Every pickleball argument eventually ends up in the kitchen. The non-volley zone, the 2.13m (7ft) strip either side of the net, is the rule that makes pickleball pickleball: without it, tall people would stand at the net and smash everything. With it, you get the patient, crafty game everyone falls for.
Here’s every way to fault in it, and every way not to.
The core rule
You may not volley while touching the non-volley zone. A volley means hitting the ball before it bounces. That’s it. Everything else in this guide is detail about what “touching” means and when it counts.
What counts as touching the kitchen
- The kitchen line is part of the kitchen. A toe on the line during a volley is a fault.
- Anything you’re wearing or carrying counts. If your paddle, hat or the towel in your pocket drops into the kitchen during the volley, it’s a fault.
- Your partner touching the kitchen doesn’t make your volley a fault, unless they’re touching you at the time.
The momentum rule
This is the one that surprises people. If you volley from outside the kitchen and your momentum then carries you into it, even after the ball has gone dead, it’s a fault. The volley isn’t finished until you’ve regained control of your balance outside the zone. This is why good players volley with their weight on the back foot near the line.
Getting back out before volleying
If you step into the kitchen (perfectly legal, for example to play a ball that has bounced there), you must re-establish both feet on the ground outside the kitchen before you hit a volley. Hopping out on one foot and volleying mid-hop is a fault.
The myths
- “You can’t go in the kitchen.” You can, any time. You just can’t volley while you’re there.
- “You can’t stay in the kitchen.” You can stay as long as you like. It’s just a poor place to be when your opponent decides to hit at your feet.
- “You can volley if the ball’s above your head.” No height exemption exists. A volley is a volley.
- “A bounced ball in the kitchen is a fault.” It’s the reverse: once the ball bounces, play it from wherever you like.
Two legal party tricks
The rules explicitly allow both, and both look outrageous:
- The Erne: moving outside the sideline, beside the kitchen, to volley a ball close to the net without touching the zone.
- Jumping over the corner: the kitchen extends along its lines, not into the air beyond the court, so a player can legally leap past the corner of the zone.
For the full rulebook in plain English, see our rules guide; for the shot that lives in the kitchen, read dinking.