How to Play Pickleball: A Step-by-Step Tutorial for Your First Game

Never held a paddle before? This is the fastest way from zero to your first real game. Ten steps that cover court setup, gear, serving, the two-bounce rule, the kitchen, scoring, and the strategy that’ll get you through your first hour on court without embarrassing yourself.

Step 1: Understand the court

A pickleball court is 20 feet wide and 44 feet long, about a third the size of a tennis court.

Key zones:

  • The kitchen (7 feet on either side of the net), where you can’t volley
  • Service boxes (the two boxes behind the kitchen on each side), where serves must land
  • Baseline, the back of the court, where you serve from
  • Sidelines, the outside boundaries

Step 2: Assemble a team

Doubles is the standard. You’ll rarely find singles played casually.

  • Two teams of two players each
  • Partners stay on the same side of the court

Step 3: Get the gear

Minimum viable:

  1. A paddle, start with a widebody polymer paddle in the $80–$120 range
  2. Balls, a sleeve of outdoor balls (if you’re playing outdoors) or indoor balls
  3. Court shoes, do NOT use running shoes; you’ll roll an ankle

Our best beginner paddles, proven starting points, all under $150.

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Step 4: The serve

  • Serve from behind the baseline
  • Underhand only, paddle below your waist at contact
  • Ball must land in the diagonal service box (across from where you’re serving)
  • If it lands in the kitchen or beyond the box, it’s a fault

Two serve types (pick one):

  • Drop serve (easier): drop the ball, let it bounce, hit it any way you want
  • Volley serve (traditional): hit it out of your hand before it bounces, with an upward motion

Drop serve is way easier for beginners.

Step 5: The two-bounce rule

The serve must bounce. The return must bounce. Then volleys are legal.

This is the rule you’re most likely to break. Your tennis instincts want you to volley the return, resist.

Step 6: The kitchen

You can’t volley the ball while any part of your body or paddle is in the kitchen or on the kitchen line.

You CAN stand in the kitchen. You just can’t hit a volley from there.

Need more on this? Read our full rules explainer.

Step 7: Scoring

  • First to 11 points, win by 2
  • Only the serving team can score
  • In doubles, both partners serve before it’s a side-out (except on the very first serve of the game, one server only)
  • Call the score before each serve: your score, opponent’s score, server number (1 or 2)
  • First serve is 0-0-2 (weird, but it’s the rule)

Step 8: The first game strategy

For your first game, just focus on:

  1. Get the serve in
  2. Get the return back deep
  3. Try to get to the kitchen line
  4. Once at the kitchen, dink (don’t try to smash everything)
  5. Don’t step in the kitchen while volleying

That’s it. You’ll lose some, you’ll win some, and by the end of your first day you’ll understand what you need to work on.

Step 9: What to practice next

Once you can survive a game, the fastest ways to level up:

  • Third-shot drop, the make-or-break intermediate shot
  • Consistent dinks, patience > power
  • Reset shots, turn defense into offense

Read Tony Roig’s take on the third-shot drop.

Step 10: Find where to play

Local rec centers, YMCAs, and dedicated pickleball facilities are everywhere. Apps like Pickleball Union, CourtReserve, and community Facebook groups will show you where players gather.

Ready to buy your first paddle?

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