Out of bounds. The concept that’s caused more head scratchers and debates in sports than anything else. But pickleball has different rules than most sports regarding end lines, and you might not even know them. But we’ve laid out everything below to get you up to speed on getting these line calls in pickleball right.
Pickleball Rules Line Calls: In or Out
There is nothing that fires up an argument quicker than line calls in pickleball. But this is something every sport deals with. Tennis, soccer, basketball, and football all have developed extensive replay systems to deal with this very problem, looking frame by frame at minute details.
Luckily Pickleball isn’t quite as complex. I mean could you imagine doing all that for a pickleball game. It’s actually a super simple system that comes down to the players in the game and occasionally a designated line judge.
Once you know exactly what the rules are behind what makes an in call vs an out call it gets a lot easier.
Pickleball has also created a series of guidelines to easily resolve disputes and in most cases eliminate them all together. You won’t even need instant replay.
Touching the Line
The first thing we need to clear up is just what it means to be touching the line.
Because
well
otherwise we can’t make accurate line calls.
Unlike other racket sports the pickleball is quite firm, when it hits the ground only a small part of the ball is actually touching the ground. This part is the only part that matters when making a line call. A ball is making contact with a line when that bottom part is physically touching the line. If part of the ball is hovering over a line, but the actual side of the ball making contact with the court is not, that ball is not touching the line.
Pickleball Serving Line Rules
Serving is the only time that what is considered in and out becomes a little finicky.
On a serve you obviously have to serve the ball into the correct service court. The center line is the divider here. The good news is landing the ball on the center line is in play. The same goes for the baseline and the boundary line on the side of the court. When the pickleball lands on these lines it is always in.
The kitchen is where things get a little more tricky. Pickleball is notorious for having some strange rules surrounding the kitchen. These aren’t quite as complicated but still noteworthy.
When you serve the ball it must clear the non volley zone. This includes the non volley zone line. So when you serve and the ball bounces on the kitchen line that is the one line that is out. You’ve faulted on that serve.
People often forget about this rule but just like on a volley where your foot is on the non volley zone line but not over, you are still in the kitchen. On a serve you call the ball out.
Luckily the rest of the time it’s really easy.
All Other Line Calls
Outside of a serving setting, every other line on the pickleball court is considered in. All the ball has to do is touch any part of any court line and you are good to go. Only when the ball is completely outside the lines is it out.
This makes making accurate line calls very simple and most of the time very easy. There are still definitely going to be times where the ball just moved too fast or you couldn’t quite tell but we’re going to hit on what to do in each of those situations in a minute.
Your only job now is to stay out of arguments.
Making Line Calls – Rules and Etiquette
Pickleball line call rules are really clear cut, yet most games still end up with disputes. It’s inevitable. These can be avoided by adopting a few behaviors and procedures so you already know what to do and what the call is no matter the situation.
These are the guidelines set out in the pickleball rule book. Most of us are just playing to enjoy the game so don’t feel like you have to follow every one to the letter. If you and your opponents agree on a system or a decision that differs from that what’s below, just roll with it.
Who Makes Line Call?
We don’t need guidelines for making easy calls, it’s the hard ones we use them for. It’s when Jimmy walks over to your side and insists he can see the scuff mark on the side court line where the pickleball made contact with the playing surface. And you can’t figure out what he’s saying for the life of you after you just watched it bounce at least half a foot out of bounds.
To solve this, we say whichever side the ball lands on is the side with the players who make the call.
This seems so intuitive and simple because they obviously have a much closer view than opponents on the other side. But still you’ll get people shouting from literally the other baseline that the ball was clearly in.
Point is don’t be that guy or gal. When you hit the ball and it sails towards the other baseline, let the other team make the line call.
You’d want them to extend you the same courtesy when the controversy’s back on your side.
This rule makes it crystal clear who should be making the line call.
Dealing with Uncertainty
Let’s be honest here. How many line calls are we really sure about. I’m not talking about the clear ones where no one bats an eye, I’m talking about the ones where all three other heads turn to you waiting for a call on a ball that just you just barely saw because the sun was glinting in your eyes and you were focused on hitting the ball. Maybe you call it in, or maybe you probably call it out.
You can always just say “I don’t know”.
In general you should give your opponent the benefit of the doubt on all of your line calls. So basically, if you can’t say for sure that the ball was out, then you should treat it and play it as if it is in.
If you really can’t decide, I know this sounds weird but you’re allowed to defer to the opponent for the line call. You’re essentially just asking for their opinion. In this case whatever your opponent decides to rule is what goes. There is no taking it back. By allowing your opponent to determine the line call you have forfeited your right to give input.
Line calls are also only supposed to be made by players. You really aren’t supposed to have spectators or third parties giving input on the game. Line judges, when involved are the only people outside the players who give input on the game.
Again this is one of the guidelines where if you and your opponents both want to ask a buddy watching the game for a line call, I don’t see any reason why you shouldn’t. The point of these guidelines is to reduce conflict and create a smooth playing experience. If that is something you and your opponent can both agree on then it more or less accomplishes the same thing.
Partner Contradiction
There is also the case of you and your teammate having different line calls in doubles play. For example you call in and your partner calls out. In this case, just like the others, the default assumption is that the ball in.
In general, any time there is uncertainty, the rulebook dictates you should treat the ball as in.
Timing of Line Calls
The rulebook states that all “out” line calls should be made promptly. Because until the other team gets a ruling, as far as they know the ball was in and is still in play.
You need to make an out call before your opponent hits the ball. Or before it bounces twice and is then a dead ball.
This is just common courtesy. If you don’t, they might believe you were waiting to see how the point ended up.
You should also use some kind of hand signals, just so the other team is clear in case they can’t hear you from the other side of the court.
A lot of times during a match you see the ball going out and you shout to your teammate to let them know to stay away or that it is going out. These are never valid line calls. Only an out or in called made once the ball bounces is valid.
You and your opponent’s should always ignore any communication between the each other’s teams. It is just considered partner communication and not taken as a ruling.
Lastly, at the end of a rally, if you saw a call on either end of the court the was made incorrectly to your opponent’s detriment. You are allowed to reverse it. But again this is only if the call originally was ruled in your favor. You can’t start an argument saying a call should have gone your way.
This is really just good sportsmanship. If you really needed the point to win, you should probably focus on getting better at the game so it doesn’t end up that close.
Playing with Line Judges
Line judges should be the ones making line calls most of the time when you have one. Obviously this is rare. It’ll usually be in a competitive setting where players might already know all this stuff.
They are obviously trusted for impartial judgment calls. The only ruling a player calls in these instances is when they are on the receiving team of a serve and they believe the ball to be wide of the center in and therefore outside the correct service court.
You can also appeal calls to judges after a rally but given that the judges make the calls most of the time I don’t really think this works too well most of the time.
How to Approach Plays on Close Calls
Next time you’re mid rally and the ball comes at you but looks like it might land just outside the court line, what do you do?
Well just like in tennis, you always want to treat the ball as if its in and swing at it. Because until the ball hits outside the pickleball court you never know. Better to be safe than sorry.
If it lands in then you’re able to play on, but if it lands out you can still call the ball out.
Again remember some of the line call rules we looked at above. Make sure if you do decide to call out you make sure to clearly call it before your opponent hits it, just to avoid your opponent thinking you’re making questionable calls.
Even if you think you’ve hit a ball out on the opponent’s end, be prepared to return it. If they play it, it’s still game on.
Closing Thoughts
So there you have it. Turns out the pickleball line call rules are actually super straightforward. All you have to do is stop line call disputes from turning into fights with your opponent, but we’ve given you all the tools to do that too.
Also, make sure to check out the rest of our site. If there are any other rules you need cleared up, I’m sure we can help you out.