SRSport Rules
Pickleball

The double-bounce rule controls the first three shots.

Pickleball players often call it the double-bounce rule, but the official name is the two-bounce rule. It means the serve must bounce before the receiver returns it, and the return of serve must bounce before the serving team hits the third shot.

Quick ruling: after a legal serve, the receiving team must play the ball after one bounce. The serving team must also let that return bounce. Once the ball has bounced once on each side, either team may volley or play the ball after a bounce.
Rule name

Double-bounce means two-bounce

The phrase can be confusing because a separate pickleball fault occurs when a ball bounces twice before a player hits it. The rule covered here is different. The two-bounce rule requires one bounce on the receiving side after the serve and one bounce on the serving side after the return.

After those two required bounces, normal rally play begins. A player may volley from outside the non-volley zone, may let the ball bounce, or may move forward for the next shot subject to the kitchen rules.

Decision path

How to apply it

  1. Start with the serve. The receiver cannot volley the serve.
  2. Watch the return of serve. The serving team cannot volley that return.
  3. Confirm that the ball has bounced once in each team's court.
  4. After that point, volleys are allowed unless another rule, such as the non-volley-zone rule, prevents them.
First shots

What each team must do

The receiving team must let the served ball land in the correct service court before returning it. If the receiver hits the serve out of the air, the receiving team has committed a fault.

The serving team must then let the receiver's return bounce before hitting the third shot. If the server or the server's partner volleys that return, the serving team has committed a fault.

After the bounce

When volleys become legal

The two-bounce rule ends after the serve has bounced and the return of serve has bounced. The fourth shot and later shots can be volleyed or played off the bounce.

That does not override the kitchen rule. A player still cannot volley while touching the non-volley zone, touching its line, or being carried into it by volley momentum.

Singles and doubles

Who the rule applies to

The same two-bounce principle applies in singles and doubles. In doubles, either partner on the receiving team may return the serve after it bounces, and either partner on the serving team may hit the third shot after the return bounces.

The rule is about the team's side of the court, not a specific player. It does not require the same player who served to hit the third shot.

Faults

What happens if someone volleys early

An early volley during the two-bounce sequence is a fault. In ordinary side-out scoring, if the receiving team faults, the serving team wins the rally and may score a point. If the serving team faults, the result is loss of rally, which may mean second server or side out depending on the doubles serving sequence.

In rally-scoring formats, the scoring result can differ, but the underlying two-bounce fault is the same unless the event has adopted a specific variation.

Common arguments

Misunderstandings to avoid

  • "Double bounce means the ball bounced twice on one side" mixes two ideas. Two bounces on one side before contact is a normal rally fault, not the two-bounce rule.
  • "The server can rush the net like tennis" is limited. The serving team can move forward, but it cannot volley the return of serve.
  • "The third shot has to be a drop" is false. A third-shot drop is a tactic, not a rule. The only requirement is that the return has bounced before the serving team hits it.
  • "The rule disappears in doubles" is wrong. Doubles is the most common form of pickleball, and the two-bounce rule still applies.