Is your pickleball serve legal or illegal? Learn more about all the pickleball serve rules, the two types of pickleball serves (the drop serve and volley serve), and what makes a pickleball serve legal or illegal. Plus, can you spot an illegal pickleball serve? Take our test to find out.
5 important pickleball serving rules to remember
The game score must be called before before you serve.
To serve a legal pickleball serve, you have to hit the ball in the opposite diagonal box.
The serve can hit any line except the non-volley zone (or “kitchen”) line and of course it cannot bounce in the pickleball kitchen.
Your momentum can take you into the court after you've contacted the ball, but at the moment of contact both feet must be behind the baseline.
You cannot manipulate the pickleball ball with spin upon releasing the ball. Rules of spin apply to both the drop and volley serve in pickleball.
During officiated play, the pickleball ball must be visible by the referee at all times when serving.
Learn the 7 most common of illegal pickleball serves.
Rules of the pickleball volley serve
A volley serve is when you do not let the ball bounce before you serve. Here are the main rules of a volley serve in pickleball:
Your serving arm must be moving in an upward arc at the contact of the ball, which means you cannot hit down, or chop down, on the ball.
You may be able to hit the side of the ball, if you can hit the ball on an upward trajectory, but your arm must be moving up at the point of contact.
At the point of contact, the highest point of your pickleball paddle must be below the highest point of your wrist.
The pickleball must be contacted below your waist.
By definition your waist is your naval.
Rules of the pickleball drop serve
Here are the main rules of the drop serve in pickleball:
The ball must be released from the server's hand or the server's paddle face from any natural or unaided height.
You can let the ball bounce as many times as you'd like before hitting it.
There is no restriction about where the ball bounces on the court as long as your feet stay behind behind the baseline when releasing the ball.
You cannot propel the ball downward or toss it upward.
The ball can be hit with either your forehand or your backhand.
Test your illegal pickleball serve knowledge
Watch the video above to learn more about illegal pickleball serves vs. legal pickleball serves — and take our test to see if you can spot the difference in real-life serving scenarios.