Rules guide

Pickleball Terms and Definitions

A quick glossary for the words players hear on court, in lessons, and in rule explanations, with 80+ plain-English definitions.

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What this page covers

Definitions for common court language, slang, and shot names.

Grouped alphabetically with quick letter navigation.

Useful for beginners before their first open play.

Links naturally into rules, strategy, and skill levels.

A

Ace: A serve the receiver cannot touch, winning the rally outright for the serving side.
ATP (Around the Post): A shot hit around the outside of the net post rather than over the net, landing in the court. It is legal and can pass below net height.

B

Backspin: Backward rotation put on the ball, also called slice, that makes the ball float and check up after the bounce.
Backswing: The backward motion of the paddle before making contact with the ball.
Banger: A player who relies on hard, fast drives instead of the soft dinking and reset game.
Baseline: The back boundary line of the court, 22 feet from the net on each side.
Bert: An Erne-style volley taken across your partner's side of the court after jumping around the outside of the net.
Body bag: A shot hit hard directly at an opponent's body, usually to jam them and force a weak return.

C

Carry: An illegal shot where the ball rests on or is dragged by the paddle rather than being cleanly struck.
Centerline: The line that divides the two service courts on each side and runs from the kitchen to the baseline.
Chicken wing: An awkward defensive move where a player bends the elbow up to return a fast ball aimed at the shoulder or hip.
Crosscourt: A shot hit diagonally to the opposite side of the court, the direction of every serve.

D

Dead ball: A ball that is no longer in play after a fault, point, or stoppage.
Dillball: Slang for a live ball that has bounced legally and is still in play.
Dink: A soft, controlled shot hit from near the kitchen that arcs over the net and lands in the opponent's non-volley zone to prevent an attack.
Double bounce: A fault where the ball bounces twice on one side before it is returned.
Double hit: Contacting the ball twice on one swing. It is legal only if it happens in one continuous motion from a single stroke.
Doubles: The most common format, with two players on each side of the net.
Drive: A hard, flat, low shot hit with pace, usually as a groundstroke aimed to pressure opponents.
Drop serve: A legal serve where the server drops the ball and hits it after the bounce, with no toss and no height requirement.
Drop shot: A soft shot, often the third shot, that arcs into the kitchen to slow the point and let the serving team move forward.

E

Erne: An aggressive volley hit close to the net near the sideline, after the player legally jumps around or steps outside the kitchen.

F

Falafel: A mishit or short shot that lands well short because it came off the paddle with almost no power.
Fault: Any rule violation that ends the rally, such as hitting out, into the net, or volleying in the kitchen.
Flapjack: A shot that must bounce once before it can be hit, sometimes used to describe a required two-bounce situation.
Foot fault: A serving fault where a foot touches the baseline or the court before the serve is struck, or a kitchen fault on a volley.

G

Golden pickle: Winning a game 11-0 while the serving team never loses the serve, meaning the losing team never got to serve.
Groundstroke: A forehand or backhand hit after the ball has bounced, usually from the mid or back court.

H

Half volley: A shot hit immediately after the bounce, with the paddle low near the ground, often in the transition zone.
Hinder: An outside distraction, such as a stray ball or noise, that can stop play and lead to a replay.

K

Kitchen: The common name for the non-volley zone, the 7-foot area on each side of the net where volleys are not allowed.
Kitchen line: The line 7 feet from the net marking the back edge of the non-volley zone. The line itself is part of the kitchen.

L

Ladder league: A format where players or teams move up and down a ranking ladder based on match results.
Let: A replayed serve or point. Under current USA Pickleball rules a serve that clips the net and lands in is played, not a let.
Line call: Judging whether a ball landed in or out. In rec play the team on the side where the ball lands makes the call.
Lob: A high, deep shot hit over the opponents to push them off the kitchen line and reset court position.

M

Midcourt: The area between the baseline and the kitchen line, also called the transition zone, where volleys and half volleys happen.

N

Nasty Nelson: A serve aimed to hit the non-receiving opponent standing near the kitchen, which scores a point for the server.
Non-volley zone (NVZ): The official term for the kitchen, the 7-foot zone on each side of the net where a player may not volley the ball.

O

OPA: A friendly rec-play call meaning the two-bounce rule is complete and the ball can now be volleyed by either side.
Open face: A paddle angle tilted back so the hitting surface points slightly upward, adding lift and often backspin.
Overhead smash: A powerful downward shot hit above the head, usually to put away a high ball or lob.

P

Paddle face: The flat hitting surface of the paddle that contacts the ball.
Permanent object: Anything outside the court, such as a fence, net post, or the ceiling, that can affect whether a ball is in or out.
Pickle: A call some players shout to warn that a serve is coming, similar to fore in golf.
Pickled: Losing a game without scoring a single point, ending 11-0.
Pickler: An enthusiast who plays pickleball often and talks about it constantly.
Poach: Crossing into your partner's side to cut off a ball and take the shot, common in doubles.
Punch volley: A short, firm volley with a compact motion and no backswing, used to block or redirect pace.
Put-away: A shot hit to end the rally, usually a hard volley or smash that the opponent cannot return.

R

Rally: The continuous back-and-forth of hitting the ball after the serve until a fault ends the point.
Rally scoring: A scoring format where a point is awarded on every rally regardless of who served. USA Pickleball recognizes it as an option for certain formats; confirm the event's scoring method.
Receiver: The player who returns the serve. Only the correct diagonal receiver may take the serve.
Reset: A soft shot that takes pace off a hard ball and drops it into the kitchen to neutralize an attack.

S

Scorpion: A low, crouched volley or return hit with the paddle held out in front, often near the ground.
Serve: The shot that starts every rally, hit underhand from behind the baseline into the diagonal service court.
Server number: In doubles the third called number, 1 or 2, that shows which partner is serving in the current turn.
Service court: The area the serve must land in, diagonally across the net, excluding the kitchen and kitchen line.
Shadowing: Moving side to side with your partner as a unit so the team covers the court with consistent spacing.
Shake and bake: A doubles play where one partner drives hard and the other crashes the net to volley the weak reply.
Side out: When a team loses its serve and service passes to the other side. In standard scoring only the serving side can score.
Sideline: The line marking the left and right boundaries along the length of the court.
Singles: A one-on-one format on the full court, with serving side based on the server's score.
Skinny singles: A practice game played on only half the court, cross-court or straight-ahead, useful for drilling with two players.
Slice: A stroke that brushes under the ball to add backspin, keeping the shot low and skidding after the bounce.
Speedup: Suddenly attacking a soft dink rally by hitting a faster ball, usually off a slightly high dink.
Split step: A small hop to a balanced, ready stance as the opponent hits, so you can move quickly in any direction.
Stacking: A doubles positioning strategy where partners line up on the same side so each stays on a preferred forehand or backhand.
Sweet spot: The center of the paddle face that delivers the most control and power on contact.

T

Technical foul: A referee-assessed penalty point for misconduct, such as abusive behavior or ball abuse, separate from a normal fault.
Third shot drop: A soft shot hit by the serving team on the third shot of the rally, arcing into the kitchen so the team can move to the net.
Topspin: Forward rotation on the ball that makes it dip down faster and kick forward after the bounce.
Transition zone: The midcourt area between the baseline and kitchen line that players cross while moving forward, also called no-man's land.
Tweener: A trick shot hit between the legs, usually in desperation on a lob or a ball hit behind the player.
Two-bounce rule: The rule that the ball must bounce once on each side, on the serve and the return, before either team may volley.

U

Unattackable ball: A ball, usually a well-placed dink, that is too low over the net to be hit down aggressively.

V

Volley: Hitting the ball out of the air before it bounces. It is illegal inside the kitchen.
Volley llama: A humorous term for an illegal volley made while standing in the non-volley zone.