The pickleball kitchen (non-volley zone) explained

The kitchen is the rule that makes pickleball different from every other net sport. Without it, the tallest player would stand at the net and smash everything. With it, the game becomes a contest of soft, placed shots.

How big is the kitchen?

The official rulebook (rule 3.A.4.c) describes it as a 7 foot by 20 foot area next to the net on each side. In metric:

Pickleball Australia's court description gives the depth as 2.135 m. The difference from 2.13 m is just rounding of 7 feet (exactly 2.1336 m). Courts are measured to the outside edge of the lines.

What is a kitchen fault?

Rule 11.A says all volleys must start outside the non-volley zone. You commit a kitchen fault if:

1. You touch the kitchen while volleying. That includes the kitchen line. It also includes anything in contact with you, such as your paddle, your hat or your partner if you are holding onto them.
2. Your momentum carries you in. If you volley and your follow-through or balance carries you onto the kitchen, it is a fault, even if the ball is already dead by then. The rulebook defines the act of volleying as starting when you hit the ball and ending when your movement from the follow-through stops.
3. You were in the kitchen and volley before re-establishing both feet outside it. If you step into the kitchen, you must get both feet back on the court outside it before you can volley.

Dropping your paddle or hat into the kitchen as a result of your volley is also a fault.

What is not a kitchen fault?

• Standing in the kitchen. You can stand in it whenever you like. It just stops you volleying.
• Hitting a bounced ball from inside the kitchen. Once the ball has bounced, you can play it from anywhere, including deep inside the kitchen.
• Your paddle crossing over the kitchen in the air. The zone is two-dimensional. It does not extend upwards, so reaching over it to volley is fine as long as your feet and body stay out.
• Reaching while staying outside. The fault is about contact with the zone. If neither you nor anything touching you contacts the kitchen from the start of the volley until your momentum stops, there is no fault, however far your arm reaches.

Does the kitchen line count as the kitchen?

Yes. All lines that bound the non-volley zone are part of it. Touching the line while volleying is a fault. On a serve, a ball landing on the kitchen line is short, which is also a fault.

Kitchen rules in doubles

The same rules apply to every player. The one doubles quirk is partner contact: if you volley and touch your partner who is standing in the kitchen, the rules treat that as you touching the kitchen. Most of the time though, the doubles issue is tactical rather than legal: both players want to get to the kitchen line together. See the doubles strategy guide.

Who calls kitchen faults?

Players are expected to call faults on themselves. Under rule 9.B.3, kitchen faults are one of the two fault types (with service foot faults) that you can also call on an opponent. The call must come before the next serve is hit. In refereed matches, the referee calls them.

Why is it called the kitchen?

Nobody knows for sure. The rulebook only uses the term "non-volley zone" and notes that it is "commonly referred to as the kitchen", as Pickleball Australia's summary also says. Neither source gives an origin for the nickname, so treat any confident origin story you read online with caution.

How to practise staying out of the kitchen

• Set your feet before the shot. Most kitchen faults come from lunging forward on a volley. Stop with your toes just behind the line, then hit.
• Let low balls bounce. If a ball is dropping into the kitchen and you would have to reach forward to volley it, step in and play it off the bounce instead.
• Finish your swing short. A compact punch volley keeps your weight back. A big swing pulls you forward.

The court dimensions guide shows where the kitchen sits on the full court, and the glossary explains terms like dink and side out.