Glossary
Pickleball glossary
Key terms first
A to Z
A
B
C
D
- Dead Ball A ball that is no longer in play because the rally has stopped, for example after a fault.
- Dink A soft shot from near the net that drops into the opponent's kitchen.
- Doubles A game played two against two.
- Drive A hard shot hit low and fast, just above the net.
- Drop Serve A serve where you drop the ball from your hand and hit it after it bounces.
- DUPR A number that shows your pickleball skill, calculated mainly from match results. It ranges from 2.000 to 8.000.
E
F
- Fault When a rally ends because of a rule violation or a mistake.
- First Server In doubles, the player who serves first when the serve comes to their team after a side out. Their server number is "1".
- Foot Fault A fault caused by where your feet are, such as stepping on the baseline when you serve or volleying while standing in the kitchen.
H
K
L
M
N
O
P
R
- Rally The continuous play from the serve until the ball becomes dead.
- Rally Scoring A way of scoring where the team that wins the rally gets a point, whether or not it was serving.
- Ready Position The basic stance that lets you react quickly to the next ball.
- Receiver The player who receives and returns the serve.
- Reset A shot that takes the pace off a fast ball and sends it softly into the opponent's kitchen.
- Return of Serve The shot the receiver hits back off the serve. The second shot of the rally.
S
- Score Call Saying the score out loud before the serve.
- Second Server In doubles, the player who serves second. Their server number is "2".
- Serve The shot that starts a rally. It goes into the opponent's service court diagonally across.
- Server The player who hits the serve.
- Service Court The area the serve goes into. It is the space between the kitchen line and the baseline, split into left and right by the centerline.
- Side Out When the serve passes to the other team.
- Sideline The lines along the left and right sides of the court.
- Singles A game played one against one.
- Speed-Up Attacking by suddenly hitting a fast ball during a slow exchange, such as dinks.
- Split Step A small hop just as the opponent hits, landing on both feet so you can move in any direction.
- Stacking A doubles strategy of arranging where you stand so each player can play on their stronger side (right or left).
T
- Third Shot Drop A soft shot the serving side hits as the third shot, dropping it into the opponent's kitchen.
- Timeout A break taken during a game. In games to 11, each team gets 2, of up to 1 minute each.
- Transition Zone The area between the baseline and the kitchen line, which you pass through on your way up to the net.
- Two-Bounce Rule The rule that the serve and the return must each bounce once before they are hit.