Pickleball Beginner’s Guide – Learn to Play

Sometimes it can feel a little daunting to try a new sport. What are the right words to use? How do you score? Where do you serve? What’s a kitchen (isn’t that in a house)?

Don’t worry! Spend some time with The Palms’ Beginner’s Guide and you’ll be talking like a pro pickler in no time.

View the Beginner Series Schedule

Learn the Lingo – A dink dictionary of Pickleball Terminology

Our super-friendly coaches will cover all of this in your Beginner Series classes, but it is always handy to have a vocab cheat sheet. Let’s get started with some common terms.

Kitchen – The non-volley zone, meaning you cannot hit the ball out of the air. Generally where dinking happens (see dink).
Baseline – Where you serve from.
Serve / Serving Team – Only the serving team can earn points. The serve has its own rules – it has to be underhand or backhand, it has to be made to land diagonally across the net into the opposing team’s court, and at least one foot needs to be behind the baseline when serving.
Dink – A slow, controlled shot, hit softly into the opposing team’s kitchen.
Volley – To hit the ball in the air, before it bounces.
Drop – A soft return shot played off a bounce, with the goal to land in your opponent’s kitchen by the players’ feet.
Third shot drop – A drop shot played by the serving team when the ball has been returned to them by the receiving team (on the third shot of the play).
Drive – A fast, powerful and low shot, often hit from the baseline that is intended to make opponents back up to try to defend the shot.

Return – The term for receiving the serve from the serving team, when one partner is at the baseline and the other is at the kitchen line.
Reset – A defensive shot to counter an aggressive shot by an opponent, with the goal to bring the other player into their kitchen.
Lob – A high shot that arcs over opponents heads, aimed toward the opposing baseline.
Rally – Continuous play between opponents when shots are hit and returned over and over.
Scoring – The basics: When it is your team’s serve it is your opportunity to score points. When you are returning you are defending. You can’t get points. When playing doubles each partner gets a chance to serve.
Ratings – One of the most well-known sources of player rating is called a DUPR rating. We also have Palms ratings that can be translated to DUPR ratings if you are interested. The Palms ratings help you to understand your level of play and ensure you are playing in a space where you are comfortable and having fun. After you complete the Beginner Series you’ll receive your first Palms rating.

Beginner FAQs

Do I have to know anything about pickleball or even tennis to come play?

No, come and we will teach you! And it will be fun – we promise.

Do I need to have a partner to play with?

Nope! You can just come by yourself, but if you do have a friend or family member who wants to learn with you, sign them up too.

Do I have to be athletic?

No. But you might be once you’ve completed your Beginner Series!

Do I need to bring a paddle and a pickleball?

We’ll supply the gear for your class, but if you do have a paddle and a ball, you are welcome to bring them.

After I complete the Beginner Series what’s my path forward?

Congratulations! You’re officially a pickleball player! You’re ready to head out onto the courts and play! Feeling a little shy still? We’ve got you! First, look for Build Your Game: Foundations 2.0-2.5 on the class schedule. You’ll dig into the details of everything from serving to dinking, rallying to scoring while attending one class per week for four weeks. After completing the Foundations series you’ll move onto Guided Open Play-Instructor Guided- 2.5-3.0. This special 4-week series allows you to play full games with other Palms People while receiving helpful feedback in real-time from our friendly coaches.

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