The appearance of a Pickleball court, and the manner of play, resemble tennis, but the court is the size of a doubles badminton court, less than a third the size of a tennis court. Court lines and rules are specific to Pickleball and include two 7-foot-areas (2.1 m) on either side of the net known as the non-volley zones, where the ball cannot be hit with the paddle unless the ball bounces first.

The official rules specify side-out scoring, where only the serving team can score a point. All serves are made with an underhand stroke. The hard polymer ball produces significantly less bounce than softer flexible balls, such as a tennis ball.

The minimal bounce combined with the non-volley zone and underhand serve result in a game with dynamic pace and strategy ranging from soft dink shots that stay within the two non-volley zones, to powerful drive shots and overhead smash shots. To minimize any advantage the serving side or receiving side might have at the beginning of the game, the ball must bounce once on each side of the net before either team may volley the ball, which is to hit the ball in the air before it bounces.