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CJ Johnson
Tony Roig
Pickleblall Rules- Hit by the Pickleball
If a ball in play hits you, it is a fault against you. That’s true even if it only grazes your hair. And it doesn’t matter where you are on the court. Even if you are standing well out of bounds and the ball hits you before landing, it’s your fault.
Do whatever it takes to avoid being hit by the pickleball, duck, pivot, leap or swivel. Think about the movie The Matrix and give it your best move!
On the plus side, aiming a ball at your opponent is legal and good strategy. Just be a good sport and aim at the toes, not the nose. A soft hit at the opponent’s chest gives you the same value as a smash and helps keep you popular.
One last interesting note, you cannot catch the ball before it bounces. A catch is the same as getting hit by the pickleball.
Got a Rules Question? Put your comments in the post below and Bev will get it answered!
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what if the ball hits your hand (with paddle) and lands in the opponents court
Hi Doug, If the ball contacts the player’s paddle hand, either of the hands if it’s a two-handed stroke, or either hand if the player is in the process of switching hands the ball is still in play. It usually doesn’t go very far 😀
So, if the ball hits your thumb on your paddle hand and it travels over the net it is considered a clean hit? Thanks.
Yes Neil the rule defines it as below the wrist.
So if a ball hits you in the chest and the ball rolls from the chest to the paddle and then over the net it’s good?
Nope. But if the ball hits your hand below the wrist and it goes over that is considered good.
Sorry wrong question before..
If the serve bounces out but hits the receiver is it out or a point?
Hi Michael, if the serve touches the court first it’s out. If the serve touches the receiver before it hits the court it’s a fault on the receiver.
Thanks for the response.
The issue came during a game.
The ball was served out of court but hit the return player. The person said it was fault to the return player so point to server.
I’m thinking the first that happened that trumps anything else is the serve was out so now dead ball and it can be caught by the receiver player if they desire.
True or false?
Hi Michael, the ball has to make contact outside the court to be considered out. If it hits a person standing outside of the court before it touches the court it’s a fault on the person it hit. The same thing applies to a serve. If you are the receiver and the ball hits your partner before it touches the court it’s a fault on your team and in that instance you lose the point.
If a ball bounces inside the court and then hits the receiver outside the court is it servers point?
Hi Kate, if it hits the receiver on the paddle hand below the wrist and they return it successfully to the other side of the net the ball is still in play. If it bounces and hits the receiver it’s a dead ball.
WHY would this rule be valid, it is obviously a fault by the server because the service did not bounce in the service area……it is sailing out of the intended area.
In order for a ball to be considered out it has to contact the area out of bounds. If it hits you first that doesn’t happen.
please clarify. if i am out of bounds and a ball also clearly out of play , the ball can not be touched ?
If i catch the ball out of play, it is a fault ?
i think i have seen this in tournament play.
where is this in the rule book ?
thanks Ron
Hi Ron. It doesn’t matter where you are standing, if the ball touches you before it touches the ground it’s considered a fault on you. Yes if you are standing 10 feet out of bounds and catch the ball before it touches the ground it’s a fault. Here’s a link to the 2022 rule book so you can answer all of your questions https://usapickleball.org/docs/ifp/USA-Pickleball-Rulebook.pdf
Thanks for the response.
The issue came during a game.
The ball was served out of court but hit the return player. The person said it was fault to the return player so point to server.
I’m thinking the first that happened that trumps anything else is the serve was out so now dead ball and it can be caught by the receiver player if they desire.
True or false?
I was watching a video showing a recent tournament (Women’s Doubles) that included referees and play by play announcing. A drive by a player that went far behind baseline apparently grazed the opponent’s hair but the ball was called out. I understood that a player’s hair is a part of the player (as is stated above) but the call stood. The play by play even talked about it. What am I missing?
Since I didn’t see it I can only speculate. The player must have said that the ball didn’t touch her and with a lack of supporting evidence for the referee to overrule it the call stands as out.
Thanks. I have been looking for the video for the past two days with no luck. I thought the player indicated that it did touch her hair which is why I was confused as to why they awarded the rally ‘point’ to her side.
If a ball is close to the end line and My partner calls ‘out’ as I’m beginning my swing to return the ball, is it out or is it in and the rally continues?
Hi Gary, the minute you or your partner call the ball out it’s considered out and now becomes a dead ball. It doesn’t matter if you continue your swing and hit the shot. The ball is still out.
It you are serving and your ball goes into the wrong side of the court and hits the person whoes at fault?
The fault would be on the person receiving the serve who was hit. One point for the serving team.
Clarify please. I serve the ball and it goes to the wrong side of the court and hit’s the player in the wrong side of the court, it is a point for the serving team – me ? How odd ! What is the rational behind this rule?
Hi Nancy in order for a ball to be out it has to touch the surface outside of intended area in play. Hope that helps.
Doesn’t that mean that everyone will be trying to hit the person near the net every time? This reduces the game to no fun, in my opinion.
I agree with you Laurie….of course, no one cares what I think. This happened to me today. Played doubles. I was at the kitchen line. Opponent serves, ball hits me, ball is no where near the side of the court it is supposed to be and he says he gets a point?????? What is the purpose of the serving line then, if you can score by intentionally hitting (and pretending it is not intentional) a person close to the net no where near the service area? This rule needs to be reconsidered for fair play.
Hey Lisa if you are a member of USA Pickleball you can submit a rule change for consideration. The time period is usually early in the year which gives the committee enough time to consider changes, adapt or modify rules and then publish the book for the next year. You can get all the info here. https://usapickleball.org/
If your opponents claim that they hit your clothing therefore getting a point but you claim that didn’t happen, what are the rules
Hi Jim, you call your side of the court. If it’s not blatantly obvious, such as it hit you in the middle of the chest it’s your call to make. If it’s rec play I usually let it go and if they think it hit me it’s not worth the discussion. If it’s more competitive I let the other team know that I’m certain of my call and I move on.
Okay, you may have answered this already, but here goes. When a server hits a ball and it goes out of the court behind the line and the receiver is standing behind the line, but the ball hits the receiver’s foot, who is at fault? The ball did not land in the court before it hit the player’s foot. Does the server lose the point?
If the serve hits the opposite player (the wrong side of the court, not the receiver), that doesn’t count as a point against the person hit, right? Otherwise, everybody would be trying to hit the opponent standing at the net on every serve.
I meant to say the ball doesn’t bounce first too.
Hi Laurie, yes if the receivers partner is hit by the ball before the ball touches the court it is a fault on the recieving team and a point for the serving team. If the person at the net is paying attention to the game they usually have enough time to get out of the way.
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My friend serve to me
But It out and hit my foot
Who get the point
My friend or me
If it hits your foot before it hits the court your friend wins the rally. The ball must hit the court to be considered out.
Hi, during play a player hit the ball, it hit his partner on the nose and was deflected but carried on over the net into the opponents court, was this a fault on their part?
Hi Jane, yes that was a fault.
On the serve if the receiving team calls the ball out but hits their feet before the ground is it a fault by the receiving team
Yes it is. Even if they are standing out of bounds.
If i hit a groundstroke and the ball grazes my partner’s ear and goes over the net to our opponents’ side, is it still a live ball or fault on us?
Hey Brian in this case it would be a fault on you. BTW tell your partner to get better at ducking! lol!
Just played a drop in game where the opposing player would stand right next to the receiving side line to block the server’s line of attack. We had to keep serving around him and it was a pain. He insisted that if we hit him then he gets the point. I found this website trying to figure out if he was correct or not. Next time I’ll know better!
Hey Jerry, we believe that the strategy the returner used is beneficial. Here’s a video https://youtu.be/wwEAbTa_nOM. But if any player gets hit before the ball touches the court or the area outside the court it’s a fault on the player who was hit.
I believe this game could become even more interesting if a side has the option of hitting and setting the ball with the teammate being able to hit the ball put it away on a spike or volley. much as is done in volleyball. This would take allot of skill for advanced players but would open up a whole new dimention to the game.
Hi. If I draw my opponent out of bounds and she returns the shot to me then I return it while she is still out of bounds and the ball is returned while standing out of bounds is this legal?
The only time you have to stand in a specific place is during the serve. Otherwise you are able to stand off the court to return a shot.
If the ball goes long on serve then hits Receiving player is that player out
If the ball hits the court beyond the baseline it’s out. If it hit the player before it makes contact with the court it’s considered a fault on that play
Last night a ball hit my partners foot and surprisingly went back over the net?… is it still playable?
A ball is served and lands out of bounds—bounces up and then hits the receiver who was standing out of bounds waiting to return the serve. It did not hit the receiver until AFTER landing out of bounds–whose ball is it?
Today the servers ball hit the court out of bounds and the tip of my toe simultaneously gray area what’s the call on this
It it hit the court first, you are fine. If it hits you first or simultaneously it’s a fault on you.
It it hit the court first, you are fine. If it hits you first or simultaneously, it’s a fault on you.
if a player hits the ball and the ball hits their partner and the ball goes over the net is it good or a fault
Fault on your team. 🙂
My partner hit the ball with her paddle. The ball popped up and hit her nose then continued across the net and landed inbounds. We stopped play. Since it hit her paddle before hitting her nose is it a fault?
If it hit her below the wrist play continues. Since it was her nose. It’s a fault. But I bet it was interesting to see
If the ball hits out-of-bounds and then hits the player what is the ruling. It was clearly out-of-bounds but the player did not call it out
Once the ball lands out it’s a fault and a dead ball. Doesn’t matter if it hit the player. However the player needs to promptly call an out ball otherwise the ball is considered in
Why is everyone asking the same question over and over and over again and not understanding the simple concept from earlier posts? And how can CJ Johnson continue to remain so polite and kind while repeating herself so very many times. CJ you’re a legend 🙂!
You’re right it’s simple concept. That said, when players don’t come from a sporting background (half of our players have never played another sport) sometime the rules don’t make sense when a player is new to the game. 🙂
I was watching a pro tournament the and noticed 2 calls that were different than what I play as an armature.
— On the serve the ball hit the top of the net and landed in the transition zone. It was called a “let” and reserved. I thought this had been changed to a valid serve.
— The other was neither team (or the referee) could call the ball in or out, so it was called a replay. I thought if the ball could not be called in/out, it was in.
Thanks
I know this is redundant, but I had three players (including my teammate) all say I was wrong. The scenario: Score 9-9-2. Lob hit to me (receiving) and landed clearly out (like 2 feet) beyond back line. I immediately called “out”. As the ball bounced up, I let it hit my leg to prevent it going to the back fence. Believing the ball was “dead” as soon as it made contact out of court, I stepped up for my serve (9-9-1) All other players then said that because the ball touched me, it was a fault against our team. I protested that the ball clearly was out and clearly had made court contact out of bounds before it touched me. Their position: Any ball that contacts a player is a fault against that player, even if the ball has landed and declared “out”Three against one, I lost the “argument”. Score then announced 10-9-2, my partner returned the serve wide and we lost 11-9. I was advised to “learn the rules about balls contacting a player.” I believe the rules uphold that once a ball makes clear copntact with court out of bounds and is called “out”, it is a dead ball and any touching or picking up or contact after that time is irrelevant as the point was over as soon as the out of bounds contact occured and the shot declared “out”. I sincerely would like to know if I am correct or not.
When the ball hit the court it was dead. You’re right and your playing partners were wrong.