Independent reference · Upper Midwest

Pickleball, by the lines

Plain-English explanations of the rules, the court and the equipment, checked against USA Pickleball documents — with a local guide to courts around La Crosse, Wisconsin and Winona, Minnesota.

This site is an independent pickleball reference for players in the United States. Every page summarizes what the governing documents and public sources actually say, links to those sources, and avoids opinion dressed up as fact. The sport's official rules are published by USA Pickleball, the national governing body, which also maintains the approved lists for paddles and balls used in sanctioned play. Where this site summarizes those documents, the originals always take precedence.

Start here: the reference pages

How to playNew to the game? One doubles game walked through step by step, from "0-0-2" to the winning point, with a diagram. Pickleball termsGlossary of court, shot, scoring and doubles terms, from dink to stacking, with 2026 rule numbers. Rules summaryServe, two-bounce rule, kitchen (non-volley zone), faults and line calls. Kitchen rulesNon-volley zone in detail: momentum, partner contact, Erne and around-the-post, with a scenario diagram. Serve rulesVolley vs. drop serve, foot faults, ball release and spin, net serves, with a diagram. Scoring explainedSide-out vs. rally scoring, the three-number call, and a live score caller. Rally scoringPoint on every rally: USA Pickleball's provisional Rule 14.A, freeze and win-on-serve variants, MLP. Court dimensions20 × 44 ft court, 7 ft kitchen, net heights, line widths — with a diagram. Net height & setup36 in at the sidelines, 34 in at the center: how to measure, portable vs. permanent nets, lowering a tennis net. Court size comparedPickleball vs. tennis, badminton and padel: court sizes, lines, nets and run-off, with a to-scale overlay. Paddle specsSize limits, surface rules and how the USA Pickleball approved list works. Paddle weight & gripNo weight or grip limit in the rules: published weight classes compared, how to measure grip size, tennis-elbow notes. Ball specsSize, weight, bounce and 26–40 holes, indoor vs. outdoor balls, and how to read the approved ball list. Skill ratingsDUPR, USA Pickleball UTPR and the 2.5–4.5+ self-rating descriptions. Court space calculatorHow many courts fit in a lot, gym or tennis court footprint. Line paint calculator198 ft of 2-in line per court: gallons of line paint, primer and tape for any number of courts.

The game in one paragraph

Pickleball was created in 1965 on Bainbridge Island, Washington, by Joel Pritchard, Bill Bell and Barney McCallum. It is played with solid paddles and a perforated plastic ball on a 20 × 44 ft court — the same footprint as a doubles badminton court — with a net that is 36 inches high at the sidelines and 34 inches at the center. The serve is underhand and diagonal, each side must let the ball bounce once before volleying (the two-bounce rule), and nobody may volley while standing in the 7-foot non-volley zone next to the net. Games are traditionally played to 11, win by 2, with only the serving side able to score. Washington made pickleball its official state sport in 2022.

Around La Crosse

This domain was previously home to a local club website for the La Crosse area. The new site keeps its old addresses alive with independent, sourced local pages:

Where to play around La Crosse — public outdoor courts at Trane Park, Bluffview Park and Onalaska's Oak Park, plus indoor options.
Where to play in Winona, MN — the Winona Indoor Tennis Center, the Winona Bluff Pickleball Club and city recreation space.
What pickleball is, and the La Crosse club — a neutral background page on the local club and how it grew.
About USA Pickleball — what the national governing body does, and where its rulebook and equipment lists live.
How ladder leagues work — the formats parks departments and clubs use to sort players by level.

How this site is put together

Each article ends with a numbered list of the sources used, and every number on a page — a court measurement, a fee, a court count — comes from one of those sources. Court listings and venue fees change often, so local pages note when the information was checked and point you to the venue or city page to confirm. There are no ads, affiliate links or sponsored rankings here. Read more on the about page.

Looking for the La Crosse Area Pickleball Club itself? This site is not the club and cannot take memberships or sign-ups. The club and local venues publish their own schedules; see the where-to-play page for the public sources we use.

Sources

Sources checked October 2026. Rules, fees and schedules change — confirm with the venue or governing body.