Never played?

Pickleball in 5 minutes.

Pickleball is the friendliest racquet sport you've never tried. The rules fit on a postcard, most people are rallying within their first session, and the rest you'll pick up by playing.

The basics

• Played on a court the size of a doubles badminton court (44 ft × 20 ft).
• Solid paddle, perforated plastic ball — soft outdoor balls and harder indoor balls.
• Mostly played as doubles. Singles exists, but it's brutal cardio.
• First side to 11 wins, but you have to win by 2.

The serve

• Underhand only. Contact the ball below your waist.
• You serve diagonally — into the opponent's far service box.
• One attempt. There's no second serve like in tennis.
• You serve from behind the baseline, both feet behind the line at contact.
• A "drop serve" — bouncing the ball and hitting it off the bounce — is also legal.

The two-bounce rule

This is the one rule that surprises new players. After the serve:

1. The receiving team must let the serve bounce before returning it.
2. The serving team must let that return bounce before hitting it.
3. After those two bounces, anyone can volley (hit it out of the air) — except in the kitchen.

The kitchen (non-volley zone)

The 7-foot zone either side of the net is called the "kitchen". You can't volley a ball while standing in it. You also can't be carried into it by your own momentum after a volley. You can stand in the kitchen and play a ball that's bounced — just not volley from there.

Scoring

The traditional pickleball score is called as three numbers: your team's score, the opponents' score, and which server you are (1 or 2).

Only the serving team can score. When you win the rally on your serve, you score and switch sides with your partner. When you lose a rally, the serve passes — first to your partner, then to the other team (a "side-out"). Very first serve of the game is the exception: only one player serves before side-out.

Don't worry about getting the score right — everyone gets it wrong sometimes, including seasoned players. Call it loudly, your opponents will keep you honest.

Common faults

• Ball lands out (lines are in).
• Ball into the net.
• Volley from inside the kitchen, or stepping into it during the swing.
• Hitting the ball before it bounces during the two-bounce phase.
• Serving incorrectly — above the waist, overhand, or wrong box.

The shots you'll hear about

• Dink — a soft shot landing in the opponent's kitchen. The slow game.
• Drive — a flat, hard shot. The fast game.
• Drop — a soft shot from the back court that drops into the kitchen, giving you time to come forward.
• Lob — a high shot over your opponents at the net.
• Third-shot drop — the serving team's escape from the baseline. Famous for being hard.