Rallies and Faults

The joy of pickleball is the play - the free-flowing back and forth of opponents trying to beat each other with a shot. The term for this back and forth action is a “rally” and is defined as the continuous play that begins with a serve and ends with a fault. The result of every rally is either a point for the serving team (when a fault is committed by the receiving team) or a loss of serve / side-out for the receiving team (when a fault is committed by the serving team).

Faults are committed when a violation of the rules of play occurs. All of the following are faults:

1. A serve is made with an illegal motion or illegal foot position (see Service Rules).

2. A served ball does not land within the confines of the receiving court (see The Court).
3. A served ball touches a member of the receiving team after clearing the net and before hitting the court (interference).
4. The server misses the ball while attempting to hit it.
5. A served ball touches any permanent object before hitting the court.
6. A served ball touches the server or his partner or anything they are wearing or holding.
7. A serve is made by the wrong team member or from the wrong court.
8. A return of serve is made by the wrong team member.
9. The serve is made by bouncing the ball off the court before hitting it.
10. A ball lands outside the sideline or baseline.

11. A ball fails to clear the net.
12. A ball is volleyed while the player’s feet or anything the player is wearing/carrying touches the non-volley zone line or non-volley zone.

13. A player’s momentum following a volley causes the player or anything the player is wearing/carrying to touch the non-volley zone line or non-volley zone or anything in that zone (including the player’s partner), even after the ball is dead.
14. A ball is volleyed by a player leaving the non-volley zone prior to establishing both feet outside the zone.
15. A ball is volleyed before bouncing once on each side of the court.
16. A ball bounces twice before being struck by a player.
17. A player, player’s clothing, or any part of a player’s paddle touches the net or the net post when the ball is in play.
18. A ball in play strikes a player or anything the player is wearing or carrying, with a single exception – a ball striking a player’s paddle hand below the wrist is not a fault.
19. A ball in play strikes any permanent object before bouncing on the court.
20. A player strikes the ball before it passes the plane of the net.
21. A ball is double-hit or carried without a continuous motion.
22. An item a player is wearing or carrying falls onto the opponents’ court.
23. A ball strikes the net post.

A more detailed discussion of this list can be found in the IFP Official Rules.

A short video called Pickleball Kitchen and Non-Volley Zone Violations Explained from Pickleball Rocks explaining the non-volley zone rules and faults is below.