How to Play Pickleball: A Guide for Beginners

If you’re reading this, chances are you’ve noticed that pickleball is becoming increasingly popular. According to the USA Pickleball Association (USAPA), pickleball has seen a 650% increase in players since 2013.

Whether you heard about pickleball from friends, read about it online, or saw people playing and got curious, you’re probably wondering how to get in on the action. Good news: you only need a few pieces of pickleball equipment, and the game is suitable for players of all ages. Not to mention, it’s a simple sport that can be learned in just a few minutes.

If you’ve never picked up a pickleball paddle before, you might have some hesitations: I don’t have any experience. What if I can’t get the hang of it? How much will I have to practice?

Don’t get hung up on the what-ifs. For now, the most important thing is to get out there, pick up a paddle, and play. You’ll quickly discover that pickleball is a social game that comes naturally—even to beginners.

But before you start your next (or first) match, check out this comprehensive beginner’s guide to playing pickleball.

Table of Contents

Getting Familiar With the Pickleball Court

Before diving into the rules and strategies of pickleball, you’ll need to know what you’re working with. Accordingly, it’s crucial to familiarize yourself with the court ahead of time.

Pickleball can be played on a retrofitted tennis court, badminton court, or a dedicated pickleball court. The court is 20 feet by 44 feet and the layout is similar to that of a tennis court, but without alleys. The net is hung at 36 inches on the ends of the court and 34 inches at the center.

Both sides of the net have a seven-foot no-volley zone (also called the “kitchen”) which extends the width of the court. The remainder of the court is divided in half by service lines. Don’t worry—we’ll explain the rationale for these areas later on.

Start With the Serve

Understanding the pickleball serve is essential to making the most of the sport. Once you figure out how to get the ball over the net correctly, the rest of the game will flow naturally. Here’s a three-step guide to serving:

Stand behind the baseline on one side of the centerline.
Hold the pickleball in your non-dominant hand and the paddle in your dominant hand.
Simultaneously step forward with your non-dominant foot, drop the ball, and hit it underhanded with the paddle. Your serving arm should make an upward arc when you serve.

It’s important to note that you must serve the ball underhanded and make contact below your navel. You also must make contact with the ball while it’s in the air. It is not legal to serve off a bounce.

Once you get the hang of the serving motion, the next step is making sure you serve the pickleball into the proper location on your opponent’s side of the court.

In order for a serve to be in bounds, it has to land inside or on the line of the crosscourt: the service square diagonally opposite of you (just like tennis). If your serve doesn’t land in the crosscourt, it’s considered a fault. Unlike tennis, you only get one chance to make a legal serve. However, if you’re playing doubles and you serve a fault, your partner gets a chance to serve.

If you serve the ball and it hits the top of the net before landing in the proper crosscourt, that’s a net serve. A net serve isn’t a fault, and the point is simply replayed without penalty.

How Pickleball Scoring Works

After reading about serves, faults, and boundaries, you’re probably wondering how scoring works in pickleball. Here’s the scoop:

For starters, only the serving team or player scores points in pickleball. You continue to serve until you or your teammate commits a fault. When that happens, the serve moves to your opponent.

So, what exactly constitutes a fault?

Serving the ball out of bounds (anywhere besides the service court diagonally opposite you)
Not hitting the ball before the second bounce when it’s served to you
Hitting the ball out of bounds
Volleying when you return a serve. In other words, you don’t let the ball bounce before hitting it back.
Volleying when you’re standing in the no-volley zone.

When playing singles in pickleball, the server states their own score and their oppontent’s score each time before serving. For example, “three, two” means you have three points and your opponent has two points.

When playing doubles, you state your team’s score, the opposing team’s score, and either “one” or “two.” The one or two signifies what number try your team is on during your service. For example: If you start out the game serving, you would say “Zero, zero, one.” If you lose the point, the serve goes to your partner, who would say, “Zero, zero, two.”

Pickleball games are played to 11 points, although games can also be played to 15 or 21. Regardless, all pickleball games must be won by two points. In order to win the match, you must win two out of three games.

Basic Pickleball Strategies

Ok, so you’ve gotten the hang of serving and volleying. But now you want to take your game up a notch. While pickleball is a simple sport, it does require strategic thinking if you want to win.

Below are five pickleball strategy tips to give you a competitive advantage and put the odds of winning in your favor:

One of the keys to pickleball is to let your opponent make the mistakes. According to the USA Pickleball Association (USAPA), seventy-five percent of all rallies are won or lost because of unforced errors, most of which happen at the baseline of the court.
The strongest position on the court is just behind the no-volley line. When volleying, it’s advantageous to get up there as quickly as you can.
Don’t aim your shots for the sidelines or baseline—instead aim for open spaces on the court and place the ball where your opponent isn’t.
Avoid hitting the ball to your opponent’s dominant hand. Hitting it to their feet or backhand makes it more difficult for them to return the shot.
Placement is almost always more valuable than power—that goes for serves and shots alike. Above all, keep the ball in play and don’t go for the “kill” shot unless you’re positive you can keep it under control.

Pickleball Terminology

When you first start playing pickleball, you’ll probably encounter some words or phrases that you’ve never heard before. Like all sports, pickleball has its own terminology to explain the game. Below are some common terms along with quick explanations to help you get acquainted.

Baseline: the line at the back of both sides of the court. Players stand behind this line to serve.
Centerline: the line that splits the service courts, which extends from the no-volley zone to the baseline.
Crosscourt: the court that’s diagonally opposite.
Dink: a soft shot that barely clears the net into the no-volley zone
Fault: any violation of the rules. A fault ends the rally and changes the serve to the opposing side.
Kitchen: another word for the no-volley zone, which extends seven feet from either side of the net.
Net serve: when the ball hits the top of the net after a serve and lands in the crosscourt. There is no fault, and the serve is replayed.
Poach: when a player crosses into their teammates area to make a play
Rally: hitting the ball back and forth
Sideline: the lines on the sides of the court that determines whether the ball is in or out of bounds.
Side-out: when a fault is committed and the serve moves to your opponent.
Volley: hitting the ball before it contacts your side of the court

Putting It All Together

This may seem like a lot of information, but once you start playing, it’ll all flow naturally. Reading about pickleball or watching videos can be valuable to develop a baseline knowledge of the sport, but the only true way to learn and improve is to get on the court and play!

Ideally, you’ll want to practice and play with a partner who has some pickleball experience. You’ll pick up the game quicker this way as opposed to playing with another novice. If you’re really serious about fast-tracking your knowledge and getting competitive, you can work with a pickleball instructor. You might find instructors at sports clubs or community recreational centers.

Lastly, keep an open mind when you’re starting to play pickleball. You’ll probably botch some serves and make a few faults, but that’s all part of the learning process. Of course, the most important part is having fun.

We’d love to hear from you: What part of your game are you currently working on? Post your answer in the comments.