If you’re new to pickleball, or even if you’ve been playing for a while, you know the sport has a few quirky rules that can be tricky to follow. One of the most misunderstood is the two-bounce rule—a foundational rule that shapes early rally strategy.
It requires the ball to bounce once on each side before either team can volley (hit the ball out of the air).
To make things more confusing, a lot of players casually refer to it as the "double-bounce rule," but that’s not the official name. The double-bounce rule refers to the ball bouncing twice on the same side, which is something entirely different.
In this article, we’ll break down the two-bounce rule, explain why it matters, and help you avoid common faults.
The two-bounce rule in pickleball, explained
This has probably happened to you: Your partner hits a serve deep to your opponent’s backhand. Their return flutters over the net, just hanging there. You race to the net, poised to smack a winner. Then you hear your partner shout, “bounce!” But too late, and you smash a winner. Except you didn’t. Instead, it’s a fault, and you just fell victim to one of pickleball’s most quirky rules, the two-bounce rule.
The two-bounce rule in pickleball applies to both singles and doubles play. It states that the ball must bounce once on each side of the net before the third shot is hit. Failing to follow it results in a fault and loss of serve. It works this way:
- The serve must bounce on the opponent’s side before it’s returned.
- The return must bounce on the serving team’s side before it can be hit.
- After those two bounces, you’re free to volley the ball out of the air or hit it on the bounce and continue the rally (just not while standing in the non-volley zone, of course).
The two-bounce rule in action
The two-bounce rule is easy to understand but often difficult to remember, especially for new players, because it goes against your instinct to attack a point.
Let’s break this rule down in action with a simple doubles match featuring Team A and Team B.
Game start
Team A serves from the right side, and the ball clears the net and Team B’s non-volley zone and lands in the correct service box. Bounce One.
Receiving and return
Team B returns the ball over the net, and it bounces deep in Team A’s court. Bounce Two.
Rally is on
Since the double-bounce rule is satisfied, each team can choose to hit the ball out of the air or on the bounce.
Who invented the two-bounce rule?
We can thank pickleball’s creators – Joel Pritchard and Bill Bell – for establishing the double-bounce rule in 1965. As legend has it, the friends were looking for something to keep their kids busy during vacation and combined elements of tennis, badminton, and ping pong to create pickleball.
From the start, they wanted the game to be fair and accessible to players of all ages and created some unique rules to level the playing field and reduce the serving team’s advantage:
- The non-volley zone (kitchen)
- Starting the game at 0-0-2
- And the two-bounce rule
Impact of the two-bounce rule
Once you understand it, you’ll see how the two-bounce rule impacts the flow of the game and strategy.
- Promotes a spirit of fairness as neither team can volley their first shot.
- Neutralizes the serving team’s advantage usually found in racquet sports like tennis by preventing them from camping out at the net and smashing the return
- Forces the serving team to decide whether to drive, drop, or lob their third shot depending on where the ball lands and the position of the returning team’s players
- Since they must wait for the return to bounce, the serving team should stay back or risk hitting a ball that bounces at their feet
- The return team can establish position at the net first
The double-bounce rule vs the two-bounce rule
And if the two-bounce rule wasn’t enough to understand, pickleball adds to your confusion with another similar-sounding rule: the double-bounce rule. While the two-bounce rule is limited to the first two shots of the game, the double-bounce rule impacts every shot.
The double-bounce rule states that the ball can bounce only once on the same side of the court. So, even if you hit an amazing down-the-line winner, if the ball bounced twice before you hit it, then it's an immediate dead ball and a fault.
In games played with traditional scoring, a double-bounce violation to the servicing team results in a side out. If the returning team lets the ball bounce twice, it’s a point for the serving team. In rally scoring, where a point can be scored by either the serving or returners, a double-bounce or two-bounce violation results in a point.
The bottom line
The two-bounce rule is unique to pickleball and has a significant impact on game play and strategy. When I first started playing pickleball, I had a hard time remembering to wait for that second bounce, so. I came up with this mantra, “Bounce-Bounce-Battle.” If you’re struggling with the two-bounce rule, feel free to use it too until the rule becomes second nature. And check out USA Pickleball for the most up-to-date rulebook.
FAQs about the two-bounce rule
