Pickleball Rules

1. Court Dimensions:
   • Pickleball is played on a badminton-sized court (20 feet wide by 44 feet long)
   • The court is divided into halves by a 34-inch-high net.
   • The court is striped with right and left service courts and a 7-foot non-volley zone in front of the net, which is often referred to as the kitchen.
2. Equipment:
   • Players use paddles made of wood, composite materials, or a combination of both. The paddle must not have any holes, indentations, or rough-textured surfaces.
   • The ball used is similar to a wiffle ball, with holes, and should be made of durable plastic.
3. Gameplay:
   • Pickleball played as doubles consists of two players on each team.
   • Games will be played within an hour and/or first to win 2 out of 3 games.
   • The game begins with one side serving the ball diagonally to the opponent's service court.
   • The serve must be underhand and made with the paddle below the waist. The serve is done from behind the baseline.
   • The ball must clear the net and land in the opponent's service court to be considered a legal serve.
   • After the serve, the receiving team must let the ball bounce once before returning it.
   • Once the ball has bounced once on each side, both teams can either volley the ball (hit it before it bounces) or let it bounce once before hitting it.
   • The point continues until one team commits a fault, such as hitting the ball out of bounds, failing to clear the net, or volleying from the non-volley zone, known as the kitchen (the area within 7 feet from the net on each side).
   • Only the serving team can score points. If the serving team wins a rally, they score a point and continue to serve. If the receiving team wins a rally, they gain the serve but not the point.
4. Scoring:
   • Games are played to 11 points, and a team must win by at least two points.
   • The first side to reach 11 points wins the game; there can be no tie games.
   • First team to win 2 out of 3 games wins.
   • If time runs out, the team with the higher score wins.
   • If the sets are tied at 1-1 when time is up, it will automatically go to next point wins.
   • The person serving must call out the score of the game before the ball is served. They must ensure they are calling out their score first, then follow up with calling out if they are the first or second server. For example, the team who is serving is losing 5-2 and it is the second partner serving, they would yell “two, five, two or two, five, second server”.
5. Faults:
   • Common faults include stepping into the kitchen and volleying, hitting the ball out of bounds, failing to let the ball bounce once on each side, and touching the net with any part of the body or paddle during play.
   • If a fault is committed, the opposing team earns a point and/or gains the serve.
6. Service Rotation:
   • In doubles play, both players on the serving team get to serve before the serve passes to the opposing team.
   • After the serving team loses the serve, the serve passes to the opposing team, and the player on the right side of the court serves first.
7. Let Serves:
   • If the ball hits the net and lands in the correct service court on a serve, it is called a "let" serve, and the server gets another opportunity to serve without penalty.
8. Line Calls:
   • Players are responsible for making their own line calls.
   • If there is a dispute over a line call, players should replay the point unless there is an officiate/convenor present to make the call.