Pickleball vs tennis

Singles or doubles; the same court boundaries apply to both.

Singles or doubles; doubles uses the wider sidelines.

The court is 13.41 × 6.10 m, with a net and a non-volley zone on each side.

The court is 23.77 m long and 8.23 m wide for singles, or 10.97 m for doubles.

A solid paddle strikes a perforated ball.

A strung racket strikes a felt-covered ball.

Normally play to 11, winning by 2. Standard scoring awards points only to the serving side; provisional rally scoring is also permitted.

Standard games use 15, 30, 40 and advantage; games form sets. Tie-breaks and approved alternative formats have different counting rules.

Use a legal volley serve or drop serve. Volley-serve contact is no higher than the waist, with an upward paddle arc; drop serves have different requirements.

Strike the serve before it bounces. An overhead action is usual but not compulsory; a legal underarm serve is possible.

There is normally one service attempt. A serve touching the net remains valid if it lands in the correct service court beyond the non-volley zone.

A first fault normally allows a second serve. A net-touching serve landing correctly is normally a let; approved no-let formats differ.

The serve must bounce before the return, and the return must bounce before the serving side hits it.

The serve must bounce before the return; the server may then volley the return.

Volleys must start outside the non-volley zone. Its lines count as part of the zone, and momentum into it can also be a fault.

There is no non-volley zone. Players may volley close to the net, but may not touch the net while the ball is in play.

In standard doubles, both partners normally serve before service passes to the opponents, except for the opening service turn. Rally scoring uses one server per turn.

One player serves a whole ordinary game. Service then passes to the opponent; doubles keeps its service order and tie-breaks use a special sequence.