Learn
You do not need the full USA Pickleball rulebook to play at Ormsby on a Saturday. You need the kitchen, the two-bounce rule, a legal serve, and how to call the score.
01
A doubles court is 20 feet wide and 44 feet long — the same footprint as a badminton court. The net is 36 inches at the sidelines and 34 inches in the center. The non-volley zone (the kitchen) extends 7 feet from the net on each side. Singles uses the same outer lines.
02
Serve underhand, contact below the waist, paddle moving upward, diagonally cross-court, and the ball must land in the opposite service box. Both feet stay behind the baseline until contact. In 2026, USA Pickleball tightened the legal volley serve: if it is not clearly legal, it is not legal. Rec play still uses a drop serve if that’s easier.
03
The receiving team must let the serve bounce. The serving team must let the return bounce. After those two bounces, either side may volley — except in the kitchen. Skipping the two bounces is a fault.
04
You may not volley while touching the non-volley zone or its line. You may step in to play a ball that has bounced. Momentum counts: if you volley outside the kitchen and your follow-through carries you onto the line, it is still a fault.
05
Traditional side-out scoring is still the official method: only the serving team scores, games to 11, win by 2. Doubles calls three numbers (server score, receiver score, server number 1 or 2). Ask before the first serve which system the group is using.
06
Ball lands out. Serve into the net or outside the box. Volleying in the kitchen. Hitting the ball twice. Touching the net. A ball that hits you. Lines are in. If you didn’t see it, replay is kinder than an argument.
Doubles, side-out: three numbers, in order. Your score, their score, which server you are (1 or 2). Even score, serve from the right. Odd, from the left.
Example: “4 – 2 – 1”
Ready to use this? How to get started or jump to a court.