Can your paddle cross over the net into the kitchen?

Your paddle may follow through over the net after contact, provided contact happened on your side and you do not touch the net or the opponent's court. Reaching over to strike the ball before it crosses is a fault, except in the specific case of a ball that bounced back over the net.

Is it a fault if your partner is in the kitchen when you volley?

No. The restriction applies to the player making the volley, not to their partner. A partner standing in the non-volley zone while you volley from behind the line commits no fault, though it is usually poor positioning.

Can you jump over the kitchen to volley?

You may jump from behind the line and volley in the air, but you must land outside the zone. Landing in the kitchen after the volley is a momentum fault. Jumping across and landing beyond the zone entirely is legal but rarely practical.

What if you drop something in the kitchen during a volley?

If a hat, sunglasses or anything you are wearing or carrying falls into the non-volley zone during a volley, it is treated as a fault under the rules governing contact with the zone. Secure loose items before playing to avoid an avoidable loss of rally.

Rally Blog

What Is the Kitchen in Pickleball?

Updated July 15, 2026 · 6 min read · The Rally Team

TL;DR. The kitchen is the non-volley zone, a 7-foot strip either side of the net running the full 20-foot width. You may stand in it any time; you may not volley from it. Touching the line or the zone during a volley, or from momentum afterwards, is a fault.

The non-volley zone is what makes pickleball pickleball. Without it, tall players would camp at the net and put every ball away, and the dinking game that defines the sport at higher levels would not exist. Nearly every rule dispute in recreational play concerns this seven-foot strip.

What is actually prohibited?

Volleying, meaning striking the ball out of the air before it bounces, while any part of you touches the non-volley zone or its lines. Standing in the kitchen is entirely legal. Hitting a ball that has bounced while standing in the kitchen is also legal.

Stating it as a restriction on volleying rather than on standing clears up most confusion. Players are frequently told to get out of the kitchen when they are doing nothing wrong, because the shorthand name obscures what the rule actually forbids.

What does momentum mean here?

If you volley from outside the zone but your momentum carries you into it afterwards, that is a fault even though contact happened legally. The fault applies until you have re-established a stable position outside the zone. Landing on the line counts as being in.

This catches players who volley from just behind the line and step through. The remedy is footwork: split-step and stop before hitting, or take the ball slightly further back so forward momentum is absorbed before you reach the line.

Rally app tracking a pickleball game where kitchen faults are recorded during play — Kitchen faults are the most disputed call in recreational play, and the easiest to record.

How big is the kitchen and where are its lines?

It extends 7 feet from the net on each side and spans the full 20-foot court width, bounded by the net, the two sidelines and the non-volley line. The lines themselves are part of the zone, so contact with any of them during a volley is a fault.

The court overall is 20 feet wide and 44 feet long for both singles and doubles, which surprises tennis players expecting a wider doubles court. The 7-foot kitchen therefore occupies nearly a third of each side’s length.

Keeping score while arguing about the kitchen? Rally handles the score from your wrist so you can focus on the call.

What is a dink and why does the kitchen create it?

A dink is a soft shot dropped into the opponent’s non-volley zone. Because they cannot volley it there, they must let it bounce, which keeps them back and denies them an attacking angle. Dinking exchanges are the direct consequence of the volley restriction.

This is the strategic heart of the game above beginner level. Points are constructed by dinking until an opponent lifts the ball high enough to attack, rather than by hitting winners from the baseline as tennis instincts suggest.

Key takeaways

The kitchen is a 7-foot non-volley zone spanning the full 20-foot court width.
Standing in it is legal; volleying while touching it or its lines is not.
Momentum carrying you in after a volley is a fault even if contact was legal.
The lines are part of the zone, so touching them counts as being inside.
The rule exists to create the dinking game and prevent net camping.

Frequently asked questions

Can your paddle cross over the net into the kitchen?: Your paddle may follow through over the net after contact, provided contact happened on your side and you do not touch the net or the opponent’s court. Reaching over to strike the ball before it crosses is a fault, except in the specific case of a ball that bounced back over the net.
Is it a fault if your partner is in the kitchen when you volley?: No. The restriction applies to the player making the volley, not to their partner. A partner standing in the non-volley zone while you volley from behind the line commits no fault, though it is usually poor positioning.
Can you jump over the kitchen to volley?: You may jump from behind the line and volley in the air, but you must land outside the zone. Landing in the kitchen after the volley is a momentum fault. Jumping across and landing beyond the zone entirely is legal but rarely practical.
What if you drop something in the kitchen during a volley?: If a hat, sunglasses or anything you are wearing or carrying falls into the non-volley zone during a volley, it is treated as a fault under the rules governing contact with the zone. Secure loose items before playing to avoid an avoidable loss of rally.

The Rally Team
Pickleball Rules & Scoring, BigBalli. We track the USA Pickleball rulebook as it is revised each year so scoring guidance stays current.