Pickleball Kitchen Rule: The Non-Volley Zone Explained

What the kitchen is

The non-volley zone, which everyone calls the kitchen, is the area that runs 7 feet back from the net on each side, the full 20-foot width of the court. Its lines count as part of the zone, so a foot on the kitchen line is a foot in the kitchen. “Kitchen” is a nickname; the rulebook only says non-volley zone.

The rule

Every volley has to start from outside the kitchen. A volley is any shot you hit before the ball bounces. While you volley, neither you nor anything touching you (your paddle, your hat, your partner) may touch the kitchen or its line.

What the rule doesn’t say matters just as much:

• You can stand in the kitchen any time you’re not volleying. Step in to play a ball that has bounced, then step back out.
• A ball that bounces is never a kitchen problem. The kitchen rule is only about volleys.
• The ball can land in the kitchen. Except on the serve (see below), a shot into the kitchen is in.

Momentum

The act of volleying lasts from the moment you hit the ball until your follow-through stops. If your momentum then carries you into the kitchen, it’s a fault, even if the ball is already dead. That covers your paddle touching the zone, stepping on the line to catch your balance, and falling in after a smash. Jumping and landing in the kitchen after a volley counts too.

Getting back out

If you’ve been in the kitchen, both feet have to be back on the ground outside it before you can volley. One foot out and one foot in is still in.

Your partner

If you volley while touching your partner, and your partner is touching the kitchen, it’s a fault on your side. Your partner standing in the kitchen on their own is fine.

The serve

The serve has to clear the kitchen. A serve that lands in the kitchen, including on the kitchen line, is a fault. It’s the only time the line counts as out.

Who calls it

In rec play without a referee, you may call a kitchen fault on an opponent; it’s one of only two faults you can call on the other side (the other is a service foot fault). Call your own and your partner’s faults as soon as you see them.