A serve lands on the kitchen line. A ball spins back over the net. A drop shot dies on the bar of a portable net. Four players, four opinions, and someone reaching for a phone. Here are the calls players end up looking up, each settled with its rule number.
Every ruling comes from the 2026 USA Pickleball rulebook, which is what rec play, leagues and most tournaments follow. Where the pro tour plays it differently, we say so.
The serve
The serve lands on the kitchen line
Fault. In a rally, a ball touching any line is in, the kitchen line included. The serve is the one exception: it has to clear the kitchen, and a serve on the kitchen line counts as out (rules 7.E.2 and 8.C). The sidelines, centerline and baseline still count as in on the serve.
The serve clips the net and lands in
Play it. There’s no service let. A serve that touches the net and lands in the right service court is a good serve, and the receiver has to return it (rules 7.E and 13.A). If you’ve watched pros replay a net serve, that’s because the PPA Tour still calls a let in its pro events. USA Pickleball’s rules, which most rec play follows, don’t.
The serve hits the receiver’s partner before it bounces
Point to the serving team. A serve that hits the receiver, the receiver’s partner or anything they’re wearing or holding is a fault against the receiving team, even if it was heading out (rule 7.E.5). The same goes the other way: a serve that hits the server’s own partner is a fault against the server (rule 7.E.4).
The serve hits the bar or base of a portable net
Fault, on either side of the net (rule 13.B.1). A serve may not touch any part of the net’s frame. In a rally the same contact is usually a replay; see portable nets below.
The wrong player returns the serve
Fault against the receiving team, as long as the server and the right receiver were both in position when the score was called. It counts even if the rally plays out, but it has to be called before the next serve (rule 5.C.1.c). If the right player was out of position and nobody stopped the rally, the result stands (rule 5.C.2).
Someone calls the wrong score
Stop play before the return of serve and the rally is replayed with the right score (rule 6.F.1). Stop it after the return, or to challenge a score that was right, and it’s a fault against you (rules 6.F.2 and 6.F.3). If nobody notices until the rally is over, the rally counts and the score is fixed before the next serve (rule 6.F.4). Our scoring guide covers how to tell what the score should be.
At the net
Backspin carries the ball back over the net
You can reach over to hit it, once it’s all the way back. When a ball bounces on your side and spins or blows back to theirs before you touch it, you may reach over, under or around the net to play it (rule 13.I.2). Reach before the ball has fully crossed back and it’s a fault (rule 13.I.2.a). You still can’t touch the net, their court or them (rules 13.G and 13.H).
Let it bounce on their side without hitting it and you lose the rally (rule 13.I.2.b). The usual play, once you’ve reached over, is to tap the ball down into the net on their side, where nobody can return it.
The ball bounces on your side and spins into the net post
Your fault. The net posts count as permanent objects, and a ball that bounces on your side and reaches a permanent object before you return it is a fault against you, not the player who hit it (rules 10.C.5 and section 2, Permanent object). A shot that hits the post before it bounces is a fault against the hitter (rule 10.C.4).
Hitting the ball around the net post
Legal. A return can go around the outside of the post; it never has to cross over the net (rule 13.C). Between the net and the post is a fault (rule 13.D.1), and so is under the net (rule 13.E.1).
Reaching over the net to hit the ball
Fault, unless the ball has already crossed to your side. You have to let the ball come all the way to your side before you hit it (rule 13.F). Once you’ve hit it, your paddle may follow through over the net (rule 13.I.1), as long as you don’t touch the net or their court.
Touching the net
Fault while the ball is live, fine once it’s dead. You, your paddle and anything you’re wearing must stay off the net and its frame until the rally ends (rules 13.G and 9.B.1). Brushing the net a second after your winner has bounced twice on their side costs nothing. Touching their side of the court, or them, while the ball is live is also a fault (rule 13.H).
The ball goes over and gets stuck in the net
Replay. The same applies to a ball that crosses the net and then hits a part of the net draping on the ground, or a net that’s deflecting, before or after it bounces (rule 13.A.1).
Portable nets
The ball goes over and drops onto the bar or base
Replay, whether it touches the bar or base before or after it bounces, as long as it’s within the court (rule 13.B.2). It’s also a replay when the ball gets caught between the net and the bar, since it’s touching the bar. A shot that hits the bar or base before it crosses the net is a fault against the hitter (rule 13.B.1), and on the serve any contact is a fault.
The replay exists because a permanent net has no bar there. On a permanent net the ball would have dropped off the net into play, so the rule gives the other team back the chance it lost.
The kitchen
Your momentum carries you in after the rally is over
Still a fault. If you volley and your momentum takes you into the kitchen, it counts even when the ball is already dead (rules 11.A.2 and 9.B.1). Your momentum ends when you’ve regained your balance and control, or stopped moving toward the kitchen (section 2, Momentum). Stop yourself short of the line, and it was never a fault. The line is part of the kitchen.
Your hat or paddle falls into the kitchen as you volley
Fault. Anything you’re wearing, carrying or touching counts as you while you volley, so a hat, sunglasses or a paddle touching the kitchen is the same as a foot (rule 11.A.1). If it falls when you aren’t volleying, play on (rule 10.J).
Your partner grabs you to stop you falling in
Fault, if your partner is in the kitchen. While you volley, your partner counts as something you’re touching. If they’re touching the kitchen when you hold on to them, or your momentum carries you into them while they are, it’s a fault (rules 11.A.1 and 11.A.2). A partner standing outside the kitchen can hold you up.
Jumping out of the kitchen to hit a volley
Fault. After you’ve been in the kitchen, both feet have to be back on the ground outside it before you volley (rule 11.A.3). Jumping back and hitting it in the air doesn’t count.
You, your paddle and the ball
The ball hits your paddle hand
Legal, if it hits your hand below the wrist while that hand is holding the paddle (rule 10.C.3). Anywhere else on your body, or a hand that isn’t holding the paddle, and it’s a fault against you.
The ball hits you while you’re standing out of bounds
Your fault. It doesn’t matter that it was going out. A ball that touches you, or anything you’re wearing or holding, before it bounces is a fault against you (rules 10.C and 10.C.3). So is catching it. Step aside and let it land.
The ball hits your paddle twice
Legal, if it was one stroke. A ball can touch your paddle more than once as long as the swing is continuous, goes one way and is yours alone (rule 10.D). If you and your partner both hit it on the way back, it’s a fault (rule 10.D.2).
You throw your paddle at the ball
Fault, if the paddle isn’t in your hand when it hits the ball (rule 12.B.1). You can switch hands mid-rally or swing with both hands (rule 12.B).
Your hat falls on the court and the ball hits it
Play on. When something you’re wearing or carrying lands on your own side, the ball stays in play even if it hits it (rule 10.J). The exception is the kitchen while you volley, above.
A ball rolls in from the next court
Replay. A stray ball is a hinder, any player can call it, and the rally is replayed (rules 9.C.1 and 9.C.2).
The ball cracks mid-rally
Finish the rally. It’s replayed only if all the players agree the crack affected it. Otherwise the result stands (rules 10.G and 10.G.1).
Line calls
The ball touches the line
In, except a serve on the kitchen line, above. You can call a ball out only if you clearly see space between the ball and the line, and a call you aren’t sure of goes to your opponents (rules 8.D and 8.E). Each team calls the lines on its own side (rule 8.A).
You and your partner disagree on a call
It’s in (rule 8.H).
Your partner yells “out” while the ball is in the air
That’s advice, not a call. Telling your partner to leave a ball is communication, and play goes on (rule 8.F.4). A line call is made after the ball lands, and it stops play (rules 8.F.1 and 8.F.2). If you hit the ball back, your out call has to come before your opponent hits it, or it’s too late and the rally continues (rule 8.F.3).
Calling a fault on the other team
Only kitchen faults and service foot faults. Those you can call on your opponents, as soon as you see them and before the next serve. If the two teams disagree, the rally is replayed (rule 9.B.3). If you and your partner disagree, there’s no fault (rule 9.B.3.c). Anything else you can mention after the rally, but the player who did it makes the final call (rule 9.B.4).
The call nobody should argue about
Most arguments on court start with the score, not the rules. Rally Trace keeps it on your Apple Watch: tap the side that won each rally, and it keeps the score, the server and where everyone stands. Scoring is free, and so is your record with every partner and opponent on iPhone. Rally Trace Pro adds how you do on your serve and on theirs, and your win rate month by month.