Why the ball goes where it goes

1 · The court

The court, quickly

A pickleball court is 20 feet wide and 44 feet long, the size of a badminton doubles court. The net is 36 inches high at the sidelines and sags to 34 inches in the middle.

That 2 inches matters more than it sounds. The middle of the net is the lowest point you can hit over, and a cross-court shot also has more court to land in. Keep both in mind for the dink.

The 7 feet on each side of the net is the non-volley zone, which everyone calls the kitchen. Most of doubles is about who controls the line at its edge.

2 · The kitchen

The kitchen rule is about volleys, not feet

A volley is hitting the ball out of the air before it bounces. The kitchen rule only cares about volleys. You can walk into the kitchen whenever you like. You just can’t be touching it when you volley.

• The kitchen line is part of the kitchen. A toe on the line during a volley is a fault.
• It counts after the shot too. If your momentum carries you into the kitchen after a volley, it’s a fault, even if the ball is already dead.
• Anything you’re wearing or holding counts: your paddle, your hat, your sunglasses.
• If you’ve been in the kitchen, both feet have to be back outside it before you’re allowed to volley.
• Once the ball has bounced, the kitchen is open. Step in, hit it, and step back out.

3 · Shot physics

The paddle face decides where the ball goes

There’s no string bed and almost no dwell time. A pickleball comes off a paddle close to straight out from the face. So the angle of your paddle face matters much more than the direction you swing.

Here you’re at the baseline hitting a ball that’s just bounced. Your face is and you’re swinging at . Drag either number and watch the arc.

Three things to notice:

1. Face angle sets the launch angle. Open the face a few degrees and the ball goes up a few degrees. Small changes move the landing spot a long way.
2. Swing speed sets the pace. Pace buys depth, but the ball is draggy and slows fast. A faster ball also needs a flatter face to stay in.
3. Swing path sets the spin. Brush up the back of the ball with a path and you get topspin, which pulls the ball down sooner. A downward chop gives backspin, which floats it.

The map shows every combination of face angle and swing speed for this contact. Most of it never reaches the net (pale red), finds the tape (red) or sails out (grey). The playable shots are the thin coloured band in between, and it gets thinner as you swing harder. Click or drag on the map to try any swing.

4 · Contact height

Why low balls are hard

The net is 34 inches in the middle, about the height of your hip. When you hit a ball below that, it has to go up to get over, which means it can’t come down hard on the other side.

Same spot, same firm swing of . Contact is at . Drag it from your ankles to over your head and watch two windows: the face angles that land in at all, and the ones that land in while staying low over the net, the kind of firm shot that’s hard to attack.

From your ankles, almost any firm ball has to float high over the net to land in, and a high ball is one they can attack. Low over the net only becomes possible as your contact rises toward net height. Above it, you can hit down.

That’s the whole reason we get our feet moving and take the ball out in front of us, and why you hear “bend your knees” so often. You can’t make a low ball higher. You can get lower to it, so the face angle you need is one you can actually control.

5 · Serve and return

Deep returns buy you time

Two rules shape the start of every point. The serve goes diagonally and has to clear the kitchen, line included. Then the two-bounce rule: the return has to bounce, and so does the shot after it. Nobody can volley until both have bounced.

So the serving team has to stay back at the baseline to let the return bounce. The receiving team doesn’t have that problem. The returner’s partner starts at the kitchen line, and the returner gets there as soon as they can.

How soon is “as soon as they can”? It depends on how long your return is in the air. Play with it.

A deep return does two jobs. It keeps the serving team pinned at the baseline, a long way from the net, and it gives you time to get forward. A short, fast return does neither. It comes back at your feet while you’re still running.

The serve matters less than people think. Get it in, get it deep, and save the heroics. A deep serve pushes the returner back, so their run to the line is longer.

6 · The dink

The dink: soft, low, and into the kitchen

Once all four players are at the kitchen line, the point turns into a patience game. A dink is a soft shot that lands in their kitchen. They can’t volley it there, so they have to let it bounce and then lift it back over the net.

The red box is their attack zone: anywhere above net height within reach of the opponent at the line. A ball that passes through it can be hit down at your feet. A good dink stays out of it.

You’re at the kitchen line taking a low ball at , face , with a gentle push.

• Lift, don’t hit. The incoming ball brings most of the pace. Open the face and push.
• Peak on your side. If the top of the arc is on your side, the ball is already falling when it crosses the net, and it lands short and stays low.
• Go cross-court when you can. Aim to your left or right and the ball crosses the lower middle of the net with more room to land in.

7 · The third shot

Third shot: drop or drive?

You served, they returned it deep, and now you’re at the baseline with both opponents waiting at the kitchen line. This is the hardest shot in the game, because you’re 15 feet further back than they are.

The drop is a soft, arcing shot that lands in their kitchen. It isn’t trying to win the point. It’s trying to buy time. While it’s in the air, you and your partner move up. If it lands in the kitchen they have to hit up, and you can keep coming.

The drive is a hard, low shot straight at them. It works when it reaches them below net height: they have to volley up, and you might get a weak ball to drop off next. If it arrives above the net, it comes straight back at your feet, faster than it left.

When do I pick which? Drop when they’re both set at the line. Drive when the return was short or high, or when one of them is still moving in. And plenty of good players drive the third and drop the fifth, using the drive to get a softer ball to drop.

8 · Court positioning

Where all four players should be

Step through the start of a point. At each shot, watch where everyone stands and why. Turn on the common mistake for any step to see what usually goes wrong.