30-day roadmap for new players

This plan assumes you can play 3 or 4 times a week. Go slower if you need to. Your progress is saved in this browser, so you can come back and tick items off.

Week 1: the basics

• Read what is pickleball and learn the court lines
• Get a paddle, the right balls for your courts and court shoes
• Learn the serve rules and practice 20 serves to each side
• Learn the two-bounce rule
• Learn the kitchen rules
• Learn the three-number score call with side-out scoring
• Play your first open play session
• Do the 10-minute warm-up before every session

Week 2: serve, return and the dink

• Hit deep serves: at least 7 of 10 landing in the back half of the service court
• Return deep and walk to the kitchen line after every return
• Learn the continental grip and ready position
• Dink cross-court with a partner for 10 minutes
• Reach 20 consecutive dinks without an error
• Learn the basics of doubles positioning
• Practice calling "mine" and "yours" every game

Week 3: the third shot and the volley

• Learn why the third-shot drop matters
• Hit 30 drops from the baseline with a partner feeding
• Practice moving forward with split steps after a drop
• Practice blocking hard shots at the kitchen line
• Learn when to let balls go out
• Try a short volley-to-volley drill for 5 minutes
• Play at least two open play sessions, focusing on getting to the net

Week 4: put it together

• Learn to reset from the transition zone
• Try one offensive lob per game, no more
• Practice overheads with safe sideways footwork
• Play a full session calling the score correctly every time
• Learn court etiquette for your local courts
• Ask a stronger player for one tip
• Self-rate your level using ratings and DUPR
• Set your next goal: a clinic, a league or a round robin

Habits to keep

• Warm up before every session
• Play no more than two hours on any day during the first month
• Turn sideways instead of backpedaling for lobs
• Stay hydrated
• Learn three new terms from the glossary each week