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The Basics
Learn the basic pickleball rules and concepts. Pickleball is a sport for everyone and learning to play is easy and fun.
Pickleball Fundamentals
What Is Pickleball?
Pickleball is a paddle sport blending tennis, badminton, and table tennis, played indoors or outdoors on a badminton-sized court with a slightly lower net. Players use a solid paddle and a perforated plastic ball in singles or doubles, with underhand serves and the unique kitchen zone that encourages long, strategic rallies. As the sport’s National Governing Body, USA Pickleball sets official rules, approves equipment, sanctions tournaments, and supports programs nationwide. Easy to learn but challenging to master, pickleball is accessible to all ages and abilities, offering both casual fun and competitive play.
Court & Layout
A pickleball court measures 20 feet wide by 44 feet long for singles and doubles. The net is 36 inches high at the sidelines and 34 in the center. Each side has a 7-foot non-volley zone (“the Kitchen”), adding strategy and placement to play.
Equipment
Players use a paddle made of rigid, non-compressible material, and a plastic ball with 26–40 circular holes. Both paddles and balls must meet official USA Pickleball specifications to be approved for tournament play. Pickleball can be played indoors or outdoors, with slightly different ball designs for each surface.
Gameplay Essentials
Each rally starts with an underhand serve below the waist, hit diagonally. The Two-Bounce Rule requires the ball to bounce once per side before volleys. Only servers can score, games go to 11 (win by 2), and the non-volley zone promotes longer, more strategic rallies.
Only the serving side can score points. The server continues serving until a fault is made, at which point the serve passes to the other team. Most games are played to 11 points, win by 2, though tournament formats may extend to 15 or 21 points. Learn more on how to keep score in pickleball.