Required reading · Couples Pickleball

Read This Before Playing

Please read together with your partner. Ask an organizer before your match if anything is unclear.

Our event mechanics

• One couple is one team. Only validated, eligible paid couples enter the finalized draw.
• Match format: Match length and target score will be announced by the organizers before play. Confirm the target score, winning margin, and number of games with the organizer before starting.
• We use double elimination on one court. Your first played loss sends you to the losers bracket. Your second played loss eliminates your team. A bye advances a team without a played match or loss.
• The undefeated winners-bracket finalist meets the losers-bracket finalist in the Grand Final. If the undefeated team wins, it is champion. If the other team wins, both have one loss: a Reset Final decides the champion.
• Wait until the organizer calls your match. Report the result to the court organizer for confirmation before advancing. Ask the organizer to resolve disputes calmly.

General pickleball basics

These basics describe traditional doubles play. The event match format above sets the length of our matches.

Scoring and serving turns

With traditional scoring, only the serving team earns points. A typical game is to 11, winning by 2; confirm our event target above. Call the serving team's score, receiving team's score, then server number. Doubles normally starts at 0–0–2: the opening side has one server turn. After that, each partner serves until a fault before service passes to the opponents. When your team scores, the same server switches sides.

Serve and return

Serve diagonally from behind the baseline into the opposite service box, past the kitchen. Do not step on the baseline or outside the sideline/centerline extensions at contact. For a volley serve, swing upward, contact below your waist, and keep the paddle head below your wrist. A drop serve is also allowed: release the ball without throwing it or forcing it downward and hit after its bounce. Do not add spin when releasing. You get one serve attempt; a legal net-touch serve remains in play.

Two bounces before volleys

The receiver must let the serve bounce. The serving side must let the return bounce too. After those two bounces, you may hit before a bounce (a volley) or after one bounce.

The kitchen / non-volley zone

Do not volley while touching the kitchen or its line. Your momentum must not carry you into it after a volley, even after the ball is dead. You may enter to play a bounced ball; establish both feet outside before volleying again.

Faults and line calls

A ball out of bounds, into the net without crossing, bouncing twice, or breaking the serve, two-bounce, or kitchen rules is a fault. Lines count as in, except the kitchen line on a serve. Call a ball out only when you clearly see it out; give the opponent the benefit of doubt. Call promptly and ask the organizer if you disagree.

Family first

Respect both teams, keep calls honest, and encourage new players. Stop for an injury or a stray ball and alert the organizer. Wear suitable shoes, drink water, and never chase a ball into another player.

Reference: USA Pickleball rules summary. Event organizers announce match details before play.