Pickleball Rules

Read on for a rules summary or check out the full Pickleball England rules and/or the US Rules handbook

Key Features of the Pickleball game

• Two-Bounce Rule – when the ball is served, the receiving team must let it bounce before returning, and then the serving team must let it bounce before returning, thus two bounces.  I.e. neither the serve nor the return of serve can be volleyed (hit before the ball bounces) but after the ball has bounced once in each team’s court, both teams may either volley the ball  or play it off a bounce (ground stroke)

• Non-Volley Zone (NVZ) – commonly known as the kitchen.  This is an area that extends 7 feet from the net on each side, within which a player is not allowed to strike the ball without it first bouncing (volleying with one or both feet touching the NVZ line, or being in the NVZ when you start your volley swing, or momentum carrying you into the NVZ zone after playing a volley, are also faults)

• Serving – you only have one service attempt which must be played underarm (paddle moving from low to high) from behind the baseline.  This can be a drop serve (ball is dropped and bounces before hit) or a volley serve (no ball bounce – this is more common).  Paddle contact on a volley serve must be below the server’s waist with the tip of the paddle below the server’s wrist.  To be good, a serve must land beyond the NVZ line in the opposite diagonal court – if it lands on or before the NVZ line it is short and a fault (in all other circumstances a ball contacting a line is considered ‘in’, as in tennis).   Deep serves (landing just before the baseline) are good for putting pressure on the opposition.  There is no let serve – the ball can hit the net on its way and unless it lands short, will still be a good serve.  As in tennis, neither of the server’s feet can contact the baseline or court until after the ball is served.

Scoring & Positioning

a) Side-Out scoring

This is the traditional method of scoring, where you can only score points when your side is serving.

For doubles play the score is confusingly made up of 3 numbers: “my score-your score-server”, as both players in a team have a turn at serving before the serve passes to the opposing team, excepting on the first service turn of the game:

• – The player to serve first is always the player standing on the right hand side of the court.  If they win the point, they move to the left hand side to serve and continue alternating sides to serve until they lose a point

• – The team serving first only gets one service turn initially, to lessen their advantage, i.e. they start with their 2nd server (the player on the right hand side of the court), at a score of 0-0-2, and on losing a point, the serve immediately passes to the opposition

• – At all other times once the first server has lost a point, the next person to serve is their partner (2nd server).   They start serving from the side of the court they were left standing on at the conclusion of the previous point

• – The 2nd server then alternates sides to serve until they too lose a point.  The opposition then takes their turn to serve, with their 1st server being whichever player is currently on the right hand side.

Typically a game is won by being first to score 11 points.  Where the score is tied at 10-10 the game continues until one side wins by 2 points.

This is the most common scoring format for singles, however with only 1 server per side there are only 2 scores called – “my score-your score”.   And the server’s starting position varies depending on their points score – with an even number of points they must serve from the right-hand side of the court, with an odd number of points they serve from the left-hand side of the court.

b) Rally point scoring

A popular modern option, this form of scoring only has 2 numbers, called as “my score-your score”.  Points won count towards your score whether you are serving or not, however match-winning points can only be scored on serve.

Rally Scoring methods for doubles matches are still evolving, with no universally accepted standard format.  Lansdown Club sessions are currently using the Rally Scoring method used in Major League Pickleball in the US 2023-24.  This gives a more consistent game length than side-out scoring and offers good opportunity for trailing pairs to catch up points, resulting in closer and more fun matches.   Key features are:

• –  each team always only has one turn at serving, i.e. once the serving team lose a point, service goes across to the other team.  The player on the right hand side of the court serves when their team score is even, the player on the left hand side if their score is odd

• – Players have a fixed starting position on either the left or right hand side of the court and do not alternate sides when serving.  They can move across to the other side of the court during play of a point but must return to their original position for the start of the next point.  This means players will serve to and receive serves from the same opposition player throughout, unless swapping sides with partner when changing ends (see below)

• – winners are the first to score 21 points or by 2 points, i.e.  where the score is tied at 20-20 the game continues until one side wins by 2 points

• – the leading team ‘freeze’ at a score of 20 and the trailing team ‘freeze’ when they reach 18 (or at 19-19 both teams freeze when either reaches 20) – once a team is frozen, points can only be scored on serve

• – If players are waiting to join, a shortened game can be played, with first team to score 11 points winning (or once 2 points ahead from a 10-10 tie).  In this case the leading team would freeze at 10 points and the trailing team at 8 points

The USAP Rally Scoring method introduced in 2025 does not utilise a ‘freeze’ and allows players to serve from different sides of the court and to both opponents, with matches usually played to 15 or 21 (or best 2 of 3, or 3 of 5, games to 11 points).  Major League Pickleball has now reverted to Side Out scoring for their main doubles matches in 2025 but with a note suggesting they have not yet settled on the best scoring method.  There are pros & cons to rally vs side-out scoring – best to check what the rules are for wherever you find yourself playing and adapt accordingly!

Changing Ends

In a first to 11 points game, teams play from the same end throughout.   In an 11 point game ‘best of 3’ or ‘best of 5’ match, teams alternate ends for each game then in the last game teams switch ends when the first team reaches a score of 6

In a game to 21 points (such as Rally scoring), teams switch ends when the first team reaches a score of 11.  You can also change sides with your partner at this point if playing Rally scoring.   In a game to 15 points the equivalent would be switching ends when the first team reaches a score of 8.