RULES OF THE GAME

RULES

There are several key rules in Pickleball that help make the game more accessible. In tennis, and many net sports, games are often won and lost by the power of the serve. In Pickleball, the ball must bounce once on each side before volleys are allowed. This opens the game to more players and extends play for added fun.

Below are Condensed Pickleball Rules to get started quickly, however there are 65+ pages of official rules available at the USAPA website in case of a dispute.  ​Please visit the USA Pickleball site for full official rules.

CONDENSED PICKLEBALL RULES

Games are played to 11 points and leading by a 2-point spread for a win.
The ball is served underhand without bouncing first and is served diagonally to the opponent’s service court.
The serve may land on any service court line except the kitchen line in the service area.
A serve that hits the net and lands in the service court is a good serve. If it lands anywhere else it is out.

The service return must be bounced before striking the ball; the serving team must also let the ball bounce once on the return. After that, play may include volleys.
Balls in play that land on any court line are good.
Players will call the lines on their side of the court.

A player cannot volley a ball while standing within the kitchen.
A player may enter the kitchen if the ball bounces within the kitchen, play it and immediately leave the kitchen area before playing again.

The game starting server is called 'start' alternating from right to left to right, etc., as long as the team wins the point.
When the server loses the point, the serve goes to the opposing team, always starting on the right side of the court.
This server is called, 'server 1', when this server’s team loses the point, his partner 'server 2' will continue to serve from the last side position.

Points are scored by the serving side only.

SCORING

Server should announce the score at the start of each point. You call your own score, then opponent's score, and then 1 or 2 for whether you are the first or second server (exception is "start" for the first server of the game).

Game starting right side server, score is 0-0-start

(0 means - no points scored yet for the new serving team, 0 means - the opponent's score, start means - game starting server)
If serving team wins, score is 1-0-start

Server changes side with partner. Server # 2 on the starting team only gets a service turn once the starting team regains the serve.
If serving team wins again, score is 2-0-start

If serving team loses, service passes to opponents who's score is then called first 0-2-1
(0 means - no points scored yet for the new serving team, 2 means - the opponent's score, 1 means - server # 1)

If serving team wins, score is 1-2-1
If serving team loses, server # 2 will serve and the score becomes 1-2-2
If serving team wins, score is 2-2-2
If serving team wins again, score is 3-2-2

If serving team loses, service passes to opponents who's score is then called first 2-3-1
etc

RALLY SCORING

Sometimes in the interest of time, games will be played using rally scoring. In this case, points can be scored on every rally regardless of who is serving.

Each player selects the left or right side of their court and stays there for the entire game.
If the serving team's score is even (including zero), then the player on the right-hand side of the court serves. Otherwise, the player on the left-hand side serves. 
The serve alternates between partners until they lose a rally, at which point the other team starts serving.
A point is scored on every rally, regardless of who served, except for the final point of the game.
The first team to reach 11 points wins.
The game winning point after the 10th point may only be scored on a serve.
You still call the score before each serve but the score will only be two numbers. Call your score first, then the score of the opposing team.