New to Pickleballcourt
The court, the kitchen, and the lines
Before you play your first ball, it pays to know the name of every zone and line on the court, especially the kitchen, which carries rules unlike anything in tennis or badminton. Five minutes with a court diagram makes every other rule click much faster.
7 minKey takeaways
- The court is 20 feet wide by 44 feet long: the same footprint as a doubles badminton court, and less than a third the size of a tennis court.
- The net is 36 inches high at the sidelines and dips to 34 inches at the center; that two-inch drop is why the middle is the safer target on most shots.
- The non-volley zone (universally called 'the kitchen') is the 7-foot rectangle on each side of the net; it's the most rule-loaded area on the court.
- Behind each kitchen, the centerline splits the court into two service boxes (even/right and odd/left); serves land diagonally in the opponent's box.
- The baseline runs across the back of each side; all serves are struck from behind it. Anything landing outside the sidelines or baseline is out.
Drill to try
Walk the court (or sketch it on paper) naming every line and zone out loud: baseline, sidelines, centerline, service boxes, and the kitchen. Then stand in each service box and point to where a legal serve must land.