Pickleball Basics: The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide To Pickleball Rules & How To Play (Scoring & More)

If you're curious about this game you've heard about called

pickleball

and are interested in joining the fun or want a resource to help someone you know get started, you're in the right place - this is the

ultimate

way to

play

. Pickleball Video Guide, we will cover all the

basics

you need to know about this fun game that is taking the country by storm. I'm Nicole Havlicek, this is primetime

pickleball

, let's dive in and get off on the right foot with this great game, one of the best. The benefits of pickleball is that the equipment needed is pretty minimal, it all comes down to a paddle, ball and court shoes and

ultimate

ly you need a chord to

play

and as the sport grows

more

and

more

are appearing. .

So finding one should be relatively easy, and it's getting easier. There are a wide variety of paddles that may work for you. We recommend that you stay away from wooden paddles because they are quite heavy and you will outgrow them quite quickly. A palette of some kind would be better, it looks like this. You can probably borrow one from a friend, a local pickleball enthusiast, or they may have some available for checkout at your local pickleball shop or you can buy a cheap paddle online for, say, 50-100 on the dollar. The panel in that range should serve you well for some time.

I recommend using Pickleball Central. They have an incredibly wide selection. Their customer service is very helpful and friendly and they give you 30 days to try their palette which is great because if you don't. If you like it for any reason, you can simply return it for a full refund. All you have to pay for is the return shipping. This ensures that you don't get stuck with a paddle you don't like, even if you've used it, use the link. Primetime pickleball.com forward slash pickleball Central to their website I will receive a small commission at no additional cost to you when it comes to balls, pickleball balls look like this, it looks like it is more difficult and is designed to be played on hard courts and is often referred to as an outdoor ball, although it is usually the quartz surface that dictates the type of ball you should use.

This type of ball that feels a little more rubbery is designed for gym ropes that have wooden floors and is generally known as an outdoor ball. As an indoor ball, you may want to bring a few balls onto the court each time you play in case one breaks while playing. As for shoes, tennis shoes on hard surfaces are usually the best, as they are designed for movement all around. directions that include lateral movement if you are going to play on an indoor court then a basketball shoe or a volleyball shoe will work well for that type of surface running shoes are not recommended as they are only designed for front to back movement Back, there is tons of lateral movement in pickleball, which makes running shoes a poor choice and puts you at risk for ankle injuries.

That's the team. Basic concepts. You'll also want to wear comfortable sports clothing. Bring water and possibly a hat and sunscreen to protect yourself from the sun. When playing outdoor pickleball it can be played in singles format which is one on one or doubles format which is two on two, most of the recreational game is played in doubles format so we will focus on that today here Okay, let's dive into the

rules

and key components of how the game of pickleball is played the pickleball court and key

rules

this is what a pickleball court looks like the court is divided into different areas by the net and the lines in the sense More generally there is a ball entry area and a ball out of bounds area for most of the point, except on the serve, which we will discuss in more detail shortly.

The ball can land anywhere in this area and is considered in play. This includes landing on any line if the ball lands outside of this area. It is considered offside, which is a foul and ends the point. The lines, the limits of the area inside the court are the baseline and the side lines, the internal lines of the court are the central lines, which is the line that divides The service areas on each side of the rope and the no-volley zone line create a no-volley zone on each half of the court. The no volley zone and the associated line is a unique feature of pickleball and we will go into more detail about that later so stay tuned the net the court is divided into two halves of play by the net if you hit the ball into the net that is foul and the point ends the general objective of each shot is to pass the ball over the net and within service areas each half of the court has two service areas the service area on the right side and the service area on the side left the first shot of each point is the serve the server will serve from the right or the left to start the point more on when they will serve from each side later regardless of which side you serve, your serve must land in the service area on the other half of the court diagonally from you and beyond the no-volley zone line is considered the no-volley zone line. be part of the no volley zone and is out of bounds for surfing The no volley zone The no volley zone, which is also known as the kitchen, is a very important area in the game of pickleball and is a part important What distinguishes pickleball from other racket or padel sports is that the rule of this zone is that you cannot stand in this zone and catch the ball on the fly when it comes from the other half of the court.

It's called a volley, that's why it's called a non-volley zone. If this rule were not in effect, then a team could simply cover the net and continuously hit hard and into the other half often to win, and that wouldn't be much. fun prevention, which is why the no-volley zone was established and is what leads to a game that is generally more fun thanks to its longer rallies. A very important detail to develop when it comes to this rule is that even if you made contact with the ball with both feet behind the no-volley zone line and volleyed it if the momentum of that shot takes you into the zone of no volley then that's a foul and you lose the point the key word there is momentum if you hit the volley and establish yourself with balance outside the no volley zone and then enter it, that's fine.

There is a common misconception about the no-volley zone that you can't even enter it until the ball has bounced to your side. It's not true, you can enter any time you want, as long as you don't volley. Here we see that a player has entered the no-volley zone before the ball has bounced, then it bounces and the player hits it over the top. perfectly acceptable since the player did not hit a volley regardless of when he intervened to take that shot the two-bounce rule the two-bounce rule states that the ball must bounce once after the serve and once after the return, then After that you can play the ball in the air or after a bounce for the rest of the point except, of course, as mentioned above, you cannot volley while in the no-volley zone, which includes stepping on the zone line. non-volley.

False fouls These are events that end a point the team that committed the foul loses the point the most common fouls that end a point are when a player hits a ball into the net or when a player hits a ball out of bounds or when a team You have let the ball bounce twice in your half before you can return it, assuming the first bounce landed on these are the three most common ways to lose a point that every

beginner

needs to know points a game is usually scored at 11 points and you must win by two points, you will find this to be true in recreational play and most games in general, anywhere you go only the serving team can score one more point, that then in certain situations usually in tournaments the score can be as high as 15 or 21.

Which team serves first at most pickleball facilities? You go to the team that serves first will often be designated by some type of nearby landmark and that will become the custom on those courts. Let's consider an example of a facility with courts near a street. The people who play in that facility could say the first team. The serve is always the one in the half of the court closest to the street and this will be the case every time you go out to play on those courts. It's a very informal approach, but that's how it's normally done, as we've already covered.

Some of the most important general key rules you should know, there are some more important rules that are best explained in the context of other key concepts coming up, so let's continue with the basic strategy and positioning. The overall goal of a pickleball game is to recover the ball. over the net and in play once more than the other team, every time you do it, you win the point or the rally, those two terms rally and point are often used interchangeably, however, you don't always score a point even if you win the point, as mentioned above, you can only score a point when you are the serving team, when you are the returning team, you are trying to regain your team's right to serve and earn more points by

scoring

and who serves, when later Strategically it is the best place for you. and your partner must be with respect to your general objective of putting one more ball into play than your opponents on the zone line without a volley.

From up there you have more opportunities to hit hard shots that your opponents will struggle with. time to return and from there you minimize the spaces they have available to hit you in your half of the court, so both you and your partner must make an effort to reach the line of the no-volley zone as soon as possible after the serve or return . the other team will do the same and two skill teams will probably have a lot of slow and also fast rallies with both teams at or approaching the no-volley zone line. It is important to note that, especially as you are learning the game, you may find that many points end before you reach the no-volley zone line because it takes several good shots to make the transition from where you start on the point. which was behind the baseline and also some players prefer to do it by default. stay close to the baseline, especially if they are former tennis players simply because they are more comfortable playing from behind and hitting groundstrokes off the bounce, that's fine, players can choose to play in any style they want, just remember that the most skilled players and those who ultimately have the most success with the game actively strive to be on the line of the non-volley zone.

It is truly the most advantageous place to be because of the laws of physics and geometry. Initial positions that we will now review. key concept of starting positions for the four players on the court and then tying them all together in the

scoring

section to follow, usually during the course of a game each team will have multiple opportunities to be the serving team and the returning team because there are many sides outside. will occur in the course of a separate game is simply the term used to describe when the serving team becomes the returning team and vice versa.

More about when this event occurs, it could happen that the first team to serve escapes and wins the game 11-0, meaning that the team that started by coming back could not win a single point. It happens, but it's a rare thing for two teams to have so much skill, and there's also a rule that helps mitigate this. of what will happen, which we will cover shortly, stay tuned first, we will talk about the serving team, as mentioned above, you can only score as the serving team, both players on the serving team will position themselves behind the scoring line. base to start the point due to the two rebounds.

As a general rule, the server should start with both feet behind the baseline and since the returning shot must bounce, it makes sense for the server's partner to also be behind the baseline so they don't get caught volleying the next shot. comes back, which could very well happen if they start with their position higher on the court, the first player to serve at the start of the game and after each serve is the player on the right side of the court at that time who will not serve. . It will necessarily be the same player on a team every time, this will become clear as we move forward, you as a team can decide who that player will be at the start of the game and then the score and the change will dictate who is on the right after each Starting From that point on, for the remainder of the game, each player on the serving team will have an opportunity to serve each time that team is the serving team, with one more exception in that exception later, when the serving team scores a point. . the serving team changes sides for the next point the same player continues serving until the serving team loses a point at which time the serving teamdoes not change sides the other player on the team becomes the server and serves from the side the serving team is on again.

The serving team will continue to change sides after each point while the second server is serving as long as they continue to gain points once there was a point with that second server serving the ball and then it goes to the other half of the court and the other team. becomes the serving team, as mentioned above, this change is called side out. Now we will talk about the receiving team. The receiving team must position itself with the returner behind the baseline ready to receive the serve and his partner above in the non-volley zone. zone line, you as a team can decide who will be the first returner at the beginning of the game and then the score and the change will dictate who will be on the right side after each side that comes out from that point on for the rest of the game if the the serving team wins the point the serving team will change sides and the same server will now serve from the left the returning team does not change sides the other player from the returning team will now be the returning team and must start the point from behind from the baseline while his partner now starts the point from above in the non-volley zone, as we discussed earlier, the net is the most advantageous place to be in the game and since the returner's partner does not make a play with the ball until the two-bounce rule has been completed, it only makes sense for them to position themselves to their right. away at the start of the point because the first time they have the opportunity to make a play with the ball they can do it with a volley that does not happen with any other player on the court, as we mentioned, the returning team does not change sides.

Regardless of whether they win or lose the point between points, they will remain on the same side and will only advance up the court and start on the no-volley zone line if they are not the returners and will move back and start the point from behind the base, if they are the exception rule of the first server back, remember when we talked about the first team to serve has an advantage because only the team that serves can score and could possibly take the game away quickly, while this is the rule designed to avoid that. For the team that starts the game as the serving team, only one server will have the opportunity to serve in that turn.

Once they lose a point, the ball passes to the other team to serve and from then on each player of a team will have a turn to serve. After each side comes out as described above, it is important to understand this as we delve into the key concept of scoring. All of this will come to life in the live examples below. Before each point, the server will announce the score it will announce. draws three numbers the first number is the number of points that the team that draws has the second number is the number of points that the team that returns has the third number is the number that draws remember that we said that each player will have their turn to draw the curve after each side so that the third number is always one or two, a one to represent the first server on that turn and a two to represent the second server on that turn, let's say a side out just happened and my team Now it is the one that serves. team and I am the player on the right so I will be the first to serve my team has four points and the other team has six points I will call four six one before serving let's say we lose that point we don't change sides because we lost the point the ball goes to my partner who is on the left she will call four six two we lose the point again which causes an out and the service now goes to the other team which now becomes the team that serves the player on the right says six four one before serving, that's the essence of how scoring works.

Now remember the first serve exception rule which says that only one player, the one on the right side, can serve in the first turn of service of the game. Well, that's what makes the first time the score is announced a little strange. The result that is canceled at the beginning of the game is zero zero two because a side out will occur immediately when the serving team loses a point. your partner will not have the opportunity to serve that turn. You can think of it as the first server essentially skips that first turn to serve and we start with the second server, so we always start with the score zero zero two.

Let's say that the team that serves loses the first point, the ball goes to the other side and the player on the right is the first server in that turn, the score they say is zero zero one because from now on both players will have their turn to serve later. On each side, let's look at some examples so that we all come to life. We have decided that Miriam will start as the first to serve. I am her partner. Maggie is on the other side coming back, so she is behind the baseline. Irene is the one who returns. she partner, so she is on the line of the no-volley zone.

Miriam will announce a score of zero zero two and then serve the ball to start the point. We, as the serving team, lost the point due to the first server exception rule. I will not get This time it is a turn to serve, so a side occurs and the ball passes to the other side. Now they become the team that serves. We are the team that receives since we lost the point. We don't change sides. Miriam is now the returner and I am the returner's partner because Maggie was on the right side when the throw-in occurred, she is the first serve and will call a score of zero zero one.

They lost that point. The ball now goes to the second server, which is Irene. They will not change sides. since they lost the point and Irene will serve from the left side which is where she was already I go back to become the returner Miriam moves up to start the point and she is the returner's partner Irene will call a score of zero zero two Before serving they won that point since they are the team that serves they score a point they also change sides Irene now moves to the right and serves from there and Maggie is on the left Miriam is now the one who returns and I am the partner of the one returns Irene will now call with a score of one zero two before serving, we win that point as now both Maggie and Irene have had the opportunity to serve a side and we become the serving team again and they become the receiving team Since Miriam started the previous point on the right side she is the right side player after this side and will be the first to serve for our team this turn to serve if we lose a point.

Then I will have the opportunity to serve this tour of duty for our team before we send you. Off the court to play there is only one most important thing that new players should know and that is the key rules of service. The serve is unique in that it is the shot that has by far the most rules on how it can be performed. Primarily designed to limit the power with which you can serve, as we already mentioned, you must start your serve with both feet behind the baseline and cannot enter the court or line until you have made contact with the ball.

The full rules regarding your feet on the serve are actually a little more nuanced than that, but for Simplicity that's all you really need to know, although you can serve with the forehand or backhand, the forehand serve is what is used most almost exclusively, so we will cover that there are two general options that you can use for your serve whenever you approach to serve the volley serve or the drop serve. Let's start with the rules of the volley serve when you throw the ball and hit it on the fly from your hand. It is a volley serve Your service movement for the volley serve must meet these three requirements to be considered legal number one Your hitting arm must be moving in an upward arc at the time you hit the ball with your number paddle two the highest point of your paddle head should not be above the highest part of the wrist when the paddle hits the ball number three contact with the ball should not be made above the waist there is some confusion and discussion in around this because people tend to have different ideas about the exact location of the waist, so although it is not in the rules, it is generally accepted that the navel is used as a marker since no one disagrees with the location of the navel.

The other option you can use is the drop serve when you release the ball and let it bounce before hitting. that is a drop serve the three requirements for the volley serve do not apply to the drop serve if you choose to use a drop serve then these are the rules that apply number one there are no restrictions on how many times you let the ball bounce although I recommend that you let it bounce only once so that you can get as much contact as possible Point number two the ball can bounce anywhere some players are under the impression that the bounce must be behind the line that is not true the ball can bounce behind the line on the line or inside court number three, the ball cannot be propelled up or down on your throw, you just have to release it.

You can do it from any height you want, but it must be a simple throw without Force assistance. Most players choose to do so. use the volley serve as you can usually achieve a higher contact point with the volley serve, a higher contact point is always desirable in pickleball as you have to hit up less to clear the net and therefore Therefore, you can usually hit a more effective shot, although many new players find it easier to time a drop serve rather than a volley. Initially, performing your serve routinely is more important than maximizing the impact of your serve on your opponents, so try both and do what works best for you, now you can go out on the court.

Confidence knowing you have the information you need to succeed while having fun from the start to help you progress on your pickleball journey. Be sure to subscribe to this channel to receive notifications about newly released videos and also make sure you don't miss out on the growing resource of pickleball tips, techniques, tactical workouts and more to help you improve your game as you visit Primetime pickleball.com . Be sure to head on over there to stay up to date with Cutting Edge Pickleball. information, all designed to help you get the tools you need to become the player you want to be, visit primetimepickleball.com today