Guide
Pickleball rules & scoring, explained
Everything you need to walk onto a court and play a proper game, and the two ways a match is scored at the Mumbai Pickleball Cup S2.
Rally scoring, in one paragraph
The Cup uses rally scoring: a point is scored on every rally, whoever served it. That is the difference from the older side-out scoring, where only the serving side could score and games dragged on. With rally scoring the score moves every single rally, so a game is quicker and every point is worth the same whether you are serving or receiving.
How a match is won at the Cup
The two stages are scored differently on purpose: the group stage has to fit its slots, and the knockouts are worth playing out properly.
Group matches
One game to 15 points, won by whoever gets there first. There is no win-by-two here, so 15–14 takes it. Every entry plays 3 of these.
Knockout matches
Best of 3 games to 11, and each game must be won by 2 clear points, so a game can pass 11. First to win 2 games goes through.
The rules everyone plays by
- The two-bounce rule
- The serve has to bounce before the receiving side may hit it, and the return has to bounce before the serving side may hit it. Only after those two bounces can either side volley, meaning hit the ball out of the air. It is the rule that stops the server rushing the net and is the one new players forget first.
- The kitchen
- The seven-foot zone either side of the net is the non-volley zone, universally called the kitchen. You may stand in it, but you may not volley from it: if you hit the ball out of the air, neither foot may be touching the kitchen or its line, including on your follow-through and momentum afterwards.
- Serving
- The serve is hit underarm, below the waist, diagonally into the opposite service court, and it must clear the kitchen. You get one serve, not two, because there is no second serve in pickleball. A serve that clips the net and lands in is played on.
- Faults
- A rally ends when the ball goes out, into the net, bounces twice, is volleyed from the kitchen, or breaks the two-bounce rule. Whichever side faults, the other side wins the rally.
Put it into practice
The Mumbai Pickleball Cup S2 is on 27 September 2026 at Stratum Play, Malad West, Mumbai. Players of every level enter, and you do not need a rating, a club or a partner.