Pickleball Kitchen Rules

What is the pickleball kitchen rule?

The pickleball kitchen rule states that a player must hit all volleys from outside of the non-volley zone (the kitchen). In summary, players can NOT step into the kitchen or be touching the kitchen line when volleying the ball. The ball must have bounced before stepping into the kitchen to hit it.

Updated: September 19, 2023

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But, here’s the deal:

The pickleball kitchen rule is a bit more complicated and is actually a set of 8 rules that all roll up into the kitchen rule.

This means that people are unfamiliar with the concept of a kitchen and often break the rule because it’s difficult to keep straight.

The objective of this article is to simplify the kitchen rules in pickleball so that when you step onto a court, you won’t break it.

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5 Important Pickleball Kitchen Facts

1. The kitchen is formally called the Non-Volley Zone (NVZ) but is most often referred to as the kitchen. For simplicity, I’m calling it the kitchen in this article.
2. The kitchen is the area on either side of the net that spans 7 feet deep from the net into the court and covers the entire width of the court.
3. As with all pickleball court lines, the kitchen line is 2 inches thick and is considered part of the kitchen (the kitchen includes the lines – this is important to understand).
4. The kitchen rules in pickleball exists so that players can’t stand up close to the net and smash the ball directly over the net. If the rule did not exist, it would be difficult to have a pickleball game that was a fair and reasonable play allowing for more than just smashing the ball over the net and into the ground or your opponent.
5. The kitchen is the physical ground, not the space above it. When you volley a ball, it’s legal to have your paddle over the kitchen but you can’t be touching the kitchen line or standing in the kitchen.

Pickleball Terms

Here are 2 additional terms that will be helpful to understand when learning about the kitchen rules:

Volley

A volley is when you hit the ball in the air before it has bounced.

Dinking

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Dinking is when the ball comes over the net, bounces once, and you return the ball.

It’s a very strategic part of a pickleball game because the intent is to dink or lob the ball over the net to ensure your partner can’t smash the ball back to your side.

If you can learn how to strategically place or dink the ball to your opponent’s side this can be a game-changer and help you win more points and games.

What Is The Kitchen In Pickleball ?

The kitchen in pickleball, officially known as the non-volley zone (NVZ), is defined by a line that is parallel to the net and is 7 feet from the net on both sides of the net and runs to each of the two sidelines. The lines are part of the kitchen.

The concept of the kitchen is to eliminate the “smash” type of hits that you find in other sports such as tennis, badminton, squash and racquetball. A smash hit that is close up at the net inevitably ends the play by putting the opponent at a disadvantage because of the hard, fast hit.

The original inventors of pickleball, Joel Pritchard, Bill Bell and Barney McCallum wanted the game to be a game that was easy enough for most people to play and one where the ball could be hit with pickleball paddles, without the worry of a constant spray of hard hits that interrupt play.

As a result, they created the non-volley zone and introduced the concept of a “dink” hit which is to gently lob the ball over the net while up close, either while standing in the kitchen zone (if the ball has bounced) or from behind the line. A pickleball game can get very strategic and interesting when players have a “dink” rally.

One key point about the pickleball kitchen rule is that it’s about the physical ground not the space above the ground. The rule does not prohibit you from standing outside the kitchen (and not on the kitchen line) and hitting a volley shot with your pickleball paddle over the kitchen zone.

Pickleball Kitchen Rules Summary

To simplify it, the kitchen rule means that it’s best to stay out of the kitchen and behind the kitchen line, always.

Pickleball Kitchen Rules Explained

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If you want to learn more about the official kitchen rules, keep reading because I’ve included further explanations of the official rules from the USAPA Rule Book.

FAQs About The Pickleball Kitchen

Summary – Pickleball Kitchen Rules

Yup, I think I hear myself saying it again. Stay out of the kitchen, always.

Unless you know the ball has bounced.

It’s no doubt that the kitchen rule is one of the most challenging rules in pickleball to follow and is often misunderstood.

It takes practice and a constant awareness of the rule in order to master it so that you avoid earning faults and losing games.

If you are interested in learning about other pickleball rules that are often misunderstood, read my article called 7 Must-know Pickleball Rules That Will Surprise You.

If you want to learn more about the kitchen rule and the other official pickleball rules, read the USAPA Rules Book. The kitchen rule can be found in section 9, Non-Volley Zone Rules.

If you like to learn from videos, look at this video from Pickleball Channel that does a great job of explaining the kitchen rule.

Non-Volley Zone Video

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