Is pickleball scored like tennis?

No. Tennis uses love, 15, 30, 40 and game, and either side can win a point on any rally. Standard pickleball games are usually played to 11, win by 2, and only the serving side can score.

Can you serve overhand in pickleball like in tennis?

No. A pickleball volley serve must be hit with an upward arc, below the waist, with the paddle head not above the wrist (Rule 7.C). A drop serve, hit after the ball bounces, is also allowed (Rule 7.D).

Do you get two serves in pickleball?

No. Tennis gives you a second service after a fault (ITF Rule 20). In pickleball, one serving fault ends the rally and the serve moves on.

Is a let serve replayed in pickleball?

No. In tennis, a good serve that touches the net is a let and is replayed (ITF Rule 22a). In pickleball, a serve that touches the net and lands in the correct court is in play (Rule 7.E).

Can you play pickleball on a tennis court?

Yes, with added lines and a lower net. A pickleball court is 20 by 44 feet, much smaller than a 78-foot tennis court, so several pickleball courts can be lined inside one tennis court.

Does Pickleball Have the Same Rules as Tennis? 9 Key Differences

By Sports Answered Editorial Team Updated October 29, 2026 Reviewed by Jeff Rausch · October 29, 2026

The rulingNo, the rules differ in 9 key ways

No. Pickleball shares a few rules with tennis, like the cross-court serve and calling a ball on the line in, but most of the rules that decide points are different. The serve is underhand, you get one attempt instead of two, net serves are not replayed, there is a no-volley kitchen, and in standard scoring only the serving side scores.

Pickleballs resting on a hard court painted with both tennis lines and red pickleball lines — Photo: Stephen James Hall, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Below are the nine differences that matter most, with the rule number for each sport from the ITF 2026 Rules of Tennis and the USA Pickleball 2026 Official Rulebook.

Side-by-side chart of nine rule differences between tennis and pickleball: court size, net height, serve motion, serve attempts, net-touch serve, who can score, game length, volleying and the ball on the line — Chart: tennis vs pickleball, the nine rule differences.

The 9 differences at a glance

Rule	Tennis (ITF)	Pickleball (USA Pickleball)
Court	78 ft long; 27 ft wide singles, 36 ft doubles (Rule 1)	20 ft by 44 ft for singles and doubles (3.A.1)
Net height	3 ft 6 in at the posts, 3 ft at the center (Rule 1)	36 in at the sidelines, 34 in at the center (3.B.6, 3.B.7)
Serve motion	Any motion; toss and hit before the ball lands (Rule 16)	Underhand: upward arc, below the waist, or a drop serve (7.C, 7.D)
Serve attempts	Two; a second service after a fault (Rule 20)	One; a fault ends the rally
Serve touches the net and lands in	Let, replayed (Rule 22a)	Live ball, play on (7.E)
Who can score	Either side, on every point (Rule 5)	Only the serving side in standard scoring (4.A)
Game and set length	Games scored 15, 30, 40, game, won by 2 points; sets to 6 games, by 2, or a tie-break (Rules 5, 6)	Games usually to 11, win by 2
Volleying	Allowed anywhere, except volleying the serve (Rule 24e)	Not from the kitchen, and the serve and return must bounce (11.A, 10.A)
Ball on the line	Every line is in (Rule 12)	In, except a serve on the kitchen line is out (8.B, 8.C)

The serve is the biggest change

A tennis serve can be hit any way you like, as long as you release the ball by hand and hit it before it touches the ground (ITF Rule 16). Most players serve overhead. If the first one is a fault, you get a second service.

A pickleball serve has to be underhand. For a volley serve, the paddle moves in an upward arc, the paddle head is not above your wrist and the ball is no higher than your waist at contact (Rule 7.C). You can also drop the ball and hit it after it bounces (Rule 7.D). Either way, you get one try. Tennis players who want the serve-motion detail on both sides can read whether you can serve underhand in tennis.

The net rule flips too. In tennis, a serve that clips the net and lands in the box is a let and you serve again. In pickleball that same serve is live, so be ready to play it.

Scoring: who can win a point

This is the difference that trips up the most people, and some comparison articles get it backwards. In tennis, the server and the receiver can both win points on any rally. Rule 5 counts a game as love, 15, 30, 40 and game for whoever wins the points.

In standard pickleball, a point is scored only "by serving the ball and winning the rally" (Rule 4.A). If the receivers win the rally, they win the serve, not a point. The exception is the provisional rally scoring format, where every rally scores. The full breakdown is in can you score on a serve in pickleball.

Tennis net being changed from doubles to singles on a clay court at the 2024 Summer Olympics — Photo: Like tears in rain, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The kitchen and the two-bounce rule

Tennis has no zone where volleys are banned. You can rush the net and volley anything except the serve.

Pickleball has the non-volley zone, a 7 by 20 foot area on each side of the net, usually called the kitchen. All volleys must be started from outside it, so you cannot volley while touching the kitchen or its line (Rule 11.A). On top of that, the two-bounce rule says the serve must bounce and the return of serve must bounce before either is hit (Rule 10.A). Only after those two bounces can players volley. See exactly what counts in what is not allowed in pickleball.

Lines and court size

Both sports treat a ball touching a line as in. ITF Rule 12: "If a ball touches a line, it is regarded as touching the court bounded by that line." Pickleball Rule 8.B says the same for serves and returns.

The one pickleball exception is the kitchen line on the serve. Because the serve has to clear the non-volley zone, a serve that lands on the kitchen line is out (Rule 8.C). Our guide on whether the pickleball kitchen line is in or out covers it, and the tennis side is in is the line in or out in tennis.

Pickleball also uses the same court size for singles and doubles, so there are no doubles alleys.

What is the same

The serve goes diagonally, cross-court, into the service court opposite (ITF Rule 17, pickleball 7.E).
Touching the net with your body, racket or paddle while the ball is in play loses the point (ITF Rule 24g, pickleball 13.G).
You cannot hit the ball before it crosses to your side of the net (ITF Rule 24h, pickleball 13.F).
If the ball hits you during play, you lose the rally (ITF Rule 24i, pickleball 10.C.3).

Quick questions

Is pickleball scored like tennis?: No. Tennis uses love, 15, 30, 40 and game, and either side can win a point on any rally. Standard pickleball games are usually played to 11, win by 2, and only the serving side can score.
Can you serve overhand in pickleball like in tennis?: No. A pickleball volley serve must be hit with an upward arc, below the waist, with the paddle head not above the wrist (Rule 7.C). A drop serve, hit after the ball bounces, is also allowed (Rule 7.D).
Do you get two serves in pickleball?: No. Tennis gives you a second service after a fault (ITF Rule 20). In pickleball, one serving fault ends the rally and the serve moves on.
Is a let serve replayed in pickleball?: No. In tennis, a good serve that touches the net is a let and is replayed (ITF Rule 22a). In pickleball, a serve that touches the net and lands in the correct court is in play (Rule 7.E).
Can you play pickleball on a tennis court?: Yes, with added lines and a lower net. A pickleball court is 20 by 44 feet, much smaller than a 78-foot tennis court, so several pickleball courts can be lined inside one tennis court.

Rulebook sources

USA Pickleball 2026 Official Rulebook (Rules 3.A, 3.B, 4.A, 7.C, 7.D, 7.E, 8.B, 8.C, 10.A, 10.C.3, 11.A, 13.F, 13.G), USA Pickleballusapickleball.org
ITF 2026 Rules of Tennis (Rules 1, 5, 6, 12, 16, 17, 20, 22, 24), International Tennis Federationitftennis.com

Rule statements were checked against these sources on October 29, 2026. See a mistake? Read our corrections policy or email contact@sportsanswered.com.