Every sport has its dialect; pickleball’s is friendlier than most. Here’s what everyone at your session actually means, alphabetically.
Ace
A serve the receiver doesn’t touch. Rarer than in tennis: the underarm serve is a rally-starter, not a weapon.
Around-the-post (ATP)
Hitting the ball around the net post instead of over the net, which is legal at any height if the ball lands in. The flashiest legal shot in the game.
Backhand
Any shot hit across your body with the back of your paddle hand leading. Two-handed backhands are increasingly common and completely legal.
Baseline
The back line of the court, 6.7m from the net. Serves are struck from behind it.
Dink
A soft shot played from at or near the kitchen line that drops into the opponent’s kitchen, too low to attack. The heart of good pickleball: patient dink rallies are where points are really won.
Double-bounce rule
After the serve, each side’s first shot must be allowed to bounce (serve bounces, return bounces). From the third shot on, volleys are allowed. Also called the two-bounce rule.
Doubles
The standard game: two per side. Almost all UK session play is doubles.
Drive
A hard, flat groundstroke, usually the third shot, meant to force a weak volley.
Drop (third-shot drop)
A soft, arcing shot from the back of the court that lands in the opponents’ kitchen, buying your team time to reach the net. The most practised shot in pickleball.
Erne
A volley hit from outside the court beside the kitchen (or while jumping past it), legally bypassing the non-volley zone. Named after Erne Perry; guaranteed applause at club night.
Fault
Any rules breach that ends the rally: net, out, kitchen volley, wrong server. The full list is in the rules guide.
Kitchen
The universal nickname for the non-volley zone: the 2.13m zone each side of the net. You can stand in it any time, but never volley from it. Nobody agrees on where the name came from; everybody uses it.
Let
Dead ball replayed. Since 2021 there are no service lets: a serve clipping the net and landing in stays live.
Lob
A high, deep shot over opponents at the kitchen line. Effective outdoors until the wind has opinions.
Non-volley zone (NVZ)
The kitchen’s official name. See above.
Open play
A session format where players rotate partners and opponents, usually winners-stay or paddle-stack systems. The standard format at UK venues and the best way to meet players at your level.
Paddle
What you play with: solid-faced, no strings, bigger than table tennis, smaller than tennis. Buying advice in £ lives in the UK paddle guide.
Pickled
Losing a game 11–0. The traditional remedy is buying the coffees afterwards.
Poach
In doubles, crossing into your partner’s half to take a ball. Usually a volley, ideally with a shout of “mine!”.
Rally
Everything between serve and fault. Rally length is pickleball’s secret weapon: beginners get long, fun rallies almost immediately.
Rally scoring
Alternative scoring where every rally wins a point regardless of who served. Used in some leagues and pro formats; traditional side-out scoring remains standard at UK sessions.
Side-out
When the second server on a team loses their rally and the serve passes to the opponents.
Skinny singles
Practice singles played cross-court on half the court: all the shots and half the running. Superb for improving.
Stacking
A doubles tactic where partners line up on the same side before the serve, then shift into position, keeping each player on their preferred half. Explained fully in the improver guides.
Third shot
The serving team’s second hit (serve = first, return = second). Usually a drop or a drive; choosing correctly is half of pickleball strategy.
Transition zone
The awkward mid-court area between baseline and kitchen line, sometimes called no-man’s-land. You pass through it; you don’t live in it.
Volley
Hitting the ball before it bounces. Legal anywhere except when you’re touching the kitchen.
Hear a term we’ve missed? Tell us and we’ll add it. Ready to use them all in a sentence? Find a session.