Pickleball Terms: A Beginner's Glossary from Serve to Smash
New to the sport and lost in the lingo? Here are the pickleball terms you will hear first, explained in plain English. Learn these 15 words and you will follow any game, call the score, and stop nodding along when someone shouts about the kitchen.
Court and zone terms
- Court: the playing area, 20 feet wide and 44 feet long, split by the net.
- Kitchen: the 7-foot non-volley zone next to the net. You cannot volley while standing in it. More in our kitchen guide.
- Transition zone: the mid-court no man's land between the kitchen line and baseline. Move through it fast.
- Baseline: the back line of the court, where you serve from.
- Sideline: the side boundary of the court.
- Centerline: the line splitting the left and right service courts.
Shot terms
- Serve: the shot that starts each point, hit diagonally over the net.
- Dink: a soft shot that drops into the kitchen to lower risk and set up attacks.
- Volley: hitting the ball out of the air before it bounces.
- Drive: a fast, flat, aggressive groundstroke used to apply pressure.
- Smash: a hard overhead put-away on a high ball.
- Lob: a high shot sent deep over your opponent's head.
- ATP: around the post, a shot hit around the outside of the net post. See our ATP guide.
Play and scoring terms
- Rally: the back-and-forth exchange until someone faults or scores.
- Side out: when the serve passes to the other team.
| Term | Quick meaning |
|---|---|
| Dink | Soft shot into the kitchen |
| Drive | Fast, flat, aggressive shot |
| Volley | Hit before the bounce |
| Lob | High shot over the opponent |
| Side out | Serve passes to the other team |
For the player who cannot stop thinking about their soft game.
Frequently asked questions
What are the basic pickleball terms for beginners?
The essentials are serve, dink, volley, drive, rally, side out, and kitchen. Learn those and you will follow any game and communicate with your partner.
What is the difference between a dink and a drive?
A dink is a soft shot that drops into the kitchen to slow the point down. A drive is a fast, flat, aggressive shot used to apply pressure or force an error.
What does the kitchen mean in pickleball?
The kitchen is the nickname for the 7-foot non-volley zone next to the net. You can stand in it, but you cannot volley the ball while your feet are inside it.
What is a side out in pickleball?
A side out is when the serve passes from one team to the other after the serving side loses its serve.
Talk the talk, wear the talk
Our tees turn pickleball slang into minimalist graphics. See the funniest ones in our funny pickleball shirts guide.
Shop all pickleball tees →Own your style. OURS. NOT. YOURS.