Pickleball Rules

Please read through this guide to understand the format and rules for our tournament

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Table of contents

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Definitions

The Kitchen or Non-Volley Zone: area closest to the net on either side. Spans 7ft on either side of the net.

Match: a series of games resulting in a win or loss, when one team wins two games

Game: a game is played to 11 points, win by two

Point: when a team wins a rally when they are serving, they get a point

Non-Volley or Kitchen Line: the line between the service boxes and the kitchen area

Centerline: the line separating the left and right service boxes

Sideline: the lines on the sides off the court. There are two sidelines per side.

Baseline: the lines at the back of the court. There is one baseline per side.

Format

Team Format

Teams of four (4) players

  • The first part will consist of three rounds of matches (every team will have a chance to play every other team)
  • Each round you will divide your team of four into two teams of two players each.
  • You can decide to pair any group of two players each match/round.
  • You can change up your team pairings after each round.
  • You cannot change a pairing in the middle of a round, unless you need a substitute due to health or injury.

Game Play Format

Doubles play: two players per team vs. two players of an opposing team

Matches: best of 3 games (fist team to win 2 games)

Games: play to 11 points, win by 2 (report your score after each game)

Game Schedule

Part 1 - Team Play

There will be three rounds of team play.

Four matches will be played simultaneously during each round.

Your team will divide into two teams of two (for example: Team 1-A and Team 1-B).

Your team will paired against another team in two matches played simultaneously (for example, if Team 1 is playing against Team 2, the two matches will look like this: Team 1-A vs. Team 2-A and Team 1-B vs. Team 2-B).

After three rounds all teams will have played each other.

Part 2 - Finals

The top two teams after team play will compete in the finals for first and second place.

The bottom two teams after team play will compete for third and fourth place.

Each team will divide into two teams and play the other teams' two teams.

If there is a tie, the tie will be broken by a playoff game to 7 or 11 points (depending on timing). Each team will select its top two players for this game.

Tournament Rules

Determining Finalists

After the first part is complete we will rank the teams as follows:

  1. Teams will be ranked by matches won
  2. The two teams with the most matches won, will continue to the final
  3. The two teams with the least amount of wins will compete for 3rd and 4th place
  4. If there is a tie between teams, please reference the tie-breaker section below

Tie Breaker Rules

If three teams tie for first place

  1. We will use an equation to select a team to move to the finals: 
    Total points won minus total points lost (from all previous games)
  2. The team with the most amount of points will continue
  3. If two teams tie for the most points, those two teams will continue
  4. If one team has the most points, the other two teams will select two players per team to play a game to 7 points. The winning team from that playoff will move on to the final.

If three teams tie for second place

  1. We will use an equation to select a team to be disqualified from the finals: 
    Total points won minus total points lost (from all previous games)
  2. The team with the least amount of points will be disqualified from the playoff
  3. If two teams tie for the least points, the team with the most points will automatically move on
  4. If one team has the least points, the other two teams will select two players per team to play a game to 7 points. The winning team from that playoff will move on to the final.

If two teams tie for second place

  1. The two teams will select two players per team to play a game to 7 points.
  2. The winning team from that playoff will move on to the final.
  3. The losing team will play for third place against the last place team.

Boundaries & Line Rules

Understanding the court

See the image below for details.

Out of bounds

If a ball hits a boundary line (sidelines or baseline) the ball is "in" play.

If the ball falls outside the boundary lines, then the ball is "out".

Calling a ball out

Call your opponents’ in or out balls (if too close to tell and/or you didn’t see it please ask your teammate, then ask the other team, call it in when in doubt, only replay point if all four players agree)

Non-Volley Area (The Kitchen)

  1. You may stand in the kitchen at any time except for hitting a ball that did not first bounce in the kitchen
  2. You may not hit a ball out of the air from the kitchen
  3. The ball must bounce in the kitchen in order to hit a ball while standing in the kitchen
  4. If a shot bounces outside the kitchen and your return shot carries you into the kitchen, you automatically forfeit the point
  5. The kitchen line counts as part of the kitchen

Special Shots

Earnie

An Earnie occurs when you hit a ball while standing outside the court close to the net area. This is a legal shot as long as the following criteria are met:

  1. You strike the ball, while the ball is on your side of the net
  2. You do not touch the net or a player on the opposing team
  3. You do not step into the kitchen

ATP (around the post)

An ATP occurs when you hit a ball from your side, around the net post, and it lands in bounds on the other side. This is a legal shot and does not require you to hit the ball over the net, but instead around the net.

Serving Rules

In or Out?

  1. If a ball hits the kitchen line (non-volley zone line) it is out
  2. If the ball hits the outside boundary lines (baseline or sidelines) of the correct service box it is in
  3. If the ball hits the centerline it is in
  4. If the ball lands in the kitchen, outside the court boundaries, or in the wrong service area it is out

Let Rules

Play a let! If the ball is a “let”, meaning the ball hits the net and lands in the correct service area, the ball is “in” and play should continue.

Foot Fault Rules

Please keep your feet completely behind the baseline while serving. Your feet cannot touch the line, they must be fully behind the line.

Your feet and body must be on the opposite side of the court from the box you are serving to, while keeping your feet behind the baseline.

Bounce Serve

You may opt to either bounce the ball or hit the ball out of the air for your serve, as long as your paddle and wrist remain below your waist line.

Two Bounce Rule

The ball must bounce once on each side before anyone can hit a ball out of the air.

Here is an example of legal play:

  1. First shot: serving player hits a serve that must bounce only once before the second shot.
  2. Second shot: the returning player lets the ball bounce once and hits a return back to the other team that must bounce only once before the serving team can hit the third shot.
  3. Third shot: the ball bounces and the serving team hits the third shot
  4. Fourth shot: the returning team hit the fourth shot out of the air 👍

Here is an example of illegal play:

  1. First shot: serving player hits a serve that bounces once before the return shot is hit.
  2. Second shot: the returning player lets the ball bounce once and hits a return back to the other team.
  3. Third shot: the serving player hits the next shot out of the air.
  4. The serving team would automatically lose the point in this case

a person will serve the ball and it must bounce on the other side before hitting the ball. The ball must then bounce on the other side before the serving team can hit the ball. After the

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