OFFICIAL RULES & LEAGUE GUIDELINES
PLAY FAIR • COMPETE HARD • PLAY PROUD.
Welcome to Diablos Pickleball! Our league brings players together for friendly competition, skill development, and community.
All players are expected to understand the basic rules, respect their opponents, and demonstrate good sportsmanship throughout the season.
Diablos OutSports expects all participants to create a respectful, welcoming, and competitive environment.
Arrive on time, warm up, and be prepared to play.
Respect teammates, opponents, umpires, and league officials.
Accept officials' decisions, even when you disagree.
Demonstrate self-control in victory and defeat.
Avoid harassment, taunting, profanity, degrading comments, and disrespectful behavior.
Understand and follow the rules to help maintain safe competition.
Treat everyone with the same respect you expect to receive.
Unsportsmanlike Conduct: Verbal abuse or aggressive arguments toward a player may result in immediate ejection, suspension, or removal from the league. Repeated offenses may lead to league expulsion.
Pickleball is played with paddles and a perforated plastic ball on a court divided by a net.
Doubles: Two players per side.
Objective: Hit the ball over the net and keep it in play until the opposing team commits a fault.
Scoring: Standard games are played to 11 points, win by 2.
Serving: Under traditional side-out scoring, only the serving team can score points.
Court boundaries: A ball touching a boundary line is considered in, except on a serve touching the kitchen line.
Serves must be made from behind the baseline.
The serve must travel diagonally into the opponent's service court.
Only one serve attempt is permitted, except when a replay is required.
A volley serve must use an upward motion, with paddle contact below the waist and paddle head below the wrist.
Drop serves are also permitted under standard rules.
The serve must clear the non-volley zone (kitchen), including its line.
1st Bounce
Receiving team lets the serve bounce
2nd Bounce
Serving team lets the return bounce
Open Play
Players may volley or play after a bounce
After the serve, the receiving team must let the ball bounce before returning it. The serving team must then let that return bounce before hitting it.
Once both bounces occur, players may hit the ball before or after it bounces, subject to the kitchen rules.
The kitchen is the seven-foot area on both sides of the net.
Players may enter the kitchen to play a ball that has bounced.
Players cannot volley while touching the kitchen or its boundary line.
A player cannot enter the kitchen because of momentum from a volley, even after the ball is dead.
Players must reestablish both feet outside the kitchen before volleying after being inside it.
In traditional doubles pickleball, scores are announced using three numbers.
EXAMPLE SCORE CALL
5 – 3 – 2
5 3 2
Serving team score Receiving team score Second server
Each player on a team generally gets a turn to serve before the serve changes teams.
At the beginning of a game, the first serving team has only one server.
When the serving team wins a rally, it scores a point and the server switches service sides.
When the receiving team wins a rally, it gains the serve or advances to the next server, as applicable.
A fault ends the rally. Common faults include:
Hitting the ball out of bounds.
Hitting the ball into the net.
Allowing the ball to bounce twice.
Volleying from inside the kitchen.
Touching the net while the ball is live.
Serving into the wrong service court.
Violating the two-bounce rule.
Line calls: Players are responsible for making fair and accurate calls on their side of the court. When there is uncertainty, the benefit of the doubt goes to the opponent.
Diablos Pickleball uses a team-based league format, with scheduled team matches lasting approximately 55 minutes.
Players should:
Arrive before their scheduled match.
Be ready to begin at the assigned time.
Follow the match schedule and court assignments.
Communicate attendance or roster concerns to league leadership.
Participate only with properly registered and eligible players.
Specific lineup, substitution, forfeiture, and playoff procedures will be communicated by league leadership.
Can I step into the kitchen?
Yes. You may enter the kitchen at any time, but you cannot volley while in it or while touching its boundary line.
Does the serve have to bounce?
Yes. The receiving team must allow the serve to bounce before returning it.
Can a serve touch the net?
Yes. A serve that touches the net and lands legally in the correct service court remains in play.
What happens if the score is tied at 10–10?
In a standard game to 11, play continues until one team leads by two points.
What happens if there's a disagreement on a line call?
Players should discuss it respectfully and follow the applicable rules. League leadership may assist with unresolved disputes.
PLAY SMART. PLAY FAIR. PLAY PROUD.
