Pickleball Basics: The Kitchen, the Dink, and the Double-Bounce Rule
America's fastest-growing sport — the rules that make it different, in four minutes.
Pickleball is played on a badminton-sized court (13.4m × 6.1m) with a solid paddle and a perforated plastic ball — easy to start, hard to master.
The "kitchen" (non-volley zone) extends 7 feet each side of the net — you cannot volley while standing in it. You may enter only to play a ball that has bounced.
The double-bounce rule: after the serve, the ball must bounce once on each side before anyone can volley. This removes the serve-and-smash advantage and makes rallies matter.
Scoring: rally scoring to 11, win by 2 — and only the serving side scores. In doubles, each player on a side serves before service passes over.
The dink — a soft shot landing in the opponent's kitchen — is the sport's signature. Patient dinking pulls opponents forward and opens the court behind them.
Pro tip for beginners: don't swing hard. Consistency wins; most points are lost, not won.