How To Play Pickleball like a Pro

Pickleball has exploded in popularity for a simple reason: it’s easy to learn, social, and seriously fun. If you’re new to the sport, you don’t need years of racket experience or fancy athletic skills to get started. With a basic understanding of the rules, a paddle in your hand, and a court to play on, you can be rallying confidently in no time. This essay walks you through how to play pickleball step by step—covering the court, the equipment, the rules, serving, scoring, and a few beginner tips to help you win more games.

The Court Anatomy

Pickleball is played on a court the same size as a badminton doubles court: 20 feet wide by 44 feet long. There’s a net stretched across the middle, 36 inches high at the sidelines and 34 inches at the center. On each side of the net is a 7-foot area called the non-volley zone, more commonly known as “the kitchen.” This zone is crucial to understanding how pickleball works, because you’re not allowed to hit volleys (shots taken out of the air) while standing in it or on its line.

Equipments Needed

To play, you’ll need three things: a pickleball paddle, a few pickleballs (they look like plastic wiffle balls), and a court. Many parks, recreation centers, and tennis facilities now have pickleball lines and nets. If you’re not ready to invest in gear immediately, look for a beginner clinic or private/group lesson in your area—these often provide equipment so you can try the sport first.

Basic format: doubles and singles

Pickleball is most often played as doubles: two players on each side. The same court markings are used for both doubles and singles, so you don’t need to adjust the court. Most of the rules you learn for doubles also apply to singles, with just a few small differences in scoring and positioning.

In doubles, both teammates share the court and alternate serving for their team. In singles, one player covers the whole court alone. Since doubles is more common and easier for beginners to pick up, most people start there, then move to singles as they get more confident.

Rule 1: Every Rally starts with a Serve

Like tennis, every point in pickleball starts with a serve. The player on the right-hand side of the serving team’s court serves first. The serve is always hit diagonally into the opposite service box, and it must clear the non-volley zone (kitchen) including its line. If it lands in the kitchen or on the kitchen line, it’s a fault.

A legal pickleball serve must be underhand. That means you contact the ball below your waist, and your paddle travels in an upward arc when you strike it. Traditionally, players hit a “volley serve,” where they toss or drop the ball and strike it out of the air. There’s also a “drop serve,” where you let the ball bounce once and then hit it. In both cases, your feet must stay behind the baseline until after you make contact.

Rule 2: The Two-bounce Rule

One of the most important—and unique—rules in pickleball is the two-bounce rule. After the serve, the ball must bounce once on each side of the net before any player can hit a volley. Here’s how that works in a rally:

1. The server hits the ball; it bounces in the receiver’s service box.
   

2. The receiver returns the ball; it must bounce on the serving team’s side.
   

3. Only after those two bounces can either team start volleying (hitting out of the air).
   
   

This rule prevents the serving team from rushing the net and dominating every point. It’s why you typically see the serving team hang back near the baseline for the first couple of shots.

Rule 3: Faults 

Once the ball is in play after the serve and two bounces, the rally continues until someone wins the point or a fault occurs. A fault can be:

• Hitting the ball out of bounds
  

• Hitting into the net and it doesn’t cross
  

• Letting the ball bounce twice on your side
  

• Hitting an illegal serve
  

• Or volleying in the kitchen
  
  

Rule 4: The Kitchen or ‘the cooked zone’

The kitchen is a 7-foot non-volley zone on each side of the net. You can step into the kitchen to play a ball that has bounced there—that’s often necessary when your opponent hits a short shot, called a dink or drop. But you cannot hit a volley while your feet are in the kitchen or on its line, and your momentum after a volley can’t carry you into it. If it does, that’s a fault.

Rule 5: Scoring and Winning a game

Pickleball uses a unique scoring system. In traditional scoring, only the serving team can win points. If the receiving team wins a rally, they don’t get a point; they just earn the right to serve (after a “side out”).

In doubles, the score is always called as three numbers, like “5–2–1”:

1. First number: serving team’s score
   

2. Second number: receiving team’s score
   

3. Third number: which partner on the serving team is serving (1 or 2)
   

At the start of the game, the score is called “0–0–2.” That “2” is special: it indicates that the starting team only gets one server instead of two. After that first side out, both teams get two serves per turn (first server, then second server), until they lose rallies and the serve passes to the opponents.

Games are typically played to 11 points, but you must win by 2. So if the score reaches 10–10, the game continues until a team goes up by two points: 12–10, 13–11, and so on.

Singles: small rule tweaks, same core game

In singles pickleball, you still serve diagonally, obey the two-bounce rule, follow the kitchen rules, and play to 11 win by 2. The main differences are in positioning and scoring calls.

Instead of three numbers, you only call two: your score first, then your opponent’s. The side you serve from depends on your score: if your score is even (0, 2, 4, etc.), you serve from the right side; if it’s odd (1, 3, 5, etc.), you serve from the left. There’s no second server in singles—when you lose a rally on your serve, it’s a side out and the serve goes to your opponent.

Getting Game-Ready

In pickleball, you can use a few key shots like drives, drop shots, dinks, volleys etc. to play points. In doubles, a simple strategy is to move from the baseline up to the kitchen line with your partner and hold that position to control the court. We’ll be discussing the most performed shots and strategies in our upcoming blogs.

Let's have another look at the main rules:

• Every rally starts with an underhand serve (forehand or backhand).

• The ball must bounce once on each side before you volley.

• Each point continues until a fault or the rally is lost.

• A player cannot hit the ball out of the air or volley while on or inside the kitchen line.

• You only win points on your serve.

• The correct score must be called before serving.

• You must win games by two points.

So even if you are new to pickleball, just get these basics right and you're ready to jump into the game. 

FAQs

What sport is most similar to pickleball?
Pickleball is most similar to tennis, but played on a smaller court with lighter paddles and a plastic ball. Like tennis, you rally over a net, aim for angles, and often play doubles, yet the shorter court, underhand serve, and kitchen rules make it quicker, friendlier, and more accessible.

When was pickleball invented?
Pickleball was invented in 1965 on Bainbridge Island, Washington, by Joel Pritchard, Bill Bell, and Barney McCallum. They created it to entertain their families, improvising with a badminton court, lowered net, ping-pong paddles, and a plastic ball. That simple backyard game eventually evolved into today’s popular, fast-growing sport worldwide.

Where can you play pickleball?
You can play pickleball at public parks, recreation centers, schools, and private clubs on dedicated courts, or on converted tennis and badminton courts using a portable net and temporary lines. Many gyms now offer indoor pickleball, open-play sessions, lessons, and leagues, so it’s increasingly easy and affordable to find courts everywhere.

What is the golden rule of pickleball?
 The “golden rule” of pickleball is to never volley in the kitchen. You cannot hit the ball out of the air while any part of your body touches the non-volley zone or its line, including momentum after contact. If you’re standing in the kitchen, always let the ball bounce first.

Can you play pickleball on a tennis court?
Yes. A tennis court can be adapted for pickleball by lowering the net slightly and adding pickleball court lines with tape or temporary paint markings. You can set up one full-size pickleball court or up to four smaller courts on a single tennis court, making shared facilities efficient and practical.

How many sets or games are in a pickleball match?
Most pickleball matches are played as best two out of three games. Each game is typically to 11 points, and a team must win by two, with only the serving team scoring points. In casual or social play, players sometimes choose a single, longer game to 11, 15, or 21 instead.

Why can't you volley in the kitchen in pickleball?
You can’t volley in the kitchen to keep rallies longer, fair, and safer for everyone. If players could stand right at the net and smash every ball out of the air, points would end instantly and increase injury risk. The non-volley zone encourages softer shots, patience, control, and smarter court positioning.