Where to stand when serving and receiving

When serving or receiving in doubles, there are things the rules decide about where you stand, and there are common standard positions.

What the rules decide

• Server: serves from the correct serving area (behind the baseline) (7.A, Where your feet go when serving). Whether they serve from the left or the right depends on the team's score (5.B.3, After scoring, only the serving team switches sides)
• Receiver: the player whose position matches the team's score receives in the service court diagonally across from the server (5.B.3, 7.E). If the wrong player returns the serve, it is a fault (5.C.1.c, When the server or the score is wrong)
• The other two players (the server's partner and the receiver's partner) can stand anywhere, inside or outside the court, as long as they are on their own side of the net (5.B.4)

Common standard positions

• The serving team (both players): they stay near the baseline. Because the third shot must be hit after the return bounces, the serving team ends up staying back (Pickleball.com, Two-Bounce Rule)
• The receiver's partner: usually stands near the non-volley zone line (kitchen line) from the start (PlayPickleball.com)
• The receiver: after hitting the return, moves up to the kitchen line as quickly as possible (PlayPickleball.com). A team at the kitchen line can hit the ball earlier, so it is usually said to have the advantage (Onix)