Pickleball glossary
The words that appear on a spec sheet, and what each one changes on court.
- 40-hole ball equipment
A 40-hole ball is the standard outdoor pickleball pattern, with forty small holes drilled through a hard plastic shell for wind resistance.
The small holes and the harder shell are what let an outdoor ball hold a line in wind and stay predictable on concrete. The trade is more noise and a firmer feel at contact. A 40-hole ball comes off the face faster than an indoor ball and wears out sooner on rough courts.
See also outdoor ball, indoor ball
- ATP (around the post) technique
An ATP, or around-the-post shot, passes outside the net post instead of over the net, and it is legal even below net height.
The chance appears when a sharply angled cross-court dink or drive pulls a player wide and the ball drifts outside the sideline. Nothing in the rules requires the ball to clear the net, only that it land in the opposing court. Taking one means stepping outside the sideline early and swinging flat, since there is no net in the way.
- All-court paddle-spec
All-court describes a paddle balanced between control and power, quick enough to reset at the kitchen and firm enough to drive from the baseline.
On court, an all-court paddle asks the player to supply the aggression rather than supplying it for them. Nothing is exaggerated: the swing weight sits in the middle, the face is neither dead nor springy. On a spec sheet, look for a moderate swing weight next to a 16 mm core — the combination that keeps a drop soft without giving up the drive.
See also control, power, swing weight
- Balance point paddle-spec
Balance point is the distance from the butt of the handle to the spot where a paddle balances flat on a single edge.
A balance point farther from the handle puts more mass out in the face, which adds plow-through and raises swing weight. A balance point closer to the handle makes the paddle feel quicker in the hands at the kitchen line. Written in in, it explains why two paddles of identical static weight can feel nothing alike.
See also swing weight, static weight, lead tape
- Block technique
A block is a defensive volley taken with a still paddle, absorbing a hard drive and dropping the ball short instead of returning pace.
The hands stay soft and the face barely moves; the incoming ball does the work. A good block lands in or near the non-volley zone and takes the attack away. Thicker cores and a higher twist weight make blocks easier, because the face stays quiet on contact instead of rebounding the ball deep.
See also reset, twist weight, core thickness
- Carry rule
A carry is a ball that slides or rolls along the paddle face instead of rebounding cleanly off it.
A carry is legal when it happens inside one continuous stroke traveling in a single direction. It becomes a fault when the stroke changes direction to keep the ball on the face, which is pushing the ball rather than striking it. Gritty faces make a carry slightly more likely on slow, brushing swings.
See also double hit, fault, gritty face
- Control paddle-spec
Control describes a paddle tuned for placement over pace, usually with a thicker core, a softer feel, and a swing weight low enough for fast hands.
A control paddle lengthens the moment the ball stays on the face, which makes drops and resets land shorter and more often. The cost is that hard drives need a fuller swing to reach depth. On a spec sheet, a control profile usually shows a 16 mm core and a moderate to low swing weight.
See also all court, power, core thickness, dwell time
- Core thickness paddle-spec
Core thickness is the depth of the honeycomb or foam layer sitting between the two faces of a paddle, written in mm.
A thicker core flexes less and absorbs more, so the ball sits on the face longer and drops land softer — the reason 16 mm is the control choice. A thinner core returns more of the ball's energy, so 14 mm feels poppier and faster at the kitchen line. Core thickness is the single spec that changes a paddle's character the most.
See also control, power, polypropylene honeycomb core, foam core
- DUPR rating
DUPR is the Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating, a number from 2.000 to 8.000 calculated from the scores of matches a player has recorded.
Unlike a self-assessed level, a DUPR number moves with every recorded result, and it weighs the margin of the score rather than only the win. Men and women, singles and doubles all sit on the same scale. Competitive events increasingly seed from it, which is why players quote a DUPR before a skill rating.
See also skill rating
- Deflection paddle-spec
Deflection is how far a paddle face bends inward at impact before pushing the ball back out.
More deflection means a longer, softer contact and a wider forgiving area; less deflection means a stiffer, faster response. Core thickness, core material and face stiffness together set how much a face deflects. Deflection is also what laboratory standards measure when they compare how much energy a paddle returns.
See also core thickness, dwell time, pbcor
- Dink technique
A dink is a soft shot hit from near the kitchen line that lands in the opponent's non-volley zone.
A dink arcs just over the net and falls before it can be volleyed, forcing the answer to come from below net height. Dink rallies are where most points at intermediate level and above are decided, because the first ball that floats too high gets attacked. Thicker cores and softer faces make a dink easier to keep low.
See also kitchen, reset, roll volley, speed up
- Double bounce rule
A double bounce is a fault called when the ball bounces twice on one side of the court before that side returns it.
The ball must be played after its first bounce or in the air, never after a second. In doubles either partner may take it, but only one of them, and only once. The term is often confused with the two-bounce rule, which governs the opening shots of a rally rather than a fault.
See also two bounce rule, fault
- Double hit rule
A double hit is a ball struck twice before crossing the net, legal only within one continuous stroke made by one player.
An unintentional double hit inside a single, unidirectional swing is played on. If the two contacts come from a deliberate second swing, or from both partners in doubles, the rally ends as a fault. Double hits happen most often in fast hands battles at the kitchen line.
- Dwell time paddle-spec
Dwell time is how long the ball stays in contact with the paddle face before leaving it.
A longer dwell gives the face more time to grip the ball, which is where spin and touch come from — thicker cores and softer faces extend it. A shorter dwell sends the ball out faster with less shaping. Dwell time is why a control paddle can feel slow and still place a drop within inches.
See also spin rate, core thickness, deflection
- Edge guard paddle-spec
An edge guard is the protective strip wrapped around the rim of a paddle, shielding the core and the faces from scrapes against the court.
An edge guard also adds mass at the perimeter, which raises twist weight and makes off-center hits steadier. Paddles built without one are called edgeless, trading that protection for a slightly wider usable face. A lifted or peeling edge guard is the most common reason a paddle is retired.
See also twist weight, unibody, sweet spot
- Elongated paddle-spec
An elongated paddle is taller and narrower than a standard shape, trading a slimmer face for extra reach and leverage on drives.
The extra length moves mass away from the hand, so an elongated paddle usually carries a higher swing weight and hits heavier while feeling slower to turn over. The face narrows, so contact near the edges costs more. Total length plus width may not exceed 24 in, and length may not exceed 17 in.
See also hybrid, standard shape, widebody, swing weight
- Erne technique
An Erne is a volley hit beside the non-volley zone, with the player either jumping over the zone or standing outside the sideline.
Because the non-volley zone stops at the sideline, a player standing outside it may legally volley a ball at net height from that position. The shot punishes a cross-court dink that drifts too close to the sideline. Landing in the zone, or touching it at any point during the volley, is a fault.
See also kitchen, atp around the post, dink
- Face material paddle-spec
Face material is the sheet laminated over a paddle's core, most often carbon fiber or fiberglass, and it sets the texture and the feel.
Carbon fiber is stiff and light, so it holds a consistent gritty surface and gives a firm, quiet contact. Fiberglass flexes more and returns more pop with less bite. Face material and core thickness are read together: a stiff face over a thick core is the usual control build.
See also raw carbon fiber, gritty face, core thickness
- Fault rule
A fault is any rules violation that ends the rally at once, such as hitting the ball out, into the net, or volleying from the kitchen.
A fault by the serving side ends its turn to serve; a fault by the receiving side gives the serving side a point under traditional scoring. The most common faults are foot faults on the serve, touching the non-volley zone on a volley, and breaking the two-bounce rule.
See also side out, foot fault, traditional scoring, two bounce rule
- Foam core paddle-spec
A foam core is a paddle interior built from injected or molded polymer foam instead of an open honeycomb cell structure.
Foam fills the space completely, so the face is supported out to the edges and the usable area grows. That support keeps ball speed steadier on off-center contact and gives a denser, quieter sound. Many builds combine the two, ringing a honeycomb core with foam along the perimeter.
See also polypropylene honeycomb core, sweet spot, core thickness
- Foot fault rule
A foot fault is a serve made with a foot in the wrong place, or a volley made while touching the non-volley zone.
At the serve, at least one foot must be behind the baseline and inside the imaginary extensions of the centerline and sideline at the moment of contact. At the kitchen, the fault covers the follow-through too: touching the line with any part of the body or paddle after volleying ends the rally.
- Grip circumference paddle-spec
Grip circumference is the distance around the handle, written in in, and it sets how freely the hand can rotate the paddle.
A smaller circumference lets the wrist snap more freely, which helps spin and fast hands; a larger one steadies the face and eases strain on the arm. Common sizes are 4.125 in and 4.25 in. An overgrip raises circumference slightly, so a thin handle can be built up but never taken down.
See also overgrip, handle length, spin rate
- Gritty face paddle-spec
A gritty face is a paddle surface with a rough, sandpaper-like texture that bites into the ball to generate spin.
The texture comes either from the weave of an unpainted carbon sheet or from a grit layer applied over the face. Grit wears down with use, and a face that has gone smooth spins noticeably less. Wiping the face with a clean damp cloth after play is what keeps the texture working.
See also raw carbon fiber, spin rate, face material
- Handle length paddle-spec
Handle length is the usable length of a paddle's grip, written in in, and it decides whether a two-handed backhand fits.
A longer handle makes room for the second hand and gives more leverage on serves and drives, but it borrows that length from the face. A shorter handle leaves a taller hitting surface. Players coming from tennis usually want the longer handle; players who live in dink rallies usually do not.
See also elongated, grip circumference, balance point
- Hybrid paddle-spec
A hybrid paddle sits between elongated and standard, adding some length and reach while keeping a face wide enough to stay forgiving.
The shape is the usual answer for a player who wants reach without the slower turnover of a full elongated build. Swing weight generally lands between the two, and the sweet spot sits higher on the face than on a standard shape. On a spec sheet, a hybrid shows a length just under the elongated range with a width that has not been cut back as far.
See also elongated, standard shape, swing weight
- Indoor ball equipment
An indoor ball is a pickleball with fewer, larger holes and a softer plastic shell, made for smooth gym floors.
The softer shell keeps the ball slower and quieter, and it stays on the paddle face longer, which makes spin and touch easier to produce. Indoor balls feel lighter and get pushed around by wind outdoors. A ball made for one surface plays badly on the other.
See also outdoor ball, 40 hole ball
- Kitchen (non-volley zone) rule
The kitchen is the seven-foot area on each side of the net where a player may not hit the ball out of the air.
A player may stand in the kitchen at any time; the restriction applies only to volleying. The fault covers momentum too — if the follow-through carries any part of the body or paddle onto the line after a volley, the rally is lost. The kitchen is what makes pickleball a soft game rather than a serving contest.
See also seven foot line, dink, erne, foot fault
- Lead tape equipment
Lead tape is a thin adhesive weighted strip stuck to a paddle's edge to change its weight, its balance, and its stability.
Tape placed at the sides near the middle raises twist weight and steadies off-center hits. Tape placed at the top raises swing weight and adds plow-through on drives. Tape at the base of the handle adds mass without slowing the swing. Small amounts change the feel noticeably, so it goes on a strip at a time.
See also twist weight, swing weight, balance point, static weight
- Let rule
A let is a rally replayed without penalty, called when an outside interruption such as a stray ball stops play.
A serve that clips the net and lands in the correct service court is not a let — it is played on. That change removed the most common replay in the game. Today a let is almost always about interference from another court or an object entering the playing area.
- Lob technique
A lob is a high shot hit deep over the opponents' heads to push them back off the kitchen line.
The best lobs come out of a dink rally, when the other side is leaning in and flat-footed. A lob that lands short turns into an overhead against you, so the margin is thin. Outdoors, wind makes the shot a gamble in one direction and a gift in the other.
- Outdoor ball equipment
An outdoor ball is a pickleball with many small holes and a hard plastic shell, made to hold its line in wind.
The harder shell rebounds faster and makes a sharper sound, and it survives concrete and asphalt far better than a soft indoor ball. The trade is a shorter dwell on the face, so spin takes more work. Outdoor balls crack rather than go soft when they are finished.
See also indoor ball, 40 hole ball, dwell time
- Overgrip equipment
An overgrip is a thin adhesive-backed wrap applied over a paddle's existing grip to add tack, absorb sweat, and adjust handle thickness.
An overgrip is a consumable: it loses tack as it absorbs sweat and gets replaced rather than cleaned. Each wrap raises grip circumference slightly, so two of them move a handle close to the next size up. Stripping the original grip first keeps the handle from growing when only tack is wanted.
See also grip circumference, paddle cover
- Overhead technique
An overhead is a hard shot struck above the head, usually as the answer to a lob that lands short.
The swing is compact rather than full, because the ball is already high and the court is short. Aim is the whole shot: most overheads are won by hitting down at a body or into an open corner, not by hitting harder. A lighter swing weight makes the paddle easier to get above the head in time.
See also lob, swing weight
- PBCoR paddle-spec
PBCoR stands for paddle-ball coefficient of restitution, a laboratory measure of how much of the ball's energy a paddle face returns.
The test fires a ball at a clamped paddle and compares the incoming speed with the outgoing speed. A higher figure means a livelier face, which is why the measure is used to set an upper limit in sanctioned play rather than to sell a paddle. PBCoR describes the face, not the player.
See also deflection, power, usa pickleball
- Paddle bag equipment
A paddle bag is a carry bag sized for several paddles plus balls, shoes, and water, worn as a backpack or a sling.
A paddle bag differs from a general sports bag in having padded, separate paddle sleeves, so faces never rub against each other or against keys. A ventilated shoe compartment and an insulated bottle pocket are the two features that get used every session. Most face scratches happen in transit, not on court.
See also paddle cover
- Paddle cover equipment
A paddle cover is a fitted sleeve that slips over a single paddle to protect its face and its edge between matches.
A cover keeps the textured face away from zippers, car floors and other paddles, which is what dulls grit fastest. Neoprene adds a little padding; a thinner shell adds almost none but takes no space. A damp paddle should be dried before it goes away, since a closed cover holds moisture against the grip.
See also paddle bag, gritty face
- Poach technique
A poach is a move across the middle to take a ball that was heading for a partner's side of the court.
Poaching works when one player reads the shot early and crosses while the other side is still committed. The pair must switch afterward, so a poach that fails leaves a lane wide open. It is the standard way an aggressive player takes over the middle in doubles.
- Polypropylene honeycomb core paddle-spec
A polypropylene honeycomb core is a paddle interior made of hollow plastic cells packed in a hexagonal grid between the two faces.
The cell structure is light for its stiffness, which is why it is the common core in modern paddles. Larger cells flex more and feel softer; smaller cells feel firmer and faster. Honeycomb cores get quieter and softer with age, as the cells break down near the edges.
See also foam core, core thickness, thermoforming
- Power paddle-spec
Power describes a paddle built to return more of the ball's energy, usually through a thinner core, a stiffer face, and a higher swing weight.
A power paddle rewards a full swing and punishes a short one, because the same face that drives deep also sends soft shots long. Players who serve and drive from the baseline gain the most from it. On a spec sheet, a power profile shows a 14 mm core or a heavier swing weight, often both.
See also control, all court, core thickness, pbcor
- Rally scoring rule
Rally scoring awards a point on every rally, to whichever side wins it, regardless of which side served.
Because no rally is scoreless, matches finish in a predictable time, which is why broadcast and league formats favor it. Serving matters less than under traditional scoring, since losing a rally costs a point rather than only the serve. Most recreational play still uses traditional scoring.
See also traditional scoring, side out, service sequence
- Raw carbon fiber paddle-spec
Raw carbon fiber is a paddle face left unpainted, so the woven texture of the carbon sheet itself becomes the gripping surface.
Paint and clear coat fill the weave and smooth it out; leaving the sheet raw keeps the peaks that bite the ball. The look is a flat gray weave rather than a gloss finish. Raw faces hold spin well but show scuffs immediately, and it is the texture that wears, not the color.
See also gritty face, face material, spin rate
- Reset technique
A reset is a soft shot that takes the pace off an attack and drops the ball into the kitchen to neutralize the rally.
A reset is usually hit from mid-court or from defense, with a still face and a short swing, and it buys the time to get back to the kitchen line. The shot is the clearest test of a paddle's touch: a lively face sends resets long. Thicker cores and softer faces make it repeatable.
See also block, dink, core thickness, third shot drop
- Return of serve technique
The return of serve is the second shot of a rally, hit after the serve bounces, and it must bounce before the serving side may play it.
A deep return keeps the serving side pinned behind the baseline and buys the returner time to reach the kitchen line, which is the whole point of the shot. Depth matters far more than pace. The returner's partner is already at the line, so the pair arrives together.
See also serve, two bounce rule, third shot drop
- Roll volley technique
A roll volley is a topspin volley brushed up and over the ball near the kitchen line to dip it at the opponent's feet.
The shot lives between a dink and a speed-up: faster than a dink, with enough topspin to drop back inside the court. It is the standard way to attack a dink that sits slightly too high without risking a flat drive. Grit and dwell time decide how much the ball actually dips.
See also dink, speed up, spin rate, gritty face
- Serve technique
The serve is the shot that starts a rally, struck underhand and below the waist, diagonally into the opposite service court.
Contact must be below the navel with the paddle head below the wrist, and the ball may either be struck out of the air or dropped and hit after a bounce. At least one foot stays behind the baseline. A serve that lands in the non-volley zone or on its line does not count.
See also return of serve, foot fault, service sequence, let
- Service sequence rule
The service sequence is the order in which partners serve in doubles, called aloud as three numbers before each serve.
The call is the serving team's score, the receiving team's score, then the server number, one or two. Both partners serve before the ball goes over, except at the very start of a game, where the first sequence begins with server two. Getting the call wrong is a correctable error, not a fault.
See also serve, side out, traditional scoring
- Seven-foot line rule
The seven-foot line is the line marking the edge of the non-volley zone, seven feet back from the net on each side.
It runs the full width of the court, parallel to the net, and it is the line a player may not touch while volleying. On a court measuring 20 by 44 ft, it is the line that decides where the soft game gets played. Everything from the dink to the Erne is defined against it.
See also kitchen, dink, foot fault
- Side out rule
A side out is the moment the serve passes to the other team, after both partners on the serving side have lost their serve.
Under traditional scoring only the serving side can score, so a side out hands the chance to score across the net. In doubles the second server's fault produces the side out; in singles a single fault does. Rally scoring removes the idea almost entirely.
See also fault, traditional scoring, service sequence, rally scoring
- Skill rating rating
A skill rating is a self-assessed or club-assigned level from 2.5 to 5.0, rising in half-point steps as a player's shots become reliable.
At 2.5 a player sustains short rallies; at 3.0 the serve and return are consistent; at 3.5 the third shot drop and dink rallies appear; at 4.0 they hold up under pressure; at 4.5 and 5.0 strategy and shot selection separate players more than technique does. Ratings are used to sort recreational play and to bracket local events.
See also dupr, third shot drop, dink
- Speed-up technique
A speed-up is the shot that turns a soft dink rally into a fast exchange by attacking a ball that sat too high.
The trigger is a dink that floats above net height, which is the only ball that can be driven downward. A speed-up aimed at a shoulder or a hip is harder to answer than one aimed at open court. Once it is hit, the rally becomes a hands battle at the kitchen line.
See also dink, block, roll volley, double hit