Pickleball faults, explained

A fault is any action that stops play because a rule was broken. When you commit one, the rally ends: if you were serving, you lose the serve; if you were receiving, the serving side scores. That is the whole consequence, and it is why knowing the list matters more than knowing any strategy at this stage.

Below are all eleven faults, in plain language, with a note on which ones actually come up in recreational play. The good news: three of them account for nearly everything you will see on a rec court.

The complete list

1. The serve does not land in the correct receiving court. Diagonal, past the kitchen line, inside the sidelines and baseline.
2. The ball is hit into the net — on the serve or on any return.
3. The ball is volleyed before a bounce has occurred on each side. This is the two-bounce rule, and it is the one newcomers from other racquet sports break constantly.
4. The ball is hit out of bounds. Note that a ball touching any line other than the kitchen line on a serve is good.
5. A ball is volleyed from the non-volley zone. The kitchen. Stepping on the line counts.
6. The ball bounces twice before the receiver strikes it.
7. A player, their clothing, or any part of their paddle touches the net or the net post while the ball is in play.
8. There is a violation of a service rule. Contact above the waist, an upward arc, foot faults and so on — covered in serving rules.
9. A ball in play strikes a player or anything they are wearing or carrying. The player who was hit loses the rally, regardless of whether the ball was heading out.
10. A ball in play strikes any permanent object before bouncing on the court. A fence, a light pole, a net post.
11. An extra ball a player is carrying becomes visible to an opponent, or falls on the court. A spare ball has to stay in your possession and out of your opponents' sight while the rally is live. Keep it in a pocket and this never comes up.

The three you will actually commit

In practice, recreational faults cluster hard. If you eliminate these three you will look like a much better player without changing a single shot:

1. Volleying too early. The two-bounce rule means the serve must bounce, and the return of serve must bounce, before anyone hits out of the air. New players — especially anyone from tennis or racquetball — instinctively move in and volley the return. Wait for the bounce on the first two shots of every rally, every time, and this stops being a problem.

2. Volleying in the kitchen. The non-volley zone extends seven feet from the net on both sides. You may stand in it whenever you like; what you may not do is volley from it. It is also a fault if your momentum carries you into the zone after a volley, even if you hit the ball outside it. Our kitchen rule guide covers the momentum clause, which is where most disputes start.

3. Service faults. The serve must be hit with an upward arc, with contact below the waist and the paddle head below the wrist, from behind the baseline, and it must land diagonally past the kitchen line. Most rec-play service faults are simply the serve landing in the kitchen or wide.

The ones that surprise people

Getting hit by the ball is your fault. If a ball in play strikes you or anything you are wearing or carrying, you lose the rally — even if the ball was clearly heading out. So the instinct to let a high ball go and hope it sails long has a catch: get out of its way, do not just watch it.

Touching the net is a fault, and it includes your paddle and your shirt. A triumphant lunge that brushes the tape with your sleeve costs you the point. It applies only while the ball is in play — after the rally ends you can lean on the net all you like.

Hitting a permanent object before the bounce. If your shot clips the fence or a light before landing, the rally is over. On enclosed courts this comes up more than you would expect.

What is not a fault

• Standing in the kitchen. Perfectly legal at any time other than when volleying.
• The ball clipping a line. Any line except the kitchen line on a serve — a ball touching the line is in.
• Hitting the ball around the net post. Legal, and one of the more satisfying shots in the sport, provided it lands in.
• Your paddle crossing the net plane after contact on a follow-through, provided you do not touch the net.

Calling faults without arguments

In recreational play there is no referee, so calls are made by the players. Two conventions keep it friendly: you call the ball on your own side, because you are the one who can see it land, and if you are not sure, the ball is in. Both are standard etiquette and both remove almost all the friction — more on this in our pickleball etiquette guide.

Kitchen faults are the exception, because the person who committed one often cannot see their own foot. The graceful move is to call it on yourself. Experienced players do this constantly and it is one of the quiet pleasures of the sport.

Where to go next

If any of the rules behind these faults are new, start with the full rules for beginners, then scoring — those two plus this page cover everything a new player needs to play a clean, argument-free game.