Essential Pickleball Rules for Doubles Play

Key Points

• When you play doubles, there will always be 3 numbers you hear when calling the score: Servers Score, Receivers Score, and Number 1 or 2, depending on who is serving
• If the servers score is even, you start on the left side, if the server score is odd, you start on the right side
• The serve must be hit from behind the line, making contact below your belly button with the racket below the wrist
• When returning serve, you have to let the ball bounce
• You can only score points as the serving team with server 1 and server 2
• Apart from the first serve of the game - where you only get 1 serve as a team - you will always serve twice with 1 serve each
• If either server wins the point, they continue serving until they lose the point and then switch servers
• The serve must be hit crosscourt or diagonally past the kitchen line or you lose the point
• If the ball hits the kitchen line on your serve, that is out
• As the serving team, both players have to wait for the return of serve to bounce before hitting their next shot
• Toes on the line count as a violation and you lose the point
• Falling into the kitchen zone any time after hitting - including when the ball has bounced twice - is a fault
• You lose the point if you touch the net with any part of your body including your racket and feet
• The ball has to hit on your wrist or below to count as a legal shot when hitting over the net
• If the ball bounces inside the kitchen, you can step in and hit the ball as long as you get out right away
• Ernes are a legal shot where you jump out of bounds and hit the ball in line with the kitchen
• If your opponent hits a wide angle, you’re allowed to hit the ball around the post and below the height of the net - this shot is called an A.T.P.
• When using a temporary net with a bar, if the ball hits the net and drops on the bar, this a replay of the point