Doubles pickleball

Two teams of two try to land the ball where the other team cannot return it. This guide uses traditional side-out scoring: winning a rally earns a point only when your team serves. Play one game first, then decide whether to rematch or change partners.

4 peopleOne game to 11; allow time for warm-up and close scoresMarked court and net, four paddles, pickleball

The quick version

Reach 11 with a two-point lead. Serve diagonally beyond the kitchen. Let the serve bounce, then let the return bounce; after that you may volley outside the kitchen. Each team normally gets two servers before giving up serve, but the opening team gets only one.

Get ready

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Set up and choose the finish

Use the full marked court. The kitchen is the seven-foot non-volley zone beside the net. Choose partners, toss for serve and let the other team choose its end. Play to 11, win by two.

Start with one partner per half. Remember each team's opening server: at an even team score their serving/receiving half is right; at an odd score it is left. Return to the correct halves between rallies.

Serve, rally and score

Start at 0–0–2

Call your score, their score, then your server number. The opening call is 0–0–2 because your team has only one server on this first possession. Start on the right, with at least one foot behind the baseline; neither foot may touch the baseline, court or ground beyond the extended centerline or sideline when you strike.

Use a drop serve

Release the ball from a natural height without tossing, pushing or adding spin. Let it bounce, then strike it into the diagonally opposite service box. The kitchen and its line are out on a serve; the other service-box lines are in. You have one attempt. A net-touching serve that lands legally stays in play.

Bounce, bounce, then volley

Only the diagonally opposite receiver returns the serve, after its bounce. Your team lets that return bounce too. Then either partner may return each incoming ball, before its second bounce. Hit once back across the net; ordinary boundary lines count in.

Keep the kitchen clear for volleys

You may enter the kitchen to play a bounced ball. For a volley, neither you nor anything you wear or carry may touch the zone or its line, including momentum after the hit. After entering, establish both feet outside before your next volley.

Move the serve correctly

If your serving team wins, add one point, swap halves and let the same server serve again. If you lose, the partner serves from their current correct half as server 2. When that server loses, serve passes to the opponents, starting with the player on their right as server 1. On the game's opening possession, the first loss passes serve straight across.

Finish and reset

A missed serve, out ball, failed return, second bounce or kitchen-volley fault loses the rally. Receiving wins change the server but earn no point. Continue beyond 10–10 until a team leads by two. For a new game, reset to zero, change ends and give first serve to the other team as a suggested rematch arrangement.

Make the first rallies easy to follow

Rehearse a serve, return and third shot before scoring. Say the three-number score before every serve. Receiving partners do not exchange halves merely because their team won a receiving rally.

Call your end's lines promptly; a doubtful ball is in. Stop for a stray ball and replay the interrupted rally after clearing it. Keep spare balls away from players' feet.

Already know the game?

Ideas & Twists

Choose a variation together before you start.

Doubles pickleball · See main rules

Suggested house variation

Three partner games

Label players A, B, C and D. Play AB against CD, then AC against BD, then AD against BC. Use the same rules but play each game to 7, win by two. Every player records one win for each game their pair wins. After all three, most wins takes the session; equal totals share the result. Reset scores and choose a new opening server for every game.

Doubles pickleball · See main rules

Suggested practice variation

Cooperative ten-shot rally

Replace competitive scoring with one shared rally count. A legal serve is shot one and its legal return is shot two; keep both required bounces and all kitchen rules. Each further legal return adds one. A fault resets the count to zero and the opposite team serves the next attempt. Reaching ten completes the challenge. Agree on five attempts if you want a fixed finish; record the longest rally if none reaches ten.

About this guide

Uses 2026 USA Pickleball side-out doubles rules. Partner games, cooperative practice and rematch order are suggestions. Tournament and adaptive provisions appear in the full rulebook.

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