As pickleball continues to grow and is becoming one of the most popular participation sports to play in America, many players are focused on learning shots and improving their games, but there may be one aspect of playing pickleball that requires more of a focus. Learning what you can’t do in pickleball might be just as important as knowing what you can do. Both outcomes can result in winning or losing a point so I would argue learning what to-do and what not to-do in pickleball are equally important for the pickleball player. In this article we talk about pickleball faults, both what they are and how to avoid them when you are playing a pickleball game.
What is a Fault in Pickleball?
The USA Pickleball rules definition of a fault is “a rules violation that results in a dead ball and/or the end of the rally”. The player/team that committed the fault violated a pickleball rule (this sounds so serious) and thus the ball becomes dead and that player/team loses the rally.
10 Key Pickleball Rules Every Player Should Know
What are the 5 Common Faults in Pickleball?
There are a number of ways to commit a fault in pickleball, so many that the list is too long to cover here. However, we find there are five common pickleball faults that happen over and over, especially for beginning pickleball players so we want to cover these particular faults in this article.
Service Foot faults
A pickleball foot fault occurs when the server serves the ball while their foot is touching the baseline. This is not allowed in either singles or doubles pickleball, so always make sure before you serve that your foot is comfortably behind the baseline.
When I play I see this occur more often than someone actually calls it on their opponent. Most players play with friends so they are not going to call a foot fault in a friendly pickup game with a friend.
A lesser-known rule when serving is that a server’s foot cannot touch the area outside the imaginary extension of the sideline. This means when serving, the server must stand behind the baseline, and between the centerline and the sideline, or it is a fault.
Served Ball in Non-Volley Zone (NVZ)
It is a fault if the served ball lands in the non-volley zone which includes the NVZ lines. The serve must clear the non-volley zone and land in the receivers court and is considered “in” if the serve touches any of the lines including the sideline, the centerline, or the baseline.
However, if the serve lands in the receivers court, but touches any part of the non-volley zone lines on the bounce, that serve is considered to be a fault and it should be called out by the receiving team.
Non-Volley Zone Rules when Volleying
This is one of the faults I see committed quite often by beginning pickleball players. But it is also a fault that once you make this mistake a few times and your teammates start getting irritated, you learn the non-volley zone rules pretty quickly and you will start to keep your feet behind the non-volley zone line.
The rules for the non-volley zone state that “all volleys must be initiated outside of the non-volley zone”. “During the act of volleying, it is a fault if the volleying player’s momentum causes the player to contact anything that is touching the non-volley zone, including the player’s partner”.
In short, when hitting a volley, a player and their shoes, paddle, hat, sunglasses, or keys falling out of your pocket must remain outside of the non-volley zone when hitting a volley at all times.
One area of confusion about the non-volley zone is when is a player allowed to be in the non-volley zone and not commit a fault. The pickleball rules are very clear on this point and we have them for you here.
9.E: a player may enter the non-volley zone at any time except when the player is volleying the ball.
9.F: a player may enter the non-volley zone before or after returning any ball that bounces
9.G: a player may stay inside the non-volley zone to return a ball that has bounced
These rules make it clear what a player can or cannot do at or near the non-volley zone. The rules also state that a player may not stand inside the non-volley zone, jump up in the air to return a volley and then land outside the non-volley zone after hitting the shot. This is a fault.
Double Bounce rule
This rule may be either 1a or 1b as the most common pickleball fault for beginner pickleball players, and sometimes more experienced players, especially players that still regularly play tennis.
The rule states that “a fault will be declared if the serve or service return does not bounce first before the ball is struck”. In short, let the ball bounce at least two times, once on each side of the court at the start of a point before any player is allowed to volley the ball out of the air.
This is also one of those rules that happens a lot for many players at the beginning of their pickleball careers, but once you make this mistake enough times where your partner gives you the mean glare each time it happens, you learn to stay back until that second return has been made.
For tennis players, it’s understandable why this rule is a challenge, you have been trained your whole tennis life when the opportunity presents itself, to take the ball out of the air near the net and volley it back in to the opponents court. Now, you have to totally change your way of thinking when playing the first two shots of a pickleball game.
The Pickleball Net and the Fault Rules
This fault is more common sense to the pickleball player but there may be some aspects of pickleball net rules and faults that may require a refresher.
Of course all pickleball players know that it is a fault if the ball is hit in to the net and does not cross over the net in to the opponents side of the court. The ball is dead and is a fault when the ball hits the ground on the players side of the net.
Some players may not know that it is also a fault if the ball is hit under the net or between the net and the net post.
And while a ball is in play, a player, a players apparel, or a players paddle may not come in contact with the net, the net posts, or the opponents court at all until the point is completed. If the ball is not in play, these actions would not be considered a fault.
And one last pickleball fault rule that involves the net, it is a fault if a player hits the ball before it entirely crosses the plane of the net.
Final Thoughts on Pickleball Faults
We acknowledge there are many pickleball faults that can occur in a game, probably too many to name. But we feel like these are the common ones and if you can avoid committing any of these faults you minimize the chance of giving away any free points to your opponents.
Hopefully the points made in our article improved your pickleball knowledge and will help to “up your game” just a little bit.
See you out on the Courts!