Ernes and around-the-post shots are legal only if the ordinary faults are avoided.

What an Erne and an ATP are

An Erne is a tactical volley from beside the non-volley zone. The player may step around the kitchen, jump over the corner of it, or position outside the sideline, then hit a ball out of the air close to the net. The shot is not legal because it has a special rule. It is legal when the player satisfies the normal non-volley-zone rules.

An around-the-post shot is different. It is a returned ball that travels around the outside of a net post and lands on the opponent's side. The ball does not have to pass over the net cord. The key is that it goes around the outside of the post, not between the post and the net or under the net.

How to judge a legal Erne

1. Confirm the player is volleying the ball, meaning the ball has not bounced before contact.
2. Check whether the player is touching the non-volley zone or its line at contact.
3. If the player had been in the kitchen earlier, confirm both feet were completely re-established outside the zone before the volley.
4. Keep watching after contact, because momentum from the volley can still carry the player into a fault.
5. Check live-ball restrictions such as touching the net, touching the post, crossing the net plane too early, or contacting the opponent's court.

The kitchen does not extend into the air

The non-volley zone is part of the playing surface, including its boundary lines. It does not extend upward like an invisible wall. That is why a player can legally jump over the corner of the kitchen to volley, as long as the player does not touch the zone during the volley or land in it because of the volley.

Standing outside the sideline is also allowed. Pickleball rules do not require a player to keep both feet inside the court during a rally. For an Erne, the important question is whether the volleying player has avoided non-volley-zone contact, not whether the player is outside the court boundary.

Around the post means outside the post

An ATP usually happens after a sharply angled shot pulls a player wide enough that the ball can be returned outside the post. Because the rule allows a returned ball around the outside of the net post, the shot may be legal even if it crosses below net height.

The path matters. A ball hit between the net and the post is a fault, and a ball hit under the net is also a fault. If the court has a nonstandard gap, barrier, or portable net setup, players should agree before play how obvious equipment oddities will be handled, especially in recreational games.

The ball must cross before you hit it

A player cannot hit the ball before it has entirely crossed the plane of the net to that player's side. This matters on Ernes because the paddle, arm, or body may be reaching near the net. The player may follow through across the plane after striking the ball, but crossing before the hit is a fault.

There is a narrow exception for a ball that bounces on a player's side and then spins or blows back toward the opponent's side without being hit. In that situation, the player may cross the plane to play the ball only after the ball has crossed back. That exception is separate from an ordinary Erne or ATP.

What makes these shots illegal

• Erne with a foot on the kitchen line: fault, because the line is part of the non-volley zone.
• Jumping over the kitchen and landing in it after the volley: fault if the landing is caused by volley momentum.
• Stepping from the kitchen straight into a volley: fault unless both feet were first re-established completely outside the zone.
• Touching the net or post while the ball is live: fault against the player who touched it.
• Hitting an ATP through the gap between the net and post: fault, because the ball must go around the outside of the post.

Common rulings

• Player jumps from outside the kitchen, volleys, and lands outside the sideline: legal if there is no kitchen, net, plane, or opponent-court fault.
• Player stands beside the kitchen outside the sideline and volleys a ball that has fully crossed the net plane: legal if the player is not touching the non-volley zone.
• Player reaches across the net plane before making contact on an Erne attempt: fault, even if the player never touches the kitchen.
• Ball is angled wide and returned around the outside of the post below net height: legal if it lands in and no other fault occurs.
• Player makes an ATP but the ball clips the inside gap between the post and net: fault because the ball did not go around the outside of the post.

What players often get wrong

• "An Erne is a loophole around the kitchen rule" is wrong. It works only when the player obeys the non-volley-zone rule.
• "The kitchen extends upward" is wrong. The zone is on the playing surface, but touching it during a volley still creates a fault.
• "An ATP must clear the net" is wrong. Around the outside of the post is the allowed path.
• "You can cross the net plane because the shot is dramatic" is wrong. Crossing before the hit is still a fault unless the specific ball-crosses-back exception applies.
• "The rally was over, so the Erne landing cannot matter" is wrong when the landing is a non-volley-zone momentum fault.

How officials enforce these plays

Officials do not treat Ernes and ATPs as trick-shot exceptions. They watch the same rule elements they would watch on any rally: where the player contacted the ball, whether the ball had fully crossed the net plane, whether the player touched the non-volley zone, and whether momentum created a late kitchen fault.

In non-officiated play, players should call their own faults and their partner's faults. Opponents may call non-volley-zone faults they clearly see, but doubtful Erne foot or momentum calls should not be guessed. If teams disagree about a permitted opponent non-volley-zone fault call, the rally is replayed under the ordinary fault-call procedure.

Next pickleball topics

• Kitchen and momentum rules
• Non-volley zone faults explained
• Faults and dead ball rules
• Line calls and faults
• Back to pickleball overview

Source material

• USA Pickleball Official Rules
• 2026 USA Pickleball Official Rulebook