Pickleball Glossary

I realized that a lot of my content makes the assumption that readers are familiar with certain terms. Beginners in the sport may not be familiar with terms like NVZ, ground strokes, forehands/backhands, etc. This article will attempt to provide some basic definitions for terms you will likely encounter in your pickleball journey.

Even if you have been playing pickleball for a while, you may still find things in this article that are new to you. Do you know the difference between an ATP and an erne? How about a bert? Do you know what a nasty nelson is? How about a half-volley? What constitutes a dead ball? Give it a skim and see if there is something you can learn from this list of terms.

I will organize the topics below in sections.

1. Terms related to the court
2. Technical terms and rule related terms
3. Terms related to strokes and shots
4. Pickleball specific terms
5. Miscellaneous terms

The Court

Non Volley Zone/NVZ/Kitchen

These are all terms for the same space on the court. "Non Volley Zone" is the technical term. It is often shortened to NVZ or just "the kitchen". It is the rectangular space 7 feet from the net, including the lines that define it on the court. Players cannot hit the ball out of the air (volley) and be in the NVZ. Players cannot volley the ball and move into the NVZ as part of the momentum of their stroke.

This is a great video on all the rules with demonstrations on what is and what is NOT allowed in and around the NVZ.

 

Baseline

The baseline is the line at the at the back of the court, furthest from the net. The serve must be hit from behind the baseline.

Transition zone

The transition zone is the court space between the baseline and the NVZ. This is not an official term you will find in the rulebook. It is a term coaches and instructors use to refer to that space. This part of the court is sometimes referred to as "no man's land", but most instructors and instructor certification programs 

Even/odd sides

Facing the net from the baseline, the right hand side of the court is the even side. The left hand side is the odd side. In singles, when your score is even, you serve from the right side. When your score is odd, you serve from the left side. In doubles, because both players on each side get to serve, the player that started serving for the game will serve and receive from the even side when the score is even and the odd side when the score is odd. Their partner will serve and receive from the odd side when the score is even and the even side when the score is odd.

Technical terms and rules

Volley

This just means hitting the ball out of the air before it bounces. Not too fancy. Some players refer to the exchange from serve until a player faults as a volley, but technically, a volley is one stroke when a player hits the ball out of the air. This term is here rather than the section related to types of strokes because it is so foundational to rules related to the NVZ and the two bounce rule.

Two Bounce Rule

The serve must bounce one time in the service box before the receiver hits the return. The return must bounce before the serving team hits the third shot of every rally. Those two bounces are required. If a player hits a volley for the return or the third shot, it is a fault.

Rally

The exchange between serve and a fault. The beginning of a rally is a serve. The end of the rally is a fault. The team that commits the fault has lost the rally. If the serving team wins the rally, they earn a point. If the receiving team wins the rally, service changes. It will either go to the second server or side out.

Side out

If the serving team faults during the second serve, the serve changes ends and the team that was receiving becomes the serving team.

Dead ball

The ball is dead after any fault, if a hinder is called during play, if a ball hits any object that is not part of the court or net (net posts are out). It is a ball that is no longer in play. The rally has ended.

Fault

Any action that is not permitted by the rules that ends a rally. The result of a fault is a dead ball.

Strokes and shots

Ground stroke

This is a ball that is hit off a bounce. Not a volley. The serve and return must be hit as ground strokes.

Half volley

The name is a bit deceiving. This is a type of ground stroke where the ball is hit on the rise, typically near the ground.

Dink

A dink is a soft arcing shot, typically hit at or near the NVZ. The purpose of dinks is to deny opponents the opportunity to hit an offensive ball.

Block

A volley with little or no swing, executed in order to take pace off the ball so it is descending when it reaches the player's opponents.

Forehand

A stroke where the palm of the dominant hand is facing forward through the swing path. The swing is executed on the same side of the body as the player's dominant hand.

forehand

Backhand

A stroke where the back side of the dominant hand is facing forward through the swing path. The swing is executed by crossing the body and hitting the ball on the opposite side of the player's dominant hand.

backhand

Pickleball specific terms

*Note: none of these terms are official terms you will find in the rulebook. They are cultural terms in the sport.

Erne

An erne is a volley hit by a player who either leaps over the corner of the kitchen or who has established both feet outside the kitchen in the out of bounds area near the net. This shot is named after the player who invented it, Erne Perry. Here is a video that explains and demonstrate erne shots.

Bert

A bert is similar to an erne, but the player crosses to hit the volley on their partner's side of the court. If an erne requires a high degree of athleticism and agility, a bert requires even more. Here is an example.

Nasty Nelson

A nasty nelson is a type of serve where the server intentionally hits the receiver's partner (typically standing at the net) with the served ball to score a point. This is a high risk strategy because the partner at the net simply has to step out of the way and let the ball bounce outside the service area. This strategy was named for Tim "Puppet Master" Nelson. Here is a highlight video Tim Nelson shared on his YouTube channel. He's ...a character. There are a couple of nasty nelson serves in the video, but it isn't specifically about nasty nelson serves. I share it because this is the guy it was named for and his playing style is worth seeing.

ATP

ATP is an acronym for Around The Post. It is a ground stroke (not a volley like an Erne) that is hit from the out of bounds area around the outside of the net, back into the court. The opportunity to hit an ATP usually occurs when a ball is hit at an extreme angle that bounces near the outside boundary of the court and the ball carries beyond the extension of the net. 

Pickle

A pickle is the term for a shutout in pickleball. Any game that ends 11-0 or 15-0, etc is a pickle.

Golden Pickle

A golden pickle is a perfect shutout where the first server serves out the entire game from 0-0-2 all the way to 11-0-2 and no other players get the chance to serve. This typically signifies extreme mismatch of skill levels between teams or exceptional bad luck on the part of the losing team.

Miscellaneous

Split step

This is a term related to footwork. To execute a split step, a player stops their motion with a hop where both feet are about shoulder width apart and the player lands on their toes. The purpose of the split step is to prepare for an oncoming ball as it is hit by the opponent. Executing a split step gives a player the greatest amount of ability to move and change directions to receive the ball. Here is a link to a previous article that goes into detail about split steps.

Continental grip

Sometimes called the hammer grip or shaking hands grip, a continental grip aligns the edge of the paddle blade with the V between your thumb and forefinger. This is a versatile grip because it allows a player to hit backhands and forehands with a paddle face that is more perpendicular to the ground, which keeps the ball more level. This is especially important during fast exchanges at the net.

Outdoor vs Indoor ball

Balls that are made for indoor play tend to be lighter, softer, and they have fewer holes, but the holes are larger than outdoor balls. Outdoor balls have more holes, but they are smaller. Outdoor balls tend to be slightly heavier than indoor balls and they are often made of harder plastics. The reason for these differences is that outdoor balls are designed to have a bit less play in the wind. The lighter and airier indoor balls get blown around when used outside.

Rating

Ratings are a measure of a players' relative skill level. Ratings are used to place players and teams in competitive brackets for tournaments and leagues. Ratings range from 2.5 (beginner) all the way up to 5.0 for amateur players and up to 6.0 for pro level players. Here is a link to a previous article that goes into details about ratings and the various ratings systems for pickleball.

I hope there was something in this laundry list that you found informative or useful.

Thanks for dropping by.

David