Glossary

Glossary | Pickleball Terms

ACE: A serve that is not returned by the opponent. Point is won on serve without being returned.

BACKHAND: Shot where player strikes the ball on the opposite side from their dominant forehand.

CENTERLINE: The line the extends from the Non-Volley Zone to the Baseline and divides the service court into two equal halves.​

CHAMPION SHOT: A pickleball shot that bounces twice in the Non-Volley Zone.​

CHOP: Slice from high to low to put backspin on the pickleball. ​

DILLBALL: Shot that is inbounds and has bounced once, a live ball. ​

DRIVE:  A forehand shot hit straight and low, deep into the opposing backcourt. ​

DROP SHOT: A soft shot that clears the pickleball net and then falls short of the opposing players.

FALAFEL:  “dead paddle” or a short shot due to hitting the pickleball ball with little or no power.

FAULT: A fault is any action that stops play because of a rule violation.

FLAPJACK: A midair pickleball shot that must bounce once before it can be hit during one of the first two shots of any point. After third shot no bounce is necessary and can volley (hit in midair without bouncing). ​

GAME: A series of points played until one team has accumulated 11 points (winning by 2 points. Some pickle-ball tournaments play games to 15 or 21 points (win by 2).

GRIP: The manner that you hold the paddle handle with your hand or the material that is wrapped around the paddle handle to protect it and provide cushioning.

GROUNDSTROKE: Hitting the ball after one bounce (compare to a volley which is hit midair).

HALF-VOLLEY: A ground stroke shot where the paddle contacts the ball immediately after it bounces from the court. The ball is still low before it has risen to it maximum bounce height.

KITCHEN: Slang term for the Non-Volley Zone.​

JUNIOR: Player between the ages of 7 and 19. USAPA Juniors was created in 2016 to support these younger players.

LINE CALLS: Verbal indication said out loud indicating if the ball bounced inbounds or out of bounds. Normally players call the in/out on their side and opposing team makes calls on their respective side. ​

LOB SHOT (Lobbing/ Lobber): A lob shot is a shot typically at the non-volley zone line designed to go over the head of your opponent.

NON-VOLLEY ZONE: The 7-foot section of court on either side of the net. Pickleball players are not allowed to volley the ball in this zone. It includes all lines surrounding the zone. Also known as “The Kitchen” and the NVZ.

OPA!:  Sometimes shouted out after the 3rd shot has been hit, open volleying has begun. ​

PADDELE: The equivalent to the racket ​in racquetball or tennis. Pickleball paddles can be made of wood, composite or graphite.

PICKLE!: Warning shouted out by the server to alert all players on the pickleball court that they are about to serve. ​

PICKLED: The equivalent to getting “skunked” in other sports, scoring zero points in a whole game. If you lose a pickleball game 11-0, you’ve been “pickled”.​

PICKLEDOME:  Court where the championship match in a pickleball tournament is played. Something similar to center court in tennis.

PICKLER: A pickleball addict. A pickleball freak who can’t stop talking about the sport.

PUT AWAY:  A shot with no chance of being returned.

PUNCH SHOT: Quick, short volley shot with little back swing and short follow through.

RACKET/RACQUET: See “Paddle” above. Blog post: pickleball racket/racquet vs paddle.

RALLR: Continuous play that occurs from the time the ball is served and until play ends in a fault.

RALLY SCORE SYSTEM: In the rally point system, the side that wins the rally scores the point and earns the right to serve.​

RECEIVER: Player diagonally opposite from the server who will return the serve. ​

SERVE: An underhand stroke used to put the pickleball into play. Serving team has two attempts to serve the point. ​Paddle must contact the ball under the server’s waist level.

SERVER NUMBER: The number (1 or 2) indicates which server is serving for each team in the pickleball serving sequence. ​

SINGLES: Playing pickleball with only 2 players, one player on each side. ​

SLICE: A chop shot used to create back spin on the ball. ​

SMASH: ​ shot that is hit above the hitter’s head with a serve-like motion. It is also referred to as an overhead.

SPLIT STANCE: Position with feet separate and parallel in the “ready position” to return the ball. ​

STACKING: Stacking in pickleball is a strategy used when players on a team are not in traditional positioning and are instead rearranged in order to keep one player on a particular side of the court.

STROKE: The swinging motion of striking the pickleball with the paddle (i.e. ​forehand stroke, backhand stroke, ground stroke).

TOP SPIN: Applying spin to the ball from low to high causing the pickleball ball to spin in the same direction as the flight of the ball. ​

TWO BOUNCE RULE: In pickleball: after the ball is served, the receiving team must let the ball bounce before returning, and then the serving team must also let it bounce before returning. After the 3rd hit, the ball can be volleyed (hit midair without bouncing).

VOLLEY: Hitting the ball in the air before the ball has a chance to bounce onto the pickleball court.

VOLLEY LLAMA:  Term referring to an illegal move (fault) where pickleball player hits a volley shot in the Non-Volley Zone.​