kitchens, into the service court opposite. It lands past the kitchen line, so it is in, and P4 lets it bounce before hitting it.

The two-bounce rule

After the serve, the ball must bounce once on each side before anyone hits it out of the air:

1. The receiving team lets the serve bounce.
2. The serving team lets the return bounce.
3. From then on, anyone may volleyVolleyHitting the ball out of the air, before it bounces.Glossary the ball or let it bounce.

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1. 1P1 serves. Two bounces have to happen before anyone may hit the ball out of the air.
2. 2Bounce one: the serve lands in P4's service court, and P4 must let it bounce.
3. 3Bounce two: P1 must let the return bounce too. That's why the serving team stays back for now, while P4 walks up to the kitchen line.
4. 4Both bounces have happened. P3 is allowed to take P1's shot out of the air, and does.
5. 5From here on, anyone may volley or let the ball bounce.

The kitchen

The kitchenKitchen also non-volley zone, NVZThe 7-foot zone on each side of the net. You cannot volley while standing in it or on its line, and your momentum from a volley cannot carry you into it. You can step in to play a ball that has bounced.Glossary rule is short, but it catches every new player:

• You cannot volley while touching the kitchen, including its line.
• Your momentum counts. If you volley outside the kitchen and then step or fall into it, that’s still a fault, even after the ball is dead.
• You can go in any other time. Stepping in to play a ball that has bounced is fine. Just get out before you volley.

Faults

A faultFaultAny rule break that ends the rally: a ball hit out or into the net, a missed bounce, a volley from the kitchen, a bad serve. A fault by the receiving team gives the serving team a point; a fault by the serving team costs them the serve.Glossary ends the rally. You fault when you:

• serve out of the service court, or onto the kitchen line,
• hit the ball into the net or out of the court,
• volley before both bounces have happened,
• volley from the kitchen,
• let the ball bounce twice on your side,
• touch the net or the net post while the ball is in play,
• get hit by the ball while it is in play,
• hit a shot that strikes a permanent object, like a light or a fence, before it bounces.

If the receiving team faults, the serving team scores a point. If the serving team faults, the server loses the serve.

Calling the score and taking turns to serve

Before each serve, the server calls the score out loud, so the other team can hear it, as three numbers: the serving team’s score, the receiving team’s score, then 1 or 2 for whether this is the team’s first or second server.

• 0 – 0 – 2zero, zero, two

  The start of every game. The first server counts as server 2, so the serve passes over after one turn.

• 4 – 2 – 1four, two, one

  The serving team has 4 points, the receivers 2, and this is the team's first server.

• 7 – 9 – 2seven, nine, two

  The serving team is behind, 7 to 9, and on its second server: one more fault and the other team serves.

• The game starts at “0–0–2zero, zero, two”. At the start of each game only one partner serves before the serve passes over, so the rules treat that first server as a second server.
• After a point, the server switches sides with their partner and serves again, this time from the other side.
• After a fault, the partner becomes server 2 and serves from the side they are already on. Partners only switch sides when their team wins a point.
• After server 2 faults, it’s a side outSide outWhen the serving team loses its turn to serve and the serve passes to the other team.Glossary: the other team serves, starting from the right-hand side.

A quick check that you are in the right place: when your team’s score is even, the player who served first for your team in this game should be on the right, whether you are serving or receiving. When it’s odd, they should be on the left.

Lost track of the score? Stop and sort it out before the next serve. Everyone does it.

Where to find the rest

Some events play rally scoring, where every rally wins a point no matter who serves. The rulebook lists it as a provisional option; the standard game uses the scoring above.

For anything not covered here, go to the source: USA Pickleball’s complete rulebook, or its own two-page summary of the basics.