Court lines & the kitchen
- Use the outside white lines of the court. Balls touching a boundary line are in, except for a serve touching the non-volley-zone line.
- The non-volley zone (NVZ), also called the kitchen, is marked by orange lines on our courts. Let the ball bounce before playing it while in this zone. You cannot volley while touching the NVZ, or enter it through the momentum of a volley.
The serve
Standard (volley) serve
- The ball is hit out of the hand, underarm, with a clearly upward swing.
- The paddle head must be below the wrist at contact.
- Contact must be below waist height (belly button).
Drop serve
- Drop the ball from your hand and let it bounce before hitting it. Do not propel it up or down, throw it or add spin.
For either serve
- Stand with both feet behind the baseline and within the extension of the sidelines. Keep the ball visible.
- Serve diagonally into the opposite service court, beyond the orange NVZ line. A serve landing on that line is a fault.
- There is no second serve.
- If the ball touches the net and lands in the correct service court, the serve is in. There is no let.
The two-bounce rule
The serve must bounce before the receiving team returns it. The return must then bounce before the serving team hits it. After those two bounces, players may volley from outside the kitchen.
Serve → bounce → return → bounce → play.
Standard side-out scoring
- Only the serving team can score a point.
- The server calls the score before every serve: serving team’s score, receiving team’s score, then server number (1 or 2). For example: 2–5–2.
- Games are normally to 11, won by two clear points. Club sessions often use timed rounds.
Changing server
- Start the game at 0–0–2. Only one player serves on the opening service turn; when that team loses the rally, the serve passes to the opponents.
- A server continues serving until their team loses the rally. The server swaps sides with their partner after each point won.
- After the opening service turn, server 1 serves until a rally is lost, then server 2 serves. When server 2 loses the rally, the serve passes to the other team: this is a side out.
- At each side out, the player on the right starts as server 1.
Stay safe
Stop play if another ball comes onto court, then replay the point. Please do not run backwards heels first for a ball: space around the courts is limited.