Pickleball Terms Glossary A to Z

This glossary defines the pickleball terms you are most likely to hear on a court, listed alphabetically. Terms that appear in the official rules are defined the way the 2026 USA Pickleball Official Rulebook defines them, and everyday slang is explained in plain language.

If you are brand new, read what pickleball is and the basic rules first, then use this page as a reference.

A

Ace. A serve that the receiver is unable to return, usually one they cannot get a paddle on.

Around the post (ATP). A shot hit around the outside of the net post instead of over the net. The rulebook allows a ball to be returned around the outside of the net post, so the ball may travel below net height.

B

Backcourt. The area of the court near the baseline.

Backspin. Spin that makes the ball rotate backward as it travels, also called slice. It tends to keep the bounce low.

Ball in play (rulebook). A ball counts as in play for the length of a rally. That starts when the server strikes it and ends the moment the ball goes dead.

Banger. Slang for a player who prefers to hit most balls hard instead of using drops and dinks.

Baseline (rulebook). The back boundary line at each end of the court. It runs in the same direction as the net.

Bert. An Erne hit on the partner's side of the court, with the player crossing in front of their partner to do it.

C

Carry (rulebook). A shot where the ball rides along the paddle face for a moment instead of rebounding cleanly off it. Doing this, or catching the ball on the paddle, in the middle of a rally is a fault.

Centerline (rulebook). The line that splits each end of the court into a right and a left service court. It starts at the kitchen line and ends at the baseline.

Continental grip. A neutral way of holding the paddle, similar to holding a hammer, that works for both forehands and backhands without changing hand position.

Cross-court. A shot hit diagonally to the opposite side of the opponent's court.

D

Dead ball (rulebook). Any ball that is out of play, for example after a fault or once a hinder has been called.

Dink. A soft shot, usually hit from near the kitchen line, that lands in the opponent's non-volley zone. See the dinking guide.

Double bounce (rulebook). Two bounces on the same side of the net before the ball is hit back. The player who let it bounce twice loses the rally. Do not confuse this with the two-bounce rule.

Double hit (rulebook). Striking the ball two times before it goes back over the net. That is allowed only if a single player does it within one unbroken stroke that moves in one direction.

Drive. A low, hard shot hit after the bounce, usually from the backcourt.

Drop serve (rulebook). A serve hit off the bounce. The server lets the ball fall from a natural height, without throwing, tossing or pushing it in any direction, and strikes it once it has bounced on the playing surface.

Drop shot. A soft shot hit from the midcourt or backcourt that lands in the opponent's non-volley zone. On the serving team's first shot after the return, it is called a third shot drop.

E

Erne. A volley hit close to the net by a player positioned outside the sideline, beside the non-volley zone. It is legal as long as the player does not touch the non-volley zone during the act of volleying and, if they passed through the zone, both feet have contacted the playing surface completely outside it before the volley.

F

Fault (rulebook). Any breach of the rules that stops play. The ball goes dead and the side that committed the fault loses the rally.

First server (rulebook). The doubles player who serves first for a team each time that team gets the serve back on a side out. That player starts from the right-hand serving area.

Foot fault. A fault caused by foot position. On the serve, at least one foot must be on the playing surface in the correct serving area, and neither foot may touch the court or the surface outside the serving area when the ball is hit. At the net, touching the non-volley zone while volleying is also commonly called a foot fault.

G

Groundstroke. A shot hit after the ball has bounced.

H

Half volley. A shot hit immediately after the ball bounces, while it is still very low.

Hinder (rulebook). Something temporary that the players did not cause and that gets in the way of a rally. A ball rolling in from another court is the classic example. When a hinder is called, the rally is played over.

K

Kitchen. The common nickname for the non-volley zone. The kitchen rules guide covers it in detail.

L

Line call (rulebook). A spoken word or hand signal telling everyone that a ball landed outside the area it needed to land in. Each side is responsible for the calls on its own end of the court.

Live ball (rulebook). The ball is live from the moment the score starts being called, and it stays live until it goes dead.

Lob. A high, arcing shot hit over the opponent's head, intended to land deep in the court.

M

Mini-singles (rulebook). Singles played on half a court, also known as skinny singles. In any given rally, each player uses only the right half or only the left half of their end.

Momentum (rulebook). The carry-over motion that keeps a player moving once they have struck the ball. After a volley, it is treated as finished when the player is balanced and in control again, or is no longer moving toward the non-volley zone.

N

Nasty Nelson. Slang for a serve hit intentionally at the receiver's partner. Under the rules, a served ball that hits the receiver or the receiver's partner before landing is a fault against the receiving side.

Non-volley zone (rulebook). The strip of court next to the net on each side, 7 feet deep and 20 feet wide, in which hitting a volley is not allowed. The lines around it count as part of the zone.

O

Overhead. A hard, downward shot hit with the paddle above the head, usually in reply to a lob or a high ball. Also called a smash.

P

Permanent object (rulebook). A fixed feature at or around the court that could get in the way of play. Walls, fences, ceilings, light fixtures, net posts and spectator seating are examples. If a shot strikes one of these before bouncing in the court, the player who hit that shot loses the rally.

Pickled. Slang for losing a game without scoring a point.

Plane of the net (rulebook). An imaginary upright wall that follows the line of the net and continues past it in every direction: upward, downward and out beyond each side.

Poach. In doubles, moving across to hit a ball that would normally be your partner's.

R

Rally (rulebook). The unbroken exchange that begins when the serve is struck and lasts until the ball goes dead.

Rally scoring (rulebook). A scoring format in which every rally produces a point for whichever side wins it, serving or not. The rulebook includes it as a provisionally approved option. Under standard scoring, only the serving side can score.

Receiver (rulebook). The player whose job is to hit the serve back.

Replay (rulebook). A rally that is played again from the start. Nobody scores, and the same player serves again.

Reset. A soft shot, often a block from the midcourt, that takes the pace off an opponent's attack and drops the ball into the non-volley zone.

S

Second server (rulebook). The partner of the first server in doubles. This player takes over the serve once the first server has lost it.

Serve (rulebook). The opening shot of every rally, made when the server strikes the ball with the paddle. The serving rules guide explains the legal motions.

Server (rulebook). Whoever puts the ball into play with a serve to begin the rally.

Service court (rulebook). Each end of the court has two of these, one on each side of the centerline, and the non-volley zone is not part of either. A legal serve lands in the one diagonally across from the server.

Side out (rulebook). What happens when a singles player or a doubles team loses the serve: the right to serve passes to the other side.

Sideline (rulebook). Either of the two long boundary lines that run from baseline to baseline, at right angles to the net.

Stacking. A doubles positioning tactic in which partners line up on the same side of the court before the serve or return, then move to their preferred sides once the ball is hit. See the doubles strategy guide.

Starting server (rulebook). The player each doubles team picks to serve first for the team when a game begins.

T

Third shot drop. A drop shot hit by the serving team on the third shot of the rally to gain time to reach the kitchen line. See the third shot drop guide.

Topspin. Spin that makes the ball rotate forward as it travels, causing it to dip and then kick forward off the bounce.

Transition zone. The middle of the court between the baseline and the non-volley zone line, which players cross on the way to the net.

Two-bounce rule (rulebook). The receiving side has to let the serve bounce before hitting it, and the serving side then has to let that return bounce too. Once both bounces have happened, players are free to volley.

U

Unforced error. A missed shot that was caused by the player's own mistake and not by the difficulty of the opponent's shot.

V

Volley (rulebook). Hitting the ball out of the air, before it has touched the court.

Volley serve (rulebook). A serve hit out of the air after the server releases the ball, with no bounce first. At contact the paddle has to be traveling in an upward arc, no part of the paddle head may be higher than the wrist joint, and the ball may not be above the server's waist.

Using These Terms on the Court

Most of this vocabulary falls into three groups. Rule terms such as fault, side out and non-volley zone tell you what is legal and how play restarts. Scoring terms such as first server and second server explain the three-number score call covered in how to keep score in pickleball. Shot names such as dink, drop, drive and lob describe the tactics players use within those rules.

Learn the rule terms first, since they affect every rally. The slang will come naturally with time on the court.